Jeffrey B. Liebman

Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy
Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy
Office Address
Taubman-380
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 104
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-495-8518
Fax: 617-496-2850
Email: jeffrey_liebman@Harvard.Edu
Assistant
Elizabeth Steffen (617-495-5066)
Jeffrey Liebman

Profile

Jeffrey B. Liebman, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy, teaches courses in public sector economics and American economic policy. In his research, he studies tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty, and income inequality. Recent research has examined the impacts of government programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Social Security, and housing vouchers. During the first two years of the Obama Administration, Liebman worked at OMB, first as Executive Associate Director and Chief Economist and then as Acting Deputy Director. From 1998 to 1999, Liebman served as Special Assistant to the President for economic policy and coordinated the Clinton Administration's Social Security reform technical working group. Liebman received his BA from Yale University and his MA and PhD in economics from Harvard.

Courses

Spring

Media Expertise

Jeffrey Liebman welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles
    • Liebman, Jeffrey B., Erzo F.P. Luttmer, and David G. Seif. "Labor Supply Responses to Marginal Social Security Benefits: Evidence from Discontinuities." Journal of Public Economics 93.11-12 (December 2009): 1119-1284.
    • Ludwig, Jens, Jeffrey R. Kling, Lawrence F. Katz, Lisa Sanbonmatsu, Jeffrey Liebman, Greg J. Duncan, and Ronald C. Kessler. "What Can We Learn about Neighborhood Effects from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment?" American Journal of Sociology 114.1 (July 2008): 144-188.
    • Kling, Jeffrey R., Jeffrey Liebman, and Lawrence F. Katz. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects." Econometrica 75.1 (January 2007): 83-119.
    • Duflo, Esther, William Gale, Jeffrey Liebman, Peter Orszag, and Emmanuel Saez. "Saving Incentives for Low and Middle Income Families: Evidence from a Field Experiment with H&R Block." Quarterly Journal of Economics CXXI.4 (November 2006): 1311-1346.
    • Katz, Lawrence F., Jeffrey R. Kling, and Jeffrey B. Liebman. "Moving to Opportunity in Boston: Early Results of a Randomized Mobility Experiment." Quarterly Journal of Economics 116.2 (May 2001): 607-654.
  • Book Chapters
    • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. “The Distributional Effects of an Investment-based Social Security System.” The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. Ed. Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey Liebman. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. “Redistribution in the Current U.S. Social Security System.” The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. Ed. Martin Feldstein and Jeffrey Liebman. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. “The Optimal Design of the Earned Income Tax Credit.” Making Work Pay: The Earned Income Tax Credit and Its Impact on American Families. Ed. Bruce D. Meyer and Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Russell Sage Foundation, 2002.
    • Elmendorf, Douglas, Jeffrey Liebman, and David Wilcox. “Fiscal Policy and Social Security Policy During the 1990s.” American Economic Policy in the 1990s. Ed. Jeffrey Frankel and Peter Orszag. MIT Press, 2002.
    • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. “Social Security.” Handbook of Public Economics, Volume 4. Ed. Alan J. Auerbach and Martin Feldstein. Elsevier, 2002.
    • Ellwood, David, and Jeffrey Liebman. "The Middle Class Parent Penalty: Child Benefits in the U.S. Tax Code." Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 15. Ed. James M. Poterba. MIT Press, 2001.
  • Commentary
    • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman. "Realizing the Potential of China's Social Security Pension System." China Economic Times, February 24, 2006.
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. “Social Security Meets Race.” Science, 309.5743, September 23, 2005: 1965.
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. "Is Social Security Unfair to the Poor?" Washington Post, July 29, 2001.
  • Edited Volumes
    • Brown, Jeffrey R., David A. Wise, and Jeffrey B. Liebman., eds. Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment. University of Chicago Press, 2009.
    • Feldstein, Martin, and Jeffrey Liebman, eds. The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform. University of Chicago Press, 2002.
  • Magazine and Newspaper Articles
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. "Reforming Social Security: Not All Privatization Schemes Are Created Equal." Harvard Magazine March-April 2005: 30-35.
  • Research Papers/Reports
    • Liebman, Jeffrey, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Simple Humans, Complex Insurance, Subtle Subsidies." NBER Working Papers 14330, September 2008.
    • Liebman, Jeffrey. "The Role of Annuities in a Reformed U.S. Social Security System." AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper, December 2002.