William J. Congdon, a senior fellow in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute, is a labor economist with more than a decade of experience conducting and applying research to inform economic and social policy. His work focuses on labor market policy, social insurance, and the safety net. His research emphasizes the perspective of behavioral economics and the role of experimental methods for understanding economic outcomes and developing policy.
Congdon was previously a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. He also was a fellow and founding member of the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team, an Obama administration initiative that translated insights from behavioral economics research to a wide range of policy issues. Congdon was also a research director at the Brookings Institution and chief economist at the nonprofit organization ideas42, where he remains an advisor. He holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University.
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