Isaac M. Opper is an economist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He uses a wide range of empirical techniques to shed light on important policy questions. This includes applying existing statistical approaches to new research questions, as well as developing new econometric methods. Topics he has studied include teacher personnel policies and the measurement of teacher effectiveness, peer effects and their consequences for optimal allocation of individuals to job training programs, natural disasters and their impact on human capital and the local labor market, the New York City Community School Initiative, and training and education in the Army. Opper graduated with a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.
Selected Publications
Isaac M. Opper, R. Jisung Park, and Lucas Husted, "The Effect of Natural Disasters on Human Capital in the United States," Nature Human Behavior, 2023
Matthew Baird, John Engberg, and Isaac M. Opper, "Optimal Allocation of Seats in the Presence of Peer Effects: Evidence from a Job Training Program," Journal of Labor Economics, 41(2), 2023
William R. Johnston, John Engberg, Isaac M. Opper, Lisa Sontag-Padilla, and Lea Xenakis, Illustrating the Promise of Community Schools: An Assessment of the Impact of the New York City Community Schools Initiative, RAND Corporation (RR-3245), 2020
Isaac M. Opper, "Does Helping John Help Sue? Evidence of Spillovers in Education," American Economic Review, 109(3), 2019