Policy Work

Policy Writings 

How Did Expanded Access to Federal Student Loans Influence Graduate Student Borrowing? Lessons Learned from Grad PLUS Loans.” Postsecondary Equity & Economics Research Project, July 2023. (Joint with Jeffrey T. Denning.)

Does Sorting Students by Ability Improve Learning or Increase Disparity?” Econofact.org, October 3, 2022. (Joint with Kate Antonovics, Julie B. Cullen, and Yonah Meiselman.)

Winners and Losers? The effect of gaining and losing access to selective colleges on education and labor market outcomes.Stone Centre at UCL, September 1, 2022. (Joint with Jeffrey T. Denning and Jesse Rothstein.)

Public Investments in Social Insurance, Education, and Child Care Can Overcome Market Failures to Promote Family and Economic Well-Being,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, January 14, 2021. (Joint with Jesse Rothstein.)

Is Taking on More Student Debt Bad for Students,” Econofact.org, November 10, 2020. (Joint with Jeff Denning, Lisa J. Dettling, Sarena Goodman, and Lesley Turner.)

Poor Little Rich Kids? The Role of Nature versus Nurture in Wealth and Other Economic Outcomes and Behaviors,” Microeconomic Insights, November 6, 2020. (Joint with Paul J. Devereux, Kaveh Majlesi, and Petter Lundborg.)

How Does Wealth Beget Wealth? Evidence from Sweden,” Econofact.org, August 4, 2020. (Joint with Paul J. Devereux and Kaveh Majlesi.)

New Evidence on the Impacts of Birth Order,” NBER Reporter 2017 Number 4.

Where Have All the (Male) Workers Gone?Econofact.org, July 10, 2017. (Joint with Wilson Powell.)

Sibling Spillovers,CEPR VoxEU.org, July 8, 2017. (Joint with Sanni Breining, David Figlio, Jonathan Guryan, Krzysztof Karbownik, Helena Skyt Nielsen, Jeffrey Roth, and Marianne Simonsen.)

The Economic Case for Sentencing Reform,Econofact.org, May 19, 2017. (Joint with Emily Weisburst.)

Rules, Regulations, and Social Benefits,Econofact.org, March 8, 2017.

The Disconnect between Resources and Needs when Investing in Children,” White House Blog Post, December 22, 2016.

Minimum Wage Increases and Earnings in Low-Wage Jobs,CEPR VoxEU.org, December 2, 2016. (Joint with Jason Furman, Laura Giuliano, and Wilson Powell.)

The Success of Evidence Based Policies,Inside Higher Ed, September 30, 2016. (Joint with Jason Furman.)

Student Loans and College Quality:  Effects on Borrowers and the Economy,CEPR VoxEU.org, August 4, 2016. (Joint with Amy Filipek, Jason Furman, Laura Giuliano, and Ayushi Narayan.)

The Long-Term Decline in U.S. Prime-Age Male Labor Force Participation and Policies to Address It,CEPR VoxEU.org, July 6, 2016. (Joint with Jason Furman, Emma Rackstraw, and Nirupama Rao.)

Six Recent Trends in Student Debt,” White House Blog Post, April 28, 2016. (Joint with Jason Furman.)

The Evolution and Impact of Worker Voice Over Time,” White House Blog Post, October 7, 2015. (Joint with Jason Furman.)

Maternal Grief and Child Outcomes,CEPR VoxEU.org, August 20, 2014. (Joint with Paul Devereux and Kjell Salvanes.)

The Effects of School Starting Age,CEPR VoxEU.org, June 21, 2008. (Joint with Paul Devereux and Kjell Salvanes.)

Evolving Tasks and the Narrowing Gender Wage Gap,CEPR VoxEU.org, September 1, 2007. (Joint with Alexandra Spitz-Oener.)

Interviews

‘We Need to do Another Stimulus Package’: Former Obama Economist Tells MarketWatch What Advice She Would Give Joe Biden,” Marketwatch.com, November 16, 2020.

Seeing the Margins: An Interview with Columbia University Economist Sandra Black: Sandra Black on Education, Family Wealth, Her Time at the White House, COVID-19, and the Cost of Bad Policy,Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, September 14, 2020.

The Role of Nature versus Nurture in Wealth and Other Economic Outcomes and Behaviours,CEPR VoxEU.org, May 16, 2019. (Joint with Paul Devereux, Petter Lundborg, and Kaveh Majlesi.)

Your Birth Order Could Have an Effect on Future Earnings,” Marketplace.org, July 18, 2018.

FAIR – Coffee with Sandra Black on policy adviceNHH Norwegian School of Economics, May 8, 2018. 

Equitable Growth in Conversation: Sandra Black,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, May 24, 2017, by John Schmitt.

Labor Market Monopsonies and the Decline of the Labor Share: Q&A with Sandra Black,ProMarket.org, January 6, 2017, by Guy Rolnik.

Talks

Panelist, “Labor market policies, institutions and social norms,” Combating Inequality: Rethinking Policies to Reduce Inequality in Advanced EconomiesPIIE, October 18, 2019.

Panelist, “Research on TapUnbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It,” Washington Center for Equitable Growth, September 18, 2019.

Keynote Speaker, Inclusive Prosperity for Japan and the United States, Center for American Progress, March 2017.

Speaker, “Getting Her Money’s Worth: What Will It Take to Achieve Equal Pay?” Third Way, April 16, 2016.