David Autor

David Autor
Niccolò Caranti · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	David Autor
Birth date	1975
Birth place	Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Brown University; London School of Economics; Princeton University
Occupation	Economist; Professor
Employer	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known for	Research on labor economics, automation, income inequality

David Autor David H. Autor (born 1975) is an American labor economist and professor known for empirical research on technological change, trade, and labor markets. His work has influenced scholarship and policy debates involving automation, globalization, and wage dynamics in the United States. Autor's studies bridge quantitative analysis, administrative data, and policy-relevant topics, engaging audiences across academia, think tanks, and legislative forums.

Early life and education

Autor was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and raised in a family connected to local industry and education in New England. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University, later attending the London School of Economics for graduate coursework before earning a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. During his doctoral training he studied under scholars linked to labor economics and econometrics, developing skills in microeconomic theory, panel data analysis, and instrumental variables techniques taught in programs at NBER workshops and summer schools.

Academic career and positions

Autor joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he holds professorial appointments in the Department of Economics and cross‑appointments affiliated with centers focused on public policy and development. He has held visiting positions at institutions including Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and research affiliations with the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Russell Sage Foundation. Autor serves on editorial boards and advisory committees for journals and organizations such as The Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, and policy groups linked to the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute.

Research and contributions

Autor's research program centers on empirical analysis of labor-market outcomes in the context of technological change, trade, and demographic shifts. He produced influential work quantifying the labor-market effects of automation and computerization on employment and wages, employing methods like instrumental variables and event-study designs common in studies at NBER and in collaborations with scholars from Harvard and Stanford University. In a series of papers on the impact of import competition from China, Autor and coauthors used local labor-market exposure to document job displacement and wage declines in manufacturing regions, linking those effects to political outcomes such as voting patterns in the United States presidential election, 2016.

Autor contributed to the literature on task-based frameworks of labor, elaborating how routine tasks are susceptible to automation while nonroutine cognitive and social tasks remain complementary to technology, building on theories by scholars at MIT, Oxford University, and Carnegie Mellon University. His work on wage inequality traces the rise of returns to education and skill premia, engaging empirical traditions from studies at Columbia University and Yale University. Autor has also examined disability insurance, long-term unemployment, and the role of local institutions like unions and community colleges in mediating labor-market shocks, interacting with policy analyses from Congressional Budget Office reports and testimony before U.S. Congress committees.

Publications and major works

Autor's publication record includes articles in top journals such as The Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, and Journal of Political Economy, alongside book chapters and policy reports. Notable papers include collaborative studies on the "China shock" with coauthors affiliated with Princeton University and Harvard University, and influential essays on the task-content of jobs coauthored with researchers from INSEAD and University of Chicago. He has produced synthetic overviews for outlets connected to the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations, and contributed to edited volumes addressing technological change and social policy in the context of work by scholars at Stanford and Oxford.

Awards and honors

Autor's scholarship has been recognized with awards and fellowships from organizations including the John Bates Clark Medal‑contending recognition in discussions within American Economic Association circles, fellowships at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and prizes from associations tied to labor research such as the Society of Labor Economists. He has received honors and invited lectureships at institutions like Princeton University, Harvard University, and professional meetings organized by the Econometric Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Personal life and public engagement

Autor engages in public discourse through testimony before U.S. Congress committees, briefings for agencies such as the U.S. Department of Labor and participation in panels at forums hosted by the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He collaborates with policy researchers at the Brookings Institution and writes accessible summaries for audiences connected to the Financial Times and The New York Times readerships. Outside of research, Autor has family ties in New England and participates in mentoring doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows whose careers span institutions like Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Duke University.

Category:American economists Category:Labor economists Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty