David Phillips

Research Professor of Economics

Area of Specialization

Housing, criminal justice, transportation, low-wage labor markets

Why LEO?

“I get to be inspired and challenged every day by the work of amazing people who have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others. I get to work with them to amplify the voices of those facing poverty so that their experiences improve the local programs in which they participate and the broader policies that shape their lives. 

Many researchers evaluate the effectiveness of anti-poverty interventions, but few organizations encourage us to partner sustainably with service providers. Collaborations with service providers are messier and more likely to fail than research projects completed in an office. The beautiful aspect of being research faculty is that I can take the time to invest in long-term projects and relationships with partners doing incredible work across the country.”

Bio

As research faculty, David is a professor who conducts LEO research full-time. He collaborates with service providers to measure the differences their services make in the lives of their clients and in the fight against poverty. For each project, David leads the academic side of the partnership and helps design the research evaluation, implement it, and analyze the data. He received his BA in Economics and Mathematics from Butler University and his PhD in Economics from Georgetown University. David specializes in housing, criminal justice, transportation, and low-wage labor market research.

Read more about David.