Emma Rackstraw

Emma Rackstraw is a PhD candidate in Public Policy (Economics Track) at Harvard. She is on the job market in 2023-24. She was a visiting PhD candidate at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2022-23.

Her research is focused on understanding the decision-making processes and incentive systems facing key decision-makers in the U.S. criminal justice system and labor market, as well as how those decisions interact with systemic inequities. Her work uses theory and techniques from labor economics, experimental economics, and behavioral economics, as well as other disciplines like psychology and political science. She is a NSF GRFP Fellow.

She previously led the Crime and Political Economy & Governance sectors at J-PAL North America at MIT, was an Associate Fellow at the Office of Evaluation Sciences, and was a Research Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers.