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Home > Economic Research > Meet the Economists
Alicia Sasser
Senior Economist
T: 617-973-3413
F: 617-973-3409
Alicia.Sasser@bos.frb.org
 
Education | Work experience | Publications | Presentations and Testimony | Public Service
Primary fields of research
Labor economics, health economics, public economics, inequality and social policy
 

Biography
Alicia Sasser is a Senior Economist in the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Sasser worked as an economist in the private sector and taught economics at Mount Holyoke College.

Her current research focuses on migration, housing affordability, expansions in health insurance coverage, and interactions between health and labor markets. Alicia's work has appeared in journals such as Health Affairs and the Journal of Human Resources and has been presented at annual meetings of the American Economic Association, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, and the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

Ms. Sasser earned both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University where she also served as a doctoral fellow in the Inequality and Social Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government.

 

Education

Ph.D., economics, Harvard University, 2001
National Science Foundation, Grant for Improving Doctoral Research (2001)
Inequality and Social Policy Fellowship, Harvard University (2000-2001)
Doctoral Fellow, Weiner Center for Social Policy, Kennedy School of Government (1999-2001)
A.M., economics, Harvard University, 2000
National Science Foundation Graduate Studies Fellowship (1997-2000)
Sumner Slichter Harvard University Fellowship for Study in Labor Economics (1998-1999)
Harvard University Graduate Studies Fellowship (1996-1997)
B.A., mathematics and economics, Boston University, magna cum laude, 1993
Robert F. Bruce Memorial Prize in Mathematics at Boston University (1993)
College Prize for Excellence in Economics at Boston University (1993)
Harold C. Case Scholarship at Boston University (1992)

Work experience

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Senior Economist, 2007-
Economist, 2005-2007
Research Assistant, 1993-1997
 
 
Mount Holyoke College
Assistant Professor, 2004-2005
 
Analysis Group, Inc.
Academic Affiliate, 2005
Associate, 2002-2004
 
Mathematica Policy Research
Economist, 2001-2002
 
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Research Assistant, 1997-2001
 
Harvard University
Teaching Fellow, 1999-2001
Economics Tutor, 1997-2001
Publications

Refereed journal articles

The Value Of Antihypertensive Drugs: A Perspective On Medical Innovation,” with David M. Cutler, Genia Long, Ernst R. Berndt, Jimmy Royer, Andrée-Anne Fournier, and Pierre Cremieux. Health Affairs. vol. 26, no. 1 (2007): 97-110.

“Gender Differences in Physician Pay: Tradeoffs Between Career and Family.” Journal of Human Resources. vol. 40, no. 2 (2005).

“Assessing the Economic Impact of Chronic Conditions in Post-Menopausal Women,” with Maida Taylor, Howard Birnbaum, Michael Schoenfeld, Emily Oster, and Matthew Rousculp. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy. vol. 6, no. 11 (September 2005): 1803-1814.

“Economic Burden of Osteoporosis, Breast Cancer, and Cardiovascular Disease Among Postmenopausal Women in an Employed Population,” with Matthew Rousculp, Howard Birnbaum, Emily Oster, Edward Lufkin, and David Mallet. Women’s Health Issues. vol. 15, no. 3 (2005): 97-108.

Working papers and other unpublished papers

“The Impact of Antihypertensive Drugs on the Number and Risk of Death, Stroke and Myocardial Infarction in the United States,”  with Genia Long, David Cutler, Ernst R. Berndt, Jimmy Royer, Andrée-Anne Fournier, Pierre Cremieux.  NBER Working Paper w12096: March 2006.

“The Impact of Managed Care on the Gender Earnings Gap Among Physicians.”  Revise and Resubmit, Industrial Labor & Relations Review, 2005.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publications

Retention of Recent College Graduates in New England.”  New England Public Policy Center Series, Policy Brief No. 09-2 (2009).

The Supply of Recent College Graduates in New England."” New England Public Policy Center Series, Policy Brief No. 09-1 (2009).

The Future of Skilled Labor:  New England’s Supply of Recent College Graduates.”  New England Economic Indicators, (January 2009).

The Future of the Skilled Labor Force in New England: The Supply of Recent College Graduates.” New England Public Policy Center Series, Research Report No. 08-1 (2008).

Reaching the Goal: Expanding Health Insurance Coverage in New England
Current Strategies and New Initiatives.
” New England Public Policy Center Series, Research Report No. 07-1 (2007).

Crowded out of the Housing Market.” with Darcy Rollins Saas.  New England Public Policy Center Series, Policy Brief No. 07-2 (2007).
 
The New England Rental Market.”  New England Public Policy Center Series, Policy Brief No. 07-1 (2007).

The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England: How Big a Problem? Why Is It Growing? What Are We Doing About It?” with Bo Zhao and Darcy Rollins Saas (with an overview by Robert Tannenwald), New England Public Policy Center Series, Working Paper No. 06-1 (2006).

The Potential Economic Impact of Increasing the Minimum Wage in Massachusetts.” New England Public Policy Center Series, Research Report No.  06-1 (2006).

Perspective: On State Tax Policy,” with Robert Tannenwald. Regional Review. vol. 7, no. 1 (1997).

Popular articles and other material

“The Future of the Skilled Labor Force.” The New England Journal of Higher Education, vol. XXIII, No. 3 (2009).

“Regional Economy Shows Steady Growth, but Slower than the Nation’s.” Women’s Business Journal, (January 2007).

“New England Recovery Continues, But Economy to Grow Slower than the Nation.” Women’s Business Journal, (January 2006).

“The Impact of Welfare Reform on Children’s Health and Nutritional Status,” with Phil Gleason, Mathematica Policy Research, Research Report (May 2002).

“A Snapshot of the Implementation of California’s Mental Health Parity Law,” with Timothy Lake, Cheryl Young, and Brian Quinn. Mathematica Policy Research, Research Report (February 2002).

“The Role of Gender and Family in the Labor Market.”  Doctoral dissertation.  Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University (2001).

Presentations and Testimony

“The Future of the Skilled Labor Force in New England: The Supply of Recent College Graduates.”  Presented to the New England Study Group, December 3, 2008.

“The Supply of Recent College Graduates.”  Presented to the Federal Reserve System Committee on Regional Analysis, November 6, 2008.

The Future of the Skilled Labor Force in New England: The Supply of Recent College Graduates.”  Presented at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce/Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Breakfast Meeting, September 18, 2008.

Remarks on “From New Paradigm to New Paradox: Understanding Greater Boston’s Housing Market Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2008.”  Presented at The Boston Foundation Breakfast Meeting, October 28, 2008.

Update on the New England Economy and Housing Market.”  Presented at the New England Realtor's Conference, March 3, 2008.

Remarks on “Securitized Non-Prime Mortgages: What, Where, and to Whom?” Presented at “Housing and the Built Environment:  Access, Finance, Policy. A Conference Honoring Professor Karl E. Case,” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, December 8, 2007.

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“Fiscal Challenges on the Horizon:  Expanding Health Insurance Coverage in New England.”  Keynote Address.  Presented at the Fifth Annual New England Public Finance Conference, October 22, 2007.

The Potential Economic Impact of Increasing the Minimum Wage.”  Presented at the House of Representatives Continuing Education Session “The Livable Wage”, January 11, 2007.

The Impact of Managed Care on the Gender Earnings Gap Among Physicians.” Presented at the American Economic Association Annual Meeting, January 6, 2007.

Reaching the Goal: Evaluating Policy Alternatives for Expanding Coverage.”  Presented at “Covering the Uninsured: Costs, Benefits, and Policy Alternatives for New England” New England Public Policy Center, Annual Conference, December 5, 2006.

“Extending Health Care Coverage in New England.”  Presented at “State Efforts to Extend Health Care Coverage,” National Tax Association Meetings, November 16, 2006.

“Voting with Their Feet?  High House Prices and Migration in New England.” 
Presented to the Federal Reserve System Committee on Regional Analysis, November 2, 2006.

"The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England: How Big a Problem? Why Is It Growing? What Are We Doing About It?”  Presented at "Housing and the Economy in Greater Boston: Trends, Impacts, and Potential Responses," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, May 22, 2006.

New England's Expensive Housing: Issues, Evidence, and Policies. ” with
 Bo Zhao.  Presented to Gordon College, February 23, 2006.

Understanding Housing Affordability in New England. ” with
 Bo Zhao.  Presented to the New England Study Group, December 6, 2005.

The State of Affordable Housing in Greater Boston.”  Presented as part of the John Laware Leadership Forum series, November 2, 2005.

“Gender Differences in Physician Pay.”  Presented at the American Economic Association Annual Meeting, January 5, 2003.

“The Impact of Managed Care on the Gender Earnings Gap Among Physicians.”  Presented at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Seminar Series, December 2001.

Public service

 
Editorial Board Member, Communities & Banking, 2006-2007

Advisor, Federal Reserve System Economic Advisory Group, 2007-

Referee:
Economic Journal
Labour Economics
Eastern Economic Journal
American Journal of Public Health

Book reviewer: 
Research in the Sociology of Work:  Workforce Diversity. Edited by Corinne Post and Nancy DiTomaso, New York:  Elsevier 2004.

 

 
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