Dr. Papac has significant experience applying microeconometric techniques to uncover novel insights from both large and small data sets. In one paper, Dr. Papac leveraged the rotating panel design of a nationally representative survey in the United Kingdom to characterize how workers change their job search behavior in response to changing economic conditions. In particular, he accounted for compositional changes in the pool of employed workers over the business cycle and found that job search effort of employed workers increases as unemployment conditions worsen. In another paper, Dr. Papac analyzed responses from a stated-preference survey of German workers to back out workers’ valuations of key non-wage job characteristics. Interestingly, Dr. Papac found significant willingness to pay of workers for permanent employment contracts, good promotion opportunities, and flexible work arrangements and showed that accounting for the incidence and value of these characteristics increases measures of economic inequality in Germany.

Before joining Secretariat, Dr. Papac worked as a Graduate Research Fellow at the California Policy Lab. While at the California Policy Lab, Dr. Papac used various tools of statistical and data analysis to highlight the different types of job search and job training services that the County of Los Angeles provides as well as identify which groups of workers are most likely to receive and benefit from these services.