John Engberg is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in applied statistical methods and microeconomics. Engberg's research spans the areas of education, health, labor markets, economic development, and crime. One theme that connects much of this work is the analysis of data that contain temporal and spatial dependencies; his evaluation of the impact of state enterprise zone programs on local housing and labor markets and his analysis of public school teachers' collective bargaining contracts exemplify this.
Engberg's ongoing projects include an evaluation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Intensive Partnership for Effective Teaching Initiative, a research study of the Wallace Foundation's Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, and two randomized control trials of education programs. These RCTs include evaluations of a restorative practices K-12 behavioral program and a new method for screening applicants for an advanced manufacturing training program delivered by a community college.
Prior to joining RAND, Engberg was an associate professor of economics at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. He also served as the research director of the Carnegie Mellon Census Data Research Center, one of only a few places in the United States where researchers can obtain access to confidential census data.
Engberg earned his Ph.D. in labor economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Selected Publications
Engberg J, Epple D, Imbrogno J, Sieg H, Zimmer R, "Evaluating Education Programs That Have Lotteried Admission and Selective Attrition," Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1):27-63, 2013
Engberg J, Gill B, Zamarro G, Zimmer R, "Closing Schools in a Shrinking District: Do Student Outcomes Depend on Which Schools are Closed?" Journal of Urban Economics, (1):189-203, 2012
Engberg J, Scharf DM, Lovejoy SL, Yu H, Tharp-Taylor S, Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Progress through 2011, RAND Corporation (TR-1261-ATSC), 2012
Castle NG, Engberg J, Lave JR, "Factors Associated with Increasing Nursing Home Closures," Health Services Research, 44(3):1088-1109, 2009
Engberg J, Morral A, "Reducing Substance Use Improves Adolescents' School Attendance," Addiction, (101):1741-1751, 2006
Babcock L, Engberg J, Greenbaum R, "Wage Spillovers in Public Sector Contract Negotiations: The Importance of Social Comparisons," Regional Science and Urban Economics, 35(4):395-416, 2005
Greenbaum R, Engberg J, "The Impact of State Enterprise Zones on Urban Manufacturing Establishments," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 23(2):315-339, 2004
