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Kartik Athreya
My research interests are in macroeconomics and consumer finance. My current research aims to measure and understand household financial distress and debt repayment decisions, to quantify the links between household investments in human capital and in the stock market, and to assess the importance of risks associated with college enrollment for educational attainment and inequality.
Professional Experience
Kartik Athreya is executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Athreya's work has been published in a variety of academic journals, including the Journal of Monetary Economics, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, and International Economic Review. He is also an associate editor at the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. Recently, Athreya taught a doctoral course in macroeconomics at the University of Virginia. Athreya is the author of Big Ideas in Macroeconomics (2013, MIT Press).
Education
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2000
B.S., Iowa State University, 1993
"Bankruptcy and Delinquency in a Model of Unsecured Debt" (joint with Juan Sánchez, Xuan S. Tam, and Eric R. Young). International Economic Review 59 (May 2018): 593-623.
"Does Redistribution Increase Output? The Centrality of Labor Supply" (joint with Andrew Owens and Felipe Schwartzman). Quantitative Economics 8, no. 3 (November 2017): 761-808.
"Labor Market Upheaval, Default Regulations, and Consumer Debt" (with Juan Sánchez, Xuan S. Tam, and Eric R. Young). Review of Economic Dynamics 18, no. 1 (January 2015): 32-52.
"A Quantitative Theory of Information and Unsecured Credit" (with Xuan S. Tam and Eric Young). American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 4, no. 3 (July 2012): 153-183.
"Credit and Self-Employment" (with Ahmet Akyol). Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 35, no. 3 (March 2011): 363-385.
"Self-Employment Rates and Business Size: The Roles of Occupational Choice and Credit Market Frictions" (with Ahmet Akyol). Annals of Finance 5, no. 3-4 (June 2009): 495-519.
"Unsecured Credit Markets Are Not Insurance Markets" (with Xuan S. Tam and Eric R. Young). Journal of Monetary Economics 56, no. 1 (January 2009): 83-103.
"Default, Insurance, and Debt over the Life-Cycle." Journal of Monetary Economics 55, no. 4 (May 2008): 752-774.
"Fresh Start or Head Start? Uniform Bankruptcy Exemptions and Welfare." Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 30, no. 11 (November 2006): 2051-2079.
"Unsecured Debt with Public Insurance: From Bad to Worse" (with Nicole B. Simpson). Journal of Monetary Economics 53, no. 4 (May 2006): 797-825.
"Risky Higher Education and Subsidies" (with Ahmet Akyol). Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 29, no. 6 (June 2005): 979-1023.
"Welfare Implications of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999." Journal of Monetary Economics 49, no. 8 (November 2002): 1567-1595.
"Record-Keeping in Consumer Credit Markets" (joint with Meta Brown, Eric R. Young, and Xuan S. Tam).
"Investment Opportunities and Economic Mobility: Who Benefits from College and the Stock Market?" (joint with Felicia F. Ionescu, Urvi Neelakantan, and Ivan Vidangos).
“Challenges for Policymakers in a Low Interest Rate Environment.” Speech to the Asian Banker Future of Finance Summit, Beijing, China, May 25, 2018.
"Economic Outlook, January 2018." Speech to the Maryland Bankers Association First Friday Economic Outlook Forum, Baltimore, Md., January 5, 2018.
"Why is There (still) No Private-Equity Premium?" (joint with Ahmet Akyol, Pierre Sarte, and Eric R. Young).
"Income Floors and Interest-Rate Ceilings."
"The Skill Premium and Household Indebtedness: A Tale of Five Series" (joint with Felicia F. Ionescu and B. Ravikumar).
