Faculty Spotlight - Todd Pugatch

Why did you choose economics? Why did you choose your subfield?

TP: I took my first economics class in high school. Around the same time, I was becoming increasingly aware of the dramatic income disparities across communities in my home state, Massachusetts. The high school economics class included a module on international development, which introduced me to the same concept on a global scale. I learned that the puzzle of why some places are rich and others poor is one of the oldest questions in economics. This started me on the path of studying development and education economics.

What research are you working on right now?

TP: Lots of projects, probably too many! One example is an evaluation of a performance-based financing program for schools in Cameroon. Schools can earn additional government funds if they meet a set of performance indicators, on things like not excluding students for failing to pay fees, student attendance, and teachers making lesson plans. We randomly assign schools to different types of bonuses they can qualify for, allowing us to test how these incentives affect student learning and other outcomes.

What was your favorite paper to write, and why?

TP: Someone once asked Tom Brady what his favorite championship was. He said, “The next one.” That’s how I feel about papers. Research is exciting. Chasing the next idea and writing about it is the biggest thrill.

What is your favorite class to teach and why?

TP: I like teaching all my classes, but my favorite is ECO796: Economics of Education. It’s a PhD seminar, where we read and discuss classic and frontier research in economics of education. It lets me revisit seminal papers in the field and discover the newest and best research in this area.

What was your favorite class as an undergrad?

TP: Labor economics. Most of my research concerns human capital, a concept I first encountered in that class. I later taught undergrad labor economics using the same textbook.

What is your top piece of advice for your students?

TP: Persevere. Economics involves seemingly simple concepts, but internalizing and applying these concepts is hard. It’s worth the effort. turn contributed to rising unemployment rates during the period. The paper combined both theory and data, and I had a lot of fun working on it.

What is your favorite class to teach and why?

YP: My favorite class to teach is the undergrad international finance class. I teach international capital flows, balance of payments, exchange rates, international financial system, etc. In the age of globalization, it is fun to talk about these international economic and financial issues.

What was your favorite class as an undergrad?

YP: My favorite class as an undergrad was a year-long liberal arts education sequence on classical political, economic and social thoughts. I got to read books by Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Rousseau, Smith, Tocqueville, Paine, Hayek, etc. Although I had a hard time understanding most of it, it was an eye-opening experience for me.

What is your top piece of advice for your students?

YP: I think important skills to learn these days are data analytical skills and writing and presentation skills. But more importantly, think critically and be o