Nicole B. Simpson is an Associate Professor of Economics at Colgate University. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Iowa. She has been at Colgate University since 2001. Between 2011-2012, she was named the Gretchen Hoadley Burke ’81 Endowed Chair in Regional Studies at Colgate. Since 2012, she has been a research fellow at IZA.
Nicole considers herself to be a macroeconomist who focuses on labor issues. Her research areas include immigration, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and education. Her current work has focused on studying the determinants of immigration, the impact of the EITC on labor supply when households face credit constraints, and the relationship between credit and college investment. Her work has been published in the Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Development Economics, American Economic Review, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Education, Contemporary Economic Policy and Population Research and Policy Review.
She teaches courses in macroeconomics, international economics and poverty. Nicole coordinates the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at Colgate, where students file income taxes for local low-income households. She was the faculty director for the London Economics Study Group in 2007 and 2011. She is directing an extended study trip to Argentina with the Benton Scholars in May 2013.
Intermediate Macroeconomics, Topics in International Economics (Open-Economy Macroeconomics), Applied Economic Theory, Causes and Consequences of Immigration (FSEM), Seminar in International Economics, Introduction to Economics, Economics of Poverty
Immigration, macroeconomics, the EITC and education
- Simpson, N. and C. Sparber, 2013. “The Short- and Long-Run Determinants of Unskilled Immigration into U.S. States. Forthcoming, Southern Economic Journal, October.
- Simpson, Nicole, 2012. “Happiness and Migration,” Forthcoming, International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, Editors: Klaus F. Zimmermann and Amelie F. Constant, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
- de Araujo, P., R. O’Sullivan and N. Simpson, 2013. “What Should Be Taught in Intermediate Macroeconomics?” Journal of Economic Education 44(1), 74–90.
- Polgreen, Linnea and Nicole Simpson, 2011. "Happiness and International Migration." Journal of Happiness Studies 12(5), 819-840.
- Athreya, K, Reilly, D. and N. Simpson, 2010. “The Earned Income Tax Credit: Life-cycle Income, Marginal Tax Rates, Wealth and Credit Constraints.” Economic Quarterly 96(3): 229-258.
- Simpson, N., Hyde, J. and J. Tiefenthaler, 2010. "The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Economic Well-being: A Comparison across Household Types," Population Research and Policy Review 29:843-864.
- Mitchell, D., Rebelein, R., Schneider, P., Simpson, N. and E. Fisher. 2010. "A Classroom Experiment on Exchange Rate Determination with Purchasing Power Parity," Journal of Economic Education 40(2), 150-165.
- Fairchild, Stephen and Nicole B. Simpson, 2007. "A Comparison of Mexican Migrant Remittances across U.S. Regions," Contemporary Economic Policy 26(3), 360-379.
- Simpson, Nicole B., Blankenau, William F. and Marc Tomljanovich, 2007. "Public Education Expenditures, Taxation and Growth: Linking Data to Theory," American Economic Review, 97(2), 393-97.
- Simpson, Nicole B. and Kartik B. Athreya, 2006. "Unsecured Debt with Public Insurance: From Bad to Worse," Journal of Monetary Economics 53(4), 797-825.
- Simpson, Nicole B. and Linnea Polgreen, 2006. "Recent Trends in the Skill Composition of Legal Immigrants," Southern Economic Journal 72(4), 938-57.
- Simpson, Nicole B., Georgiev, George and Marc I. Tomljanovich, 2005. "Macroeconomic Fundamentals and Net Portfolio Investment between Developed Regions," International Finance 8(2), 303-27.
- Simpson, Nicole B. and William F. Blankeneau, 2004. "Public Education Expenditures and Growth," Journal of Development Economics 73(2), 583-605.
- Simpson, Nicole B., and Stephen Fairchild, 2004. "Mexican Migration to the United States Pacific Northwest," Population Research and Policy Review 23(3), 219-34.
Working Papers
- “Migration Theory: Determinants of Immigration,” with C. Sparber and Orn Bodvarsson, invited chapter, Handbook on the Economics of International Migration.
- “Families, Taxes and the Welfare System”, invited chapter, Family Economics: How Households Impact Markets and Economic Growth. IZA Discussion Paper.
- “The Effects of International Migration on the Well-Being of Native Populations in Europe,” joint with William Betz (Colgate ’13). IZA Discussion Paper.
- Ionescu, F. and N. Simpson. 2012. "Credit Scores and College Investment: Implications for Student Loan Policies." Working Paper.
- Ionescu, F., D. Gicheva and N. Simpson. 2012. “The Effects of Credit Status on College Enrollment and College Completion.”
- Athreya, K., Reilly, D. and N. Simpson, 2012. "The Earned Income Tax Credit: Insurance without Disincentives?" Working Paper.
- Simpson, Nicole B., Blankenau, William F. and Marc Tomljanovich, 2007. " Public Education Expenditures, Taxation and Growth: Linking Data to Theory," Long version of AER P&P 2007.
- Simpson, Nicole, 2007. " The Effects of Redistributive Policies on Education and Migration." Working Paper.
- Simpson, N., Hyde, J. and J. Tiefenthaler, 2007. " The Efficacy of the EITC: Evidence from Madison County, New York," Working Paper.
Referee: National Science Foundation, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Development Economics Southern, Economic Journal, Economic Inquiry, Contemporary Economic Policy, Economics of Education Review, Journal of Economics and Business, International Migration, China Economic Review, International Migration Review, and Journal of Economics Education.
Membership in: Omicron Delta Epsilon, Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, American Economic Association.