Biography
Scott Schuh is the director of the Consumer Payments Research Center and an economist in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He has served as an economist for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, and as a research associate at the U.S. Census Bureau. Schuh has taught at Johns Hopkins University and Boston College.

Schuh's research focuses on the implications of microeconomic heterogeneity for macroeconomic behavior in a wide variety of applications. Much of this work has involved developing and analyzing data on employment changes at U.S. manufacturing plants and studying the role of gross job flows in aggegate fluctuations, as documented in two co-authored books: the award-winning and critically acclaimed Job Creation and Destruction (1996), and Job Creation, Job Destruction, and International Competition (2003). His other important research focuses on the roles of investment (especially inventories), technology, and monetary policy in business cycles, and on the role of productivity in growth. His latest research involves developing new data to study consumer payment choice and its implications for monetary theory. His research is published in scholarly journals, including the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and the Journal of International Economics.

Schuh earned a B.A. from California State University, Sacramento in 1985, and a Ph.D. and M.A. (economics) from Johns Hopkins University in 1992.

Education

Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1992

M.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1992

B.A., California State University, Sacramento, 1985

Work experience

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Director, Consumer Payments Research Center and Economist, 2008-

Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, 2005-2008
Assistant Vice President and Economist, 2002-2004

Senior Economist, 2000-2002
Economist, 1997-2000

 

Boston College, Department of Economics, Adjunct Professor, 2004

 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Division of Research and Statistics, Macroeconomics and Quantitative Studies Section

Economist, 1991-1997

 

Johns Hopkins University, Department of Economics

Adjunct Professor, 1996

 

U.S. Census Bureau, Boston Regional Data Center

Research Associate, 1997-2004

 

U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Research Associate, 1992-1997

Publications

Refereed journal articles

“Productivity and U.S. Macroeconomic Performance: Interpreting the Past and Predicting the Future with a Two-Sector Real Business Cycle Model,"with Peter N. Ireland. Review of Economic Dynamics, forthcoming 2008.

“Interest Sensitivity and Volatility Reductions: Cross-Section Evidence,” with F. Owen Irvine. International Journal of Production Economics. 108(1-2): 31-42 (July 2007). Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 05-4 (2005).

“Inventory investment and output volatility,” with F. Owen Irvine. International Journal of Production Economics. 93-94(4): 75-86 (2005). Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 02-6 (2002).

“Job Creation, Job Destruction, and the Real Exchange Rate,” with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest. Journal of International Economics. 59(2): 239-265 (2003). Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 02-8 (2002).

 “Monetary Policy, Housing Investment, and Heterogeneous Regional Markets,” with Michael Fratantoni. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 35(4): 557-589 (2003). Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 00-1 (2000).

 “Input and Output Inventories,” with Brad R. Humphreys and Louis J. Maccini. Journal of Monetary Economics. 47(2): 347-375 (2001). Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 97-7 (1997).

“Gross Job Flows and Firms,” with Robert K. Triest. 1999 Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Government Statistics Section: 13-22. Previously issued as FRB Boston Series, paper no. 99-10 (1999).

“Review of Industrial Evolution in Developing Countries,” Mark J. Roberts and James R. Tybout, eds. Journal of Economic Literature. 36(2): 946 (1998).

“Estimating the Linear-Quadratic Inventory Model: Maximum Likelihood versus Generalized Method of Moments,” with Jeffrey C. Fuhrer and George R. Moore. Journal of Monetary Economics. 35(1): 115-157 (1995).

“Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing the Facts,” with Steven J. Davis and John C. Haltiwanger, in Labor Markets, Employment Policy, and Job Creation, Lewis C. Solomon and Alec R. Levenson, eds. Boulder, CO: Westview Press: 169-199. Reprinted in Small Business Economics: An International Journal. 8(4): 297-315 (August 1996). Abridged version in Business Economics. 29(3): 13-21 (July 1994).

“Published versus Sample Statistics from the ASM: Implications for the LRD,” with Steven J. Davis and John C. Haltiwanger. 1990 Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economic Statistics Section.

Other journal articles

 “The Evolution of Regional Manufacturing Employment: Gross Job Flows within and between Firms and Industries,” with Robert K. Triest.  New England Economic Review.  (Third Quarter 2002).

“An Evaluation of Recent Macroeconomic Forecast Errors.” New England Economic Review. (January/February 2001).

“The Role of Firms in Job Creation and Destruction in U.S. Manufacturing,” with Robert K. Triest.  New England Economic Review. (March/April 2000).

“Gross Job Flows Between Plants and Industries,” with John C. Haltiwanger. New England Economic Review.  (March/April 1999).

“Beyond Shocks: What Causes Business Cycles? An Overview,” with Jeffrey C. Fuhrer. New England Economic Review.  (November/December 1998).

 “Perspective: Untangling the Causes of Recessions,” with Robert K. Triest. Regional Review.  8(1) (Quarter 4, 1998).

Books and book chapters

Job Creation, Job Destruction and International Competition, with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest. Kalamazoo, MI: The Upjohn Institute, 2003.

Beyond Shocks: What Causes Business Cycles? edited with Jeffrey C. Fuhrer. Proceedings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Conference Series no. 42, 1998.

“Beyond Shocks: What Causes Business Cycles? An Overview,” with Jeffrey C. Fuhrer. Proceedings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Conference Series no. 42, 1998.

“Job Reallocation and the Business Cycle: New Facts for an Old Debate,” with Robert Triest, in Beyond Shocks: What Causes Business Cycles? Proceedings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Conference Series no. 42, 1998.

Job Creation and Destruction, with Steven J. Davis and John C. Haltiwanger. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996.

Working papers and other unpublished papers

"The 2008 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice" with Kevin Foster, Erik Meijer and Michael A. Zabek. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Papers Series, paper no. 09-10, (2009)

"Why Are (Some) Consumers (Finally) Writing Fewer Checks? The Role of Payment Characteristics" with Joanna Stavins. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 09-1 (2009).

"Summary of the Workshop on Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice" with Joanna Stavins. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Papers Series, paper no. 08-5 (2008).

"Input and Output Inventories in General Equilibrium" with Matteo Iacoviello and Fabio Schiantarelli. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 07-16 (2007).

“Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice: 2006 Conference Summary” with Margaret Carten, Dan Littman, and Joanna Stavins.  FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Papers Series, paper no. 07-4 (2007).

“The Boston Fed Study of Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice: A Survey of Federal Reserve System Employees,” with Marques Benton, Krista Blair, and Marianne Crowe.  FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Papers Series, paper no. 07-1 (2007).

“Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice: A Conference Summary,” with Marianne Crowe and Joanna Stavins. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, paper no. 06-1 (2006).

“Input and Output Inventories in General Equilibrium,” with Matteo Iacoviello and Fabio Schiantarelli.  Boston College working paper no. 658.

“The Roles of Comovement and Inventory Investment in the Reduction of Output Volatility,” with F. Owen Irvine. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 05-9 (2005).

“Inventory Investment and Output Volatility,” with Owen Irvine. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 02-6 (2002).

 “Job Creation, Job Destruction, and International Competition: Job Flows and Trade – The Case of NAFTA,” with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 02-8 (2002).

“Job Creation, Job Destruction, and International Competition: A Literature Review,” with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 02-7 (2002).

“Monetary Policy, Housing Investment, and Heterogeneous Regional Markets,” with Michael Fratantoni. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 00-1 (2000).

“Gross Job Flows and Firms,” with Robert K. Triest. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 99-10 (1999).

“Job Creation, Job Destruction, and the Real Exchange Rate,” with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 99-11 (1999).

 “Input and Output Inventories,” with Brad R. Humphreys and Louis J. Maccini. FRB Boston Working Papers Series, paper no. 97-7 (1997).

“Evidence of the Link Between Firm-Level and Aggregate Inventory Behavior.” Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economics Discussion Series, paper no. 1996-46, November (1996).

Other material

“Permanent and Temporary Job Flows and the Real Exchange Rate,” with Michael W. Klein and Robert K. Triest, unpublished (October 2003).

“Detrending and Inventory Behavior,” with Brad Humphreys, unpublished. (June 2001).

“Macroeconomic Implications of the Relationship Between Plant and Industry Gross Job Flows,” with John C. Haltiwanger, unpublished. (July 1999).

“Credit Market Conditions and Inventory Investment,” with Louis J. Maccini, unpublished. (January 1995).

“Specification and Estimation of the New FRB/MPS Quarterly Macroeconomic Model,” with Patrick Kennedy and David Reifschneider, unpublished. (January 1995).

Public service

Chair and organizer, “Consumer Payment Choices: Rational or Irrational Behavior,” AEA/ASSA meetings, 2008 (January).

Chair and organizer, “Consumer Payment Choices: Rational or Irrational Behavior,” WEAI meetings, 2007 (July).

Chair and organizer, International Society for Inventory Research (ISIR) session, ASSA meetings, 2002, 1995 (January).

Referee: American Economic Review; Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica; Journal of Monetary Economics; International Economic Review; Review of Economic Studies; Review of Economics and Statistics; Journal of Money, Credit and Banking; European Economic Review, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics; Journal of International Economics; Journal of Business; Journal of Macroeconomics; Journal of Labor Economics; Labour Economics; Journal of Productivity Analysis; National Science Foundation; Journal of Business; Journal of Applied Econometrics; Small Business Economics; Managerial and Decision Economics; Southern Economic Journal; and others.

Judge and advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Fed Challenge, 1998-

Member, Board of Advisors, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Center for Urban and Ministerial Education (CUME), Boston MA, 2003-

President, Boosters Club, Lexington (MA) Christian Academy, 2004-2006