John Hassett

John Hassett is a Ph.D student in Department of Economics. He is a Summer in the Field Fellow, 2024. His research is at the intersection of labor economics, political economy and industrial organization.His research is at the intersection of labor economics, political economy, and industrial organization. John is from Washington, D.C., completed his B.A. at Columbia University, and returned to D.C. to work in economic consulting prior to coming to Boston University. To learn more about Hassett’s research and publications, visit his webpage.

In Spring 2024, John received a CISS Summer mini-grant to support his research, a joint project with fellow BU PhD student Laura Aquino, which studies the implementation of gender quotas for political candidates in local Mexican elections, the effect of these quotas on the proportion and ranking of women in government, and the differences in policymaking behavior between men and women. Preliminary results show that strategic behavior by political parties prevents quotas from creating full parity between male and female elected officials, but despite this there is evidence that women mayors change the focus of policymaking in areas like gender-related legislation and municipal budgeting. Learn more in our featured article.