Research Professional – Industrial Organization Initiative (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Job Title: Research Professional –  Big Data Initiative (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Location: Chicago, IL – Hyde Park Campus, Saieh Hall 

Expected Start Date: July 1, 2025

Please send questions related to this posting to [email protected] 

Job Summary

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) is seeking to hire a full-time Research Professional to work with Professors Ali Hortacsu and Chad Syverson as part of BFI's Industrial Organization Initiative and BFI's Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP). The BFI IO initiative sponsors projects in all areas connected to the economics of industry. Research professionals work closely with faculty on project areas including but not limited to theoretical and empirical work on strategic firm interactions, estimation of demand and production functions, advertising and information asymmetries, regulations and their impact on firm performance and broader economic outcomes, the design of market mechanisms for private and public sector applications. Requirements: mastery of undergraduate econometrics and statistics, and proficiency in R/Python/Stata and robust software development practices. 

The program is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. Applicants must have completed a Bachelors degree by June 2025 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Python or Matlab. The ideal candidate would begin on July 1, 2025 and work for BFI for one or two years before applying to graduate school in Economics or another quantitative social science. BFI offers competitive salary and employee benefits.

Unit-specific Responsibilities:

• Write programs in Stata to analyze large datasets
• Construct maps, figures, and tables for economics papers
• Identify new data sources
• Editing tasks
• Other duties as assigned.

Unit-preferred Competencies:

• Desired (but not required) skills include advanced familiarity with numerical optimization and package development in R and/or Python, and the ability to use Stata to manage and analyze large datasets. Although previous experience with any specific language is not essential, familiarity with at least one scripting language is encouraged.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Excellent organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Strong academic writing/communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor's degree in economics, computer sciences, engineering, or related STEM fields is highly desirable.

Experience

• Relevant research experience as a research assistant.

Technical Knowledge/Skills

• Knowledge of R and/or Python preferred
• Knowledge of STATA preferred
• Knowledge of SQL/Spark preferred

Required Documents:

• Resume/CV
• Writing sample
• Transcripts (unofficial is ok)

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