Affiliations
- Associate Professor, Department of Economics, CU Boulder
- Associate Editor, Journal of Human Resources
- Research Fellow, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
- National Fellow, Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality
- Faculty Affiliate, Population Program, CU Population Center
- Faculty Affiliate, Lab for Economic Opportunity, Notre Dame
- Invited Researcher, J-PAL North America
Research Areas
- Immigration
- Human Capital Investment
- Behavioral Economics
- Program Evaluation
- Active Labor Market Programs
Curriculum Vitae
Publications
- The International Transmission of Local Economic Shocks Through Migrant Networks (with Maria Esther Caballero and Brian Kovak), Journal of International Economics 145, November 2023
- Prior version released as NBER Working Paper 28696
- Performance Pay, Productivity, and Strategic Opt-Out: Evidence from a Community Health Center (with Austin C. Smith) Journal of Public Economics 206, February 2022.
- Prior version released as IZA Discussion Paper No. 12586
- Investment Over the Business Cycle: Insights from College Major Choice (with Erica Blom and Ben Keys), Journal of Labor Economics 39(4), October 2021.
- Prior version released as IZA Discussion Paper No. 9167
- Press Coverage: Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Chicago Tribune, Inside Higher Ed, IZA Newsroom, Vox, Reuters, Boulder Daily Camera
- Measuring Sub-National Migration Patterns using Matriculas Consulares (with Maria Esther Caballero and Brian Kovak) Demography 55(3) pp. 1119–1145, June 2018
- The Labor Market Consequences of Impatience, IZA World of Labor, 2016:233
- Commentary summarizing implications: Impatience, schooling, and happiness
- Updated version (adds Ben Keys as co-author), IZA World of Labor, 2022:233
- Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession (with Brian Kovak), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8(1), pp. 257–90, January 2016.
- Press Coverage:Slate, Marginal Revolution, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Atlantic
- Summaries:VoxEU, NBER Digest, IRP Focus
- Human Capital and the Lifetime Costs of Impatience, (with Ben Keys) American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7(3), pp. 126–153, August 2015.
- The Labor Market Integration and Impacts of U.S. Immigrants (with Brian Duncan and Steve Trejo), in Handbook of the Economics of International Migration, Barry R. Chiswick and Paul W. Miller eds., Volume 1B, pp. 1197–1259, Elsevier, 2015.
- Recent Immigrants as Labor Market Arbitrageurs: Evidence from the Minimum Wage, Journal of Urban Economics 80, pp.1–12, March 2014
- Native Competition and Low-Skilled Immigrant Inflows Journal of Human Resources, 48(4) pp. 910–944, Fall 2013
- Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money: Evidence from Interest-Free Student Loans (with Ben Keys) Review of Economics and Statistics 95(4), pp.1117–1129 October 2013
- The Dynamics of Food Stamp Receipt after Welfare Reform among Current and Former Welfare Recipients (with Sheldon Danziger and Kristin Seefeldt) in Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States, D. Joliffe and J. Ziliak, eds., pp.103–133, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2008.
- Measuring State Welfare Policy Changes: Why Don't They Explain Caseload and Employment Outcomes? (with Sheldon Danziger and Kristin Seefeldt) Social Science Quarterly, 87(4), pp. 808–817, December 2006
Working Papers
- Taking a Chance on Workers: Evidence on the Effects and Mechanisms of Subsidized Employment from an RCT (with Tania Barham and Patrick Turner), November 2023, under review
- Prior version available as IZA Discussion Paper No. 16221
Work In Progress
- An Impact Evaluation of the CW-STEP Program (with Tania Barham and Lauren Schechter)
- An Impact Evaluation of the NPower Tech Fundamentals Program (with Tania Barham and Patrick Turner)
- Migrant Networks and the Labor Market Impact of Mexican Migration to the US (with Maria Esther Caballero, Brian Kovak, and Marieke Kleemans)
Resting Papers
- The Extent and Consequences of Attrition in the Women's Employment Study (2006), (with Andreas Pape)
Teaching
Student Meetings: https://calendly.com/brian-cadena
Awards
- 2015-2016 Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award in Teaching and Pedagogy, CU Boulder
- 2011-2012 Stanford Calderwood Faculty Teaching Award, CU Boulder Department of Economics
Courses Taught
- ECON 4848 Applied Econometrics
- ECON 8686 Labor Economics 2
- ECON 8848 Applied Microeconometrics
- ECON 4309 Economics Honors Seminar I
Latest Update
November 2023