Camille Hanks

Camille Hanks
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Name	Camille Hanks
Birth date	1984
Birth place	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Occupation	Economist; Policy Analyst; Author
Alma mater	Vanderbilt University; University of Chicago
Notable works	"Markets and Margins" (2016); "Debt and Dignity" (2021)
Awards	Carnegie Fellowship; Guggenheim Fellowship

Camille Hanks is an American economist, policy analyst, and author known for work on poverty, financial inclusion, and urban labor markets. Her career spans academia, think tanks, and government advisory roles, with publications in leading journals and books aimed at both scholarly and public audiences. Hanks has combined empirical field research with policy engagement, influencing debates in cities such as New York City, Chicago, and New Orleans and advising institutions including the Brookings Institution, the World Bank, and the Federal Reserve System.

Early life and education

Hanks was born in New Orleans and grew up in a family connected to local civic institutions such as Tulane University and Louisiana State University. She attended Benjamin Franklin High School before earning a B.A. in economics from Vanderbilt University, where she studied under faculty associated with Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureates and participated in research projects linked to the National Bureau of Economic Research at Harvard University. Hanks completed her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago, working with scholars from the Booth School of Business and collaborating with researchers from the Chicago Policy Review, the Urban Institute, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Career

Hanks's early career combined academic posts and policy roles. She served as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and as an assistant professor at Columbia University, holding an affiliation with the School of International and Public Affairs. She later joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow, working alongside scholars associated with the Hamilton Project and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Hanks has been a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Her policy work informed municipal initiatives in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, and she has briefed policymakers from the White House and members of the United States Congress.

Research and publications

Hanks's research focuses on labor markets, household finance, and urban policy, often employing field experiments and administrative data. She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, and the Review of Economic Studies. Her books include "Markets and Margins" (2016), which examined wage dynamics in Detroit and Cleveland manufacturing corridors, and "Debt and Dignity" (2021), a synthesis aimed at policymakers in Washington, D.C. and practitioners at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In empirical work, Hanks collaborated with scholars at Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University to analyze credit access among households using data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She led randomized controlled trials in partnership with municipal governments in New York City and Chicago to test interventions modeled after programs run by Kiva and Grameen Bank. Hanks contributed chapters to edited volumes published by the Russell Sage Foundation and produced policy briefs for the Urban Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Aspen Institute.

Her op-eds and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Economist, where she translated complex econometric findings for general audiences and engaged with debates on minimum wage policy, universal basic income pilots championed in cities like Stockton, California, and reforms to banking regulation debated at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Awards and honors

Hanks has received multiple fellowships and awards. She was awarded a Carnegie Fellowship to support interdisciplinary work linking economics and sociology, a Guggenheim Fellowship for research on informal labor markets, and a National Science Foundation grant for field experiments. Academic honors include the National Academy of Sciences early-career award, a prize from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and a teaching award from Columbia University. She has been elected to advisory panels for the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and she served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Labor Economics and the Journal of Human Resources.

Personal life

Hanks resides in Brooklyn, New York City, and is active in civic organizations linked to New Orleans cultural preservation, the Smithsonian Institution, and local chapter activities of the American Economic Association. She serves on the boards of nonprofits such as Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Opportunity International. Hanks is a frequent public speaker at venues including the United Nations, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Category:American economists Category:People from New Orleans Category:Vanderbilt University alumni Category:University of Chicago alumni