Research Professionals

The Initiative on Global Markets (IGM) hires research professionals with undergraduate degrees in economics or in fields with related skills such as statistics, mathematics, or computer science.

This is a full-time position involving work for Chicago Booth faculty members associated with the Initiative on Global Markets.

We have designed the position to be an ideal transitional job for recent graduates who are deciding whether to go to graduate school in economics, finance, or accounting. Our research professionals gain experience working for some of the world’s top researchers in these fields and get to see what a career doing first-rate academic research involves. Typically, research professionals work for the initiative for about two years before going on to doctoral programs in economics or finance at top schools or to other careers in economics, business, or related disciplines.

An applicant should have training in econometrics, mathematical statistics, or both, as well as good computer skills. For example, experience working with statistical packages such as STATA or SAS, or a programming language such as C, would be an advantage. The job also requires training in economics through the level of intermediate theory. The applicant must also write well.

How to Apply for a Research Professional Position

Please complete the application form (PDF) and email it along with your resume and a copy of your transcripts to Peggy Eppink. Also, have at least one recommendation letter sent directly to Peggy Eppink.

Past

Tu Cao, 2016–2018

Tu Cao assisted Professor Amir Sufi with his research on the role of partisan bias in shifting economic expectations and its potential effects on consumption expenditures. She also worked on the European private-firm level dataset from Bureau van Dijk.

Previously, she assisted Professor Eric Budish with his research in market design. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dickinson College in 2016 with a BSc in Economics and Mathematics. Prior to IGM she worked for Moody’s Analytics as a research intern. Her current research interests include econometrics as well as monetary macroeconomics.

After working with IGM for two years, she entered the PhD program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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Seongjin Park, 2015–17

Seongjin Park assisted Professor Sufi examining the announcement effects of credit facility. He also constructed IGM's GDP and Personal Income dataset by working on the database of the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

While at Chicago Booth, he assisted Professor Sufi with his research on the effect of gas price changes on consumption behavior and working on the database of Bureau of Labor Statistics to construct a comprehensive dataset of inflation, employment and wages.

Park graduated from Korea University with bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and Financial Engineering. He also earned a MA degree in Economics from Duke University. His research interests include the development of capitalism, corporate governance, investment, and household finance.

After working with IGM for two years, he entered the PhD program at the University of Chicago.

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Yingcong (Michael) Tang, 2013–14

Michael assisted professor Anil Kashyap studying US monetary policies and banking systems. He also helped professors Christian Leuz and Bryan Kelly with their research projects.

Tang received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a Master of Financial Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining IGM, he was a research assistant of professor Hanno Lustig at UCLA and worked in a hedge fund as a summer associate.

After working with IGM for one year, he entered the PhD in finance program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Bruno Pellegrino, 2012–14

Bruno Pellegrino assisted professor Luigi Zingales in researching the Italian economy, and assisted professor Christian Leuz in researching credit risk premia in the high-yield bond market.

He has a BSc in International Economics from Bocconi University of Milan and a MSc in Finance & Economics from the London School of Economics. Before joining the Initiative on Global Markets he spent 1.5 years in London working as a junior economist and strategist for Credit Suisse.

In the fall of 2014, Pellegrino entered the doctoral program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Conor Devitt, 2011–13

Conor Devitt worked with professors Anil Kashyap and Austan Goolsbee on corporate cash holdings and investment activity during the financial crisis.

Devitt graduated from the University of Dublin, Trinity College with a bachelor's degree in electronic and computer engineering (2007) and an MSc in economics (2008). He then worked for two years in energy economics at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin before moving to Chicago to join the IGM.

After completing his time at the IGM, he entered the MBA program here at Chicago Booth.

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Cecilia Gamba, 2010–12

Cecilia Gamba worked with professor Luigi Zingales on executive compensation and bonus incentive schemes.

Gamba studied at the University of Bologna, Italy, where she completed both her bachelor's degree (2006) and her master's degree (2008) in economics, with a focus on economic policy. In her thesis, she analyzed the effects of different school quality on economic growth in the Italian regions. During her studies, she participated in academic exchanges at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. Her interests include economics of education and human capital.

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László Jakab, 2010–12

László Jakab worked with professor Christian Leuz and studied the effect of conflict-of-interest disclosure on the perceived quality of medical research.

He is also coauthoring a working paper on the response of US state economies to natural disasters and the monetary return on FEMA disaster relief with professors Ali Hortaçsu and Tobias Moskowitz.

Jakab graduated from the University of Chicago in 2010 with a major in economics. As an undergraduate he was a research assistant for professor Hortaçsu. His research interests include studying the effect of social interactions on economic decision making.

After his work with the IGM, Jakab went on to pursue his PhD in economics here at the University of Chicago.

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Denis Echtchenko, 2009–10

During his stay with the IGM, Denis Echtchenko worked with professor Christian Leuz on studies dealing with fair-value accounting during the financial crisis of 2008–09, international patterns in securities regulation, and the effect of conflict-of-interest disclosures on the citing patterns in medical research.

Echtchenko graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago in 2009 with a double major in economics and history (with honors). He left the IGM after accepting a position with an investment bank.

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Denrick Bayot, 2008–09

Denrick Bayot assisted professor Luigi Zingales on corporate governance and its relation to the 2008 financial crisis and assisted professor Christian Leuz on financial regulation and conflict-of-interest disclosures.

Bayot earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics with honors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2008. In 2009, he completed his master's degree in mathematical science, also from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to conducting research in economics, he published in the area of combinatorics/graph theory. His personal research includes assessing the impact of remittances on household child labor decisions in Mexico and finding the friendly-index set of various graphs.

Bayot entered the PhD program in the University of Chicago Department of Economics in the fall of 2009.

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Ashish Shenoy, 2008–10

At the IGM, Ashish Shenoy worked with professor Christian Leuz on evaluating international financial accounting standards and fair-value reporting in the United States, with professor Adair Morse on tracking the spending of large sovereign wealth funds, and with professor Anil Kashyap on pricing strategies for large retailers using the Dominick's data from the Kilts database.

Shenoy graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in economics (with honors and with distinction) in 2008. He wrote his thesis on the integration of world wheat markets.

In the fall of 2010, he entered the doctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Biliana Kassabova, 2007–08

Biliana Kassabova worked with professor Anil Kashyap on pricing using the Kilts database for Dominick's data, with professor Raghuram Rajan on creating reports on the state of the financial sectors of the Indian economy, and with professor Brian Barry on research on business and politics.

Kassabova graduated from the University of Chicago with a double major in economics and Romance languages and literatures (with honors) in 2007.

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Bennett Surajat, 2007–08

Bennett Surajat was involved in research projects that studied investment spikes, corporate fraud, and monetary policy.

In 2007, Surajat graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in economics (with honors) from Carleton College. At Carleton, he was a teaching assistant for Pavel Kapinos. Surajat wrote his senior thesis on the convergence mechanism among core EU members.

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