New Faculty Profiles

Stephen Ryan (Industrial Organization)

Stephen earned undergraduate degrees in Economics and Chemistry at Virginia Tech before attending Duke University where he received his Ph.D. in Economics in 2005.  He then worked for seven years in the Economics Department at MIT.  He decided to come to UT for the excellent research environment, the great colleagues, and the opportunity to be part of a growing department, though he agrees the friendly people and warm climate of Texas are a nice bonus.  In his spare time, he enjoys running, playing guitar, traveling with his wife Christina, and watching the WWE.

Stephen’s research interests are in industrial organization, with a focus on the application of structural methods at the intersection of public policy, economic theory, and econometrics.  His work spans a range of topics, from the estimation of teacher labor supply in rural India to modeling the health insurance plan choices and utilization of workers in the aluminum industry.  Two recently published papers highlight the constructive role that theory can play in describing the world and providing policy guidance.  In ongoing work, Stephen is examining the impacts of cap-and-trade regulations on firms in California and using personnel data from the US Army to estimate the value of a statistical life.

Sukjin Han (Econometrics)

Sukjin received his Ph.D. at Yale University after completing his undergraduate studies in Economics at Seoul National University in Korea, where he was born and raised.  He spent part of his youth in Europe and, while in his twenties, two years in the Korean army.  As an econometrician, Sukjin is interested in the identification of nonlinear econometric models and, specifically, the situation where such models are only weakly identified.  Whereas previous research has only provided solutions to the “weak instrument” problem in linear models, his research has proposed methodology for additional models often used by empirical researchers.

Sukjin is interested in applied microeconomic questions, including the measurement of gains from educational programs so that policy can be better informed.  Sukjin is also a devotee of arts and science in general, and of the integration of the two different branches of knowledge.

Brendan Kline (Econometrics)

Brendan recently graduated from Northwestern University with a Ph.D. in Economics, having completed his undergraduate studies in Mathematics and Economics at Iowa State University.  His research is primarily in theoretical econometrics, the field of economics concerned with the development of statistical methods.  His recent work focuses the estimation and testing of models from microeconomic theory, including game theory.  These methods are potentially applicable to many areas of economics and the social sciences more generally; for example, these methods can be used to help predict how companies would respond to government regulation.  He is also interested in labor economics, where his research has focused on the interaction between economic outcomes and health outcomes.  This research includes cases where economic outcomes affect health outcomes and also cases where health outcomes affect economic outcomes.

Day Manoli (Public Finance)

Day was born and raised in Milwaukee, where he developed an early interest in economics while attending high school.  He left in 1999 to attend the University of Chicago where he completed his undergraduate studies and received an MA in economics in 2004.  He moved to California and received his Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. 

Day enjoys how economics combines mathematical and statistical analyses to analyze policy relevant questions.  He is a public finance economist with research focusing on social security and income taxation. In his research on social security, he has worked with coauthors to analyze how social security annuity payments and lump-sum retirement benefits affect individuals' retirement decisions. This research on retirement led to further work to examine the literature on individuals' labor supply responses to wage changes and gain some general insights for macroeconomic models. In a current project, Day is researching how an increase in the early retirement age affects individuals’ retirement decisions and firms' hiring decisions. In his spare time, he enjoys working out, reading, and a variety of outdoor activities.  While he says he doesn’t know much about Austin yet, he’s excited to explore the city.