Dr. Brian Kovak

Biography

Brian K. Kovak is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. His research primarily examines labor market impacts stemming from international trade, migration, and technological change. Dr. Kovak’s recent work focuses on the long-run effects of trade liberalization on workers' employment and earnings, as well as workers' geographic mobility in response to local economic shocks. He has published in leading journals such as the American Economic Review and the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Dr. Kovak holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration from Indiana University, along with a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Penn State University. In addition to his academic roles, he is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and serves as a Research Fellow at IZA. He has received various accolades, including the IZA Young Labor Economist Award in 2014 and the Carnegie Fellowship in 2019. Kovak is also involved in public discourse on labor economics through media coverage and has contributed to discussions on policy research in critical analysis and microeconomics courses.

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