Brigitte Madrian Faculty Profile

Brigitte Madrian
Boettner Associate Professor in Financial Gerontology; Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993; MA, Brigham Young University, 1989; BA, Brigham Young University, 1989

Research Areas
Pensions; health insurance; employee benefits

Current Projects
The determinants of employee savings behavior in 401(k) and other employer-sponsored savings plans, including the impact of market returns, matching, financial education, defaults, and other aspects of plan design on savings outcomes.

Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 2003-present. (named Boettner Associate Professor in Financial Gerontology, 2003). Previous Appointments: University of Chicago, Harvard University

Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
TIAA-CREF Paul. A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security, 2002; National Academy of Social Insurance Heinz Dissertation Award Winner, 1994

Professional Leadership 2003-2007
Co-editor, Journal of Human Resources, 2003-present

Representative Publications
(with D.F. Shea).
"The Power of Suggestion: Inertia in 401(k) Participation and Savings Behavior." Quarterly Journal of Economics 116: 1149-1525 (2001).

(with J.J. Choi, D. Labison and A. Metrick)
"Defined Contribution Pensions: Plan Rules, Participant Decisions, and the Path of Least Resistance," in Tax Policy and the Economy,James M. Poterba, ed., Vol. 16, p67-113, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002.

(with J. Gruber)
"Health Insurance Availability and the Retirement Decision." American Economic Review 85: 938-948 (1995).

"Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is There Evidence of Job-Lock?" Quarterly Journal of Economics 109:27-54 (1994).