Leigh Linden

Leigh L. Linden is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University with appointments in both the Department of Economics and the School of International and Public Affairs. He specializes in the fields of development and labor economics, exploring the microeconomic determinants of income inequality and poverty. He is particularly interested in the use of educational services and programs to improve the well-being of children from poor families, and the use of randomized evaluations both to test economic theories of human behavior and to assess the efficacy of social programs. His research investigates the economic determinants of the well-being of children. This includes both understanding how the provision of various types of educational resources affects the development of human capital and understanding the factors that determine the demand for education by both children and families.  He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics both from the University of Texas at Austin and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.