Refining the Definition of the Unbanked
We propose a new way to classify individuals without a bank account, accounting for their actual interest in being banked.
Vegard M. Nygaard is an economist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. His recent work has examined barriers to Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, feasibility and impact of CalAccount, macroeconomic implications of artificial intelligence, and strategies to reduce the federal debt burden. Currently, Nygaard is a co-PI on a project that examines the impacts of expanding Nevada's healthcare sector. He is also a lead on both the RAND Budget Model project and a multi-year initiative aimed at rethinking social economic policy systems in an era marked by large and cross-cutting challenges, including AI and demographic shifts. He has broad experience leading projects sponsored by philanthropic organizations and federal and state government agencies. His research focuses on the macroeconomics of health care, with emphasis on the relationship between health insurance coverage and financial security, labor market implications of health insurance, and fiscal implications of aging populations. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Barron's, and The Minnesota Star Tribune. Prior to joining RAND, Nygaard was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Houston.
Nygaard holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota and both an M.Phil. and a B.A. in economics from the University of Oslo.
Education
Ph.D. in economics, University of Minnesota
Languages
Norwegian
Selected Work
- Elena Falcettoni and Vegard M. Nygaard, "Refining the Definition of the Unbanked," AEA Papers and Proceedings, 116, 2026
- Elena Falcettoni, Vegard M. Nygaard, "A Comparison of Living Standards Across the United States of America," International Economic Review, 64(2), 2023
- Vegard M. Nygaard, Bent E. Sørensen, Fan Wang, "Optimal Allocations to Heterogeneous Agents with an Application to Stimulus Checks," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 138, 2022
- Juan Carlos Conesa, Timothy J. Kehoe, Vegard M. Nygaard, Gajendran Raveendranathan, "Implications of Increasing College Attainment for Aging in General Equilibrium," European Economic Review, 122, 2020
- Juan Carlos Conesa, Daniela Costa, Parisa Kamali, Timothy J. Kehoe, Vegard M. Nygaard, Gajendran Raveendranathan, Akshar Saxena, "Macroeconomic Effects of Medicare," Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 11, 2018
Authored by Vegard M. Nygaard
11 Results
