February 2025: Dr. Johannes Schmieder (CAS)
Dr. Johannes Schmieder is a Professor in Economics and currently serves as Associate Chair. He received his PhD in 2010, an M. Phil. in 2007 and an M.A. in 2006, all in Economics from Columbia University. He has served as a Faculty Research Fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Affiliate for the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Johannes’ research is at the intersection of labor and public economics, examining topics such as the optimal design of unemployment insurance and how changing labor market institutions affect income inequality. His research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Journal of the European Economic Association. Dr. Schmieder regularly teaches courses in Labor Economics and Public Economics. In his teaching he utilizes a flipped classroom format, where students watch short video lectures prior to each class and in-class time is mostly used for classroom discussions and group work. Dr. Schmieder is a 2024-25 awardee of a CISS Undergraduate Research Internship grant for his project entitled “Franchising and Labor Market Outcomes”.
What made you decide to be a social scientist/ why does social science matter to you?
I grew up in (West) Germany and still have memories of the East/West division of Germany and trying to understand the different approaches of capitalism and communism and what made them work or not work so well. During the 90s Germany seemed to face a terrible trade-off between either high unemployment rates or cutting wages to workers / getting rid of employment protections and it was hard to see a way out of that. All of this motivated me early on to think about economics and the labor market.
Can you tell us about a recent research project that you’re excited about?
I have a new paper that studies unemployment in Germany. The paper shows that the interaction of the retirement system and a reform of the unemployment insurance system led to a huge increase in unemployment among older workers.
What is the best piece of professional advice you ever received?
Every academic paper should make precisely one point and make it well.
What is your favorite course you’ve taught at BU?
Labor Economics. I love teaching students the tools and frameworks to understand current policy debates about the labor market, such as minimum wages, unemployment insurance and wage inequality.
Tell us a surprising fact about yourself.
I bike to work every day.