Associate Professor
Department of Economics
University of Pittsburgh
Email: lesterlusher@pitt.edu
I am currently an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. I received my PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis, under the tutelage of many wonderful professors and especially from Scott Carrell, who chaired my dissertation committee. Upon receiving tenure, my colleague Marla Ripoll wrote the kind words below, describing my research agenda in far better fashion than I could have done myself (thank you!).
What is distinct about Lester’s research is the breadth of topics and methodologies employed, and the creativity to answer the questions explored. His research in labor economics has contributed to the understanding of how the existence of unemployment benefits affects workers’ productivity. His paper on this topic is seen as the best piece of evidence on the effect of unemployment insurance on output. Lester’s research in economics of education has explored, among many questions, the effect of sleep on the differential performance of boys and girls in grade school, and the impact of racial interactions between graduate TAs and undergraduates on students’ performance. Finally, his research on publishing in economics has used novel data on accepted and rejected papers at a top field journal in economics to uncover the biases in the refereeing and publication of papers, providing distinct insights. Lester is seen as an applied economist with a unique combination of skills; an out-of-the-box thinker who is willing to take risks to answer new and interesting questions.
Department of Economics
University of Pittsburgh
Email: lesterlusher@pitt.edu
I am currently an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. I received my PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis, under the tutelage of many wonderful professors and especially from Scott Carrell, who chaired my dissertation committee. Upon receiving tenure, my colleague Marla Ripoll wrote the kind words below, describing my research agenda in far better fashion than I could have done myself (thank you!).
What is distinct about Lester’s research is the breadth of topics and methodologies employed, and the creativity to answer the questions explored. His research in labor economics has contributed to the understanding of how the existence of unemployment benefits affects workers’ productivity. His paper on this topic is seen as the best piece of evidence on the effect of unemployment insurance on output. Lester’s research in economics of education has explored, among many questions, the effect of sleep on the differential performance of boys and girls in grade school, and the impact of racial interactions between graduate TAs and undergraduates on students’ performance. Finally, his research on publishing in economics has used novel data on accepted and rejected papers at a top field journal in economics to uncover the biases in the refereeing and publication of papers, providing distinct insights. Lester is seen as an applied economist with a unique combination of skills; an out-of-the-box thinker who is willing to take risks to answer new and interesting questions.
