Projects for the Dedicated Research Fellow Track

Rebecca Lester, Associate Professor of Accounting, and Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato, the Edward P. Rust Professor of Economics, are recruiting one research fellow who will work on projects studying the effects of tax policies on businesses, including effects on investment decisions, workers, and financial reporting choices. The research will include work with large administrative datasets and collaboration with a broader team of Stanford GSB RF’s and post-docs as part of the Stanford Initiative for Business, Taxation, and Society. Due to the classification of some administrative datasets, U.S. citizenship may be prioritized during the selection process.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, Economics or Accounting major is not required. Knowledge of Stata, SQL, R, or other programming experience required.

Ron Kasznik, the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Professor of Management and Maureen McNichols, the Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Accounting and Public and Private Management, are looking to hire a pre-doctoral research fellow to work on research projects on corporate reporting and governance. The projects include analysis of large data related to corporate financial and nonfinancial reporting, the role of key gatekeepers in supporting and monitoring financial reporting quality, and the role of the regulatory environment. Projects also include investigation of the roles cultural norms play in shaping corporate financial and investment decisions, and how company disclosure choices help manage investors’ perceptions about the firm’s economic performance. The research projects contribute to literatures in accounting, economics and sociology, and apply a variety of methods, including AI, Large Language Models, structural modeling and machine learning. Results from the research are policy relevant and of interest to general media.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, a strong quantitative background, excellent computer programming skills, including strong ability in statistical programs (preferably R and Python, with some facility with SAS and Stata), and a serious interest in pursuing research in accounting. Some prior coursework in accounting is helpful but students majoring in economics, finance, and computer science are also welcome to apply. Previous research experience is a plus. A focus on attention to detail and careful data analysis is key.

Jinwhan Kim, Associate Professor of Accounting, and Suzie Noh, Assistant Professor of Accounting, are recruiting a pre-doc research fellow to work on projects that examine the nuanced relationships between corporate disclosures and key domains such as innovation, consumption, and ESG. Professor Kim’s research focuses on the economic consequences of corporate disclosure. His research investigates how traditional and non-traditional forms of corporate disclosure affect capital markets and real outcomes. Professor Noh’s research delves into the interactions between corporate disclosure and consumption dynamics, exploring questions like how financial reporting impacts the consumption of durable and non-durable goods.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or higher, a strong quantitative background, excellent computer programming skills (e.g., SAS, Stata, Python, or R), and a serious interest in pursuing a PhD in accounting. A background in finance/accounting/economics is helpful but not necessary.

Rebecca Lester, Associate Professor of Accounting, is recruiting one research fellow to work on a variety of projects related to the effects of business taxation issues on firm investment, firm employment, and firm reporting. Examples of tax policies examined include: (i) international tax topics, such as cross-border income shifting; (ii) federal tax policies, such as R&D incentives, and (iii) state and local policies, such as targeted business location incentives. The research includes collaboration with a broader team of Stanford GSB RF’s and post-docs as part of the Stanford Initiative for Business, Taxation, and Society. Due to the classification of some administrative datasets, U.S. citizenship may be prioritized during the selection process.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, Economics or Accounting major is not required. Knowledge of Stata, SQL, R, or other programming experience required.

Claudia Allende Santa Cruz, Assistant Professor of Economics, is hiring one research fellow. This predoctoral fellow will work on ongoing research projects involving the empirical evaluation and design of policies for changing marketplaces. Possible project topics include platform design for school choice, procurement processes for pharmaceuticals, and will likely involve empirical work to develop and analyze new data from large-scale ongoing experiments. The fellow will be expected to contribute to the different aspects of empirical work involved in the project, including data management, munging, visualization, simulation and basic econometrics. Pending interest, there will be ample opportunity to learn and apply more advanced computational techniques as well as economic theory. The fellow can also expect to work in a team setting, in which they will get to collaborate with and learn from faculty members and older students/fellows.

Requirements
Applicants are expected to have a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, a strong quantitative background, excellent programming skills, and a serious interest in pursuing research in economics are required. A background in economics is helpful but not necessary. Previous research experience is a plus. Intellectual curiosity and a desire to learn how to do things well can compensate for most technical qualifications.

Rebecca Lester, Associate Professor of Accounting, and Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato, the Edward P. Rust Professor of Economics, are recruiting one research fellow who will work on projects studying the effects of tax policies on businesses, including effects on investment decisions, workers, and financial reporting choices. The research will include work with large administrative datasets and collaboration with a broader team of Stanford GSB RF’s and post-docs as part of the Stanford Initiative for Business, Taxation, and Society. Due to the classification of some administrative datasets, U.S. citizenship may be prioritized during the selection process.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, Economics or Accounting major is not required. Knowledge of Stata, SQL, R, or other programming experience required.

Susan Athey, the Economics of Technology Professor, is recruiting a research fellow to work on projects to develop and evaluate digital media literacy education interventions to reduce the spread of misinformation online. The research involves both survey outcomes and outcomes measured on Facebook, through our collaborators at Meta. To analyze the on-platform outcomes, lab members work with data simulated to match the Facebook data to develop code scripts that are implemented by our Meta collaborators.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent with substantial experience writing code in R or Python. Econometrics and statistics knowledge would be highly useful. Attention to detail, independent problem solving, and excellent communication are key.

Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato, the Edward P. Rust Professor of Economics, is recruiting three research fellows who will work on a variety of projects including studying how environmental regulations impact plant closures and the operations of multi-unit firms; how tax policies that incentivize capital investment impact workers' careers; and how multinational corporations respond to international tax policy. The research will include work with large administrative datasets and collaboration with a broader team of Stanford GSB RF’s and post-docs as part of the Stanford Initiative for Business, Taxation, and Society. Due to the classification of some administrative datasets, U.S. citizenship may be prioritized during the selection process.

Requirements
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, Economics or Accounting major is not required. Knowledge of Stata, SQL, R, or other programming experience is required.