Dr. Ezra Goldstein

Biography

Ezra Goldstein is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Jimmy Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. His research spans public economics and social policy, with a focus on how public institutions, particularly the child welfare system, courts, and the social safety net, shape the well-being of vulnerable children and families. He specializes in using linked administrative data and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the causal effects of programs and policies related to parental incarceration, substance use disorder, child maltreatment, and family support obligations. Goldstein's work has informed debates on racial disparities in foster care and the impacts of judicial discretion and access to treatment for maternal substance use. At Georgia Tech, he teaches courses in statistics and social policy, emphasizing policy applications and hands-on data analysis. Previously, he was an Assistant Research Professor at Penn State, where he worked within an interdisciplinary group dedicated to documenting challenges faced by youth interacting with the child welfare system. Goldstein holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Florida State University.

Research Interests

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