Pinghui.Wu@bos.frb.org
Personal Website
Biography
Pinghui Wu is a senior economist with the New England Public Policy Center in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department. Her primary research field is labor economics in topics concerning employment dynamics, poverty and inequality, and the effect of labor market and social welfare policies on worker well-being.
Wu received a joint PhD and MA/MSW in economics and social work from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in social work from National Taiwan University. Prior to joining the Boston Fed in 2021, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.
Work Experience
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Senior Economist, 2025–
Economist, 2021–2025
Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019–2021
Education
PhD, Economics and Social Work, University of Michigan, 2019
MA, Economics, University of Michigan, 2015
Master of Social Work, University of Michigan, 2013
Bachelor of Social Work, National Taiwan University, 2008
Publications
Journal articles
“Unemployment Insurance and Opioid Overdose Mortality in the United States,” with Michael Evangelist. 2022. Demography 59(2). https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-9772414
“Emergency Unemployment Benefits and Health Care Spending During Covid,” with Michael Evangelist and H. Luke Shaefer. 2021. Health Services Research 2021: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13772
“The Decline of Cash Assistance and the Well-Being of Poor Households with Children,” with H. Luke Shaefer, Kathryn Edin, and Vincent Fusaro. 2020. Social Forces 98(3): 1000–1025, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz020
Working papers
“Educational Attainment and the Evolution of Cumulative Earnings across 45 US Birth Cohorts,” with Annie Liu. 2026. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 26-5. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2026.05
“Educational Attainment and Wage Growth in New England: Evidence from Four Decades of Administrative Wage Records,” with Annie Liu. 2026. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston New England Public Policy Center Research Reports No. 26-1.
“Geographic Mobility Trends: New Englanders Still Aren’t Moving as Much as They Did before the Pandemic.” 2024. New England Public Policy Center Regional Briefs 24-3.
“Credit Access and the College-persistence Decision of Working Students: Policy Implications for New England,” with Lucy McMillan. 2023. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston New England Public Policy Center Research Reports No. 23-2
“Job Loss, Credit Card Loans, and the College-persistence Decision of US Working Students,” with Lucy McMillan. 2023. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 23-19. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2023.19
“Government Transfers and Consumer Spending among Households with Children during COVID-19,” with Vincent Fusaro and H. Luke Shaefer. 2022. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 22-17. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2022.17
“Wage Inequality and the Rise in Labor Force Exit: The Case of US Prime-Age Men.” 2022. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department Working Papers No. 22-16. https://doi.org/10.29412/res.wp.2022.16