Hello! I'm Altuğ Yıldız
I am a Ph.D. economist specializing in labor economics, public finance, and income inequality. I earned my doctorate in May 2026 from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, with a dissertation titled "Essays on Inequality and Public Finance."
My research examines the distributional consequences of public policy, the relationship between inequality and productivity, and the role of institutional reform in shaping economic outcomes. I am currently on the economics job market.
Below, you can find links to my economic research, including my job market paper, as well as a snapshot of my professional and academic experience.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Department of Economics,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Intermediate Macroeconomics (01:220:321)
Introduction to Macroeconomics (01:220:103)
Department of Economics,
St. John's University, New York
Principles of Macroeconomics (ECO-1301)
Economics of Poverty and Income Inequality (ECO-1320)
Writing Program,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
College Writing (01:355:101: CI & CF)
EDUCATION & RECENT WORK EXPERIENCE
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
PhD in Economics
2018-2026
Columbia University
2016-2017
M.A. in Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (Economics Track)
Imperial College London
M.Sc. in Economics & Strategy
2015-2016
King's College London
B.Sc. in Business Management
2011-2014
World Bank (DECEA)
Short Term Consultant
2022-2026
RESEARCH
Job Market Paper
How Effective Is the EITC? Local Economic Conditions and the Fiscal Returns to Policy
This paper uses three decades of U.S. tax credit expansions to show that the EITC largely pays for itself through increased tax revenues and reduced welfare expenditures — but does so more effectively in states and counties with lower poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
Working Paper
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Inequality? Evidence from a Cross-Country Panel
Using a 62-country panel over 50 years, this paper finds that income inequality and total factor productivity follow an inverted-U relationship — moderate inequality is associated with higher productivity, but beyond a threshold, further disparity becomes a drag on long-term growth.
Working Paper
Can Institutional Reform Reduce Inequality? Evidence from EU Accession
This paper examines the anti-corruption reforms accompanying EU accession in Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, finding that while accession was associated with meaningful reductions in bribery, the evidence for downstream effects on income inequality is mixed and country-specific.
SKILLS
SOFTWARE
Stata, R - Advanced
Python, LaTex - Proficient
LANGUAGES
Turkish, English, French - Fluent
Spanish - Proficient