About

Brian Cadena is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research interests include immigration, low-skilled labor markets, the economic consequences of government policies, behavioral economics, and applied econometrics. He has conducted research and authored work on welfare reform, poverty, health care coverage and health outcomes, and student loans. His current research agenda focuses on how immigration flows respond to geographic differences in employment prospects created by government policies. Cadena holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan, earned in 2008, and a master's degree in Economics from the same institution, obtained in 2005. He also earned a BA in Economics and Psychology from Northwestern University in 2003. As an academic, he is engaged in exploring the labor market consequences of policies and the behavioral responses related to immigration and economic disparities.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Geography
• Economics
• Business
• Economic growth
• Telecommunications
• Economic geography

Selected publications

• Supported Work Leads to Lasting Labor Market Success Among TANF Recipients

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Measuring the Impact of Workforce Development Programming: Experimental Evidence from Goodwill North Georgias Workforce Development Program

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-11-09

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Taking a Chance on Workers: Evidence on the Effects and Mechanisms of Subsidized Employment from an Rct

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Measuring the Impact of Workforce Development Programming: Experimental Evidence from Goodwill North Georgias Workforce Development Program

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-11-09

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• The international transmission of local economic shocks through migrant networks

  Journal of International Economics · 2023-11-01 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access

  Using newly validated data on geographic migration networks, we study how labor demand shocks in the United States propagate across the border with Mexico. We show that the large exogenous decline in US employment brought about by the Great Recession affected demographic and economic outcomes in Mexican communities that were highly connected to the most affected markets in the US. In the Mexican locations with strong initial ties to the hardest hit US migrant destinations, return migration increased, emigration decreased, and remittance receipt declined. These changes significantly increased local employment and hours worked, but wages were unaffected. Investment in children's education also slowed in these communities. These findings document the effects in Mexico when potential migrants lose access to a strong US labor market, providing insight into the potential impacts of stricter US migration restrictions.

  PublisherDOI

• An Impact Evaluation of ReHire Colorado

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-05-31

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• An Impact Evaluation of ReHire Colorado

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-05-31

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Performance pay, productivity, and strategic opt-out: Evidence from a community health center

  Journal of Public Economics · 2022-01-11 · 9 citations

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

• The labor market consequences of impatience

  IZA World of Labor · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Standard economic theory suggests that individuals know best how to make themselves happy. Thus, policies designed to encourage more forward-looking behaviors will only reduce people's happiness. Recently, however, economists have explored the role of impatience, especially difficulties with delaying gratification, in several important economic choices. There is strong evidence that some people have trouble following through on investments that best serve their long-term interests. These findings open the door to policies encouraging or requiring more patient behaviors, which would allow people to enjoy the eventual payoff from higher initial investment.

  PublisherDOI

• The International Transmission of Local Economic Shocks Through Migrant Networks

  2021 · 13 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Economic geography
  • Geography

  Using newly validated data on geographic migration networks, we study how labor demand shocks in the United States propagate across the border with Mexico. We show that the large exogenous decline in US employment brought about by the Great Recession affected demographic and economic outcomes in Mexican communities that were highly connected to the most affected markets in the US. In the Mexican locations with strong initial ties to the hardest hit US migrant destinations, return migration increased, emigration decreased, and remittance receipt declined. These changes significantly increased local employment and hours worked, but wages were unaffected. Investment in durable goods and children's education also slowed in these communities. These findings document the effects in Mexico when potential migrants lose access to a strong US labor market, providing insight regarding the potential impacts of stricter US migration restrictions.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Brian K. Kovak

  Carnegie Mellon University

  28 shared

• María Esther Caballero

  American University

  13 shared

• Benjamin J. Keys

  13 shared

• Erica Blom

  6 shared

• Austin C. Smith

  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

  6 shared

• Tania Barham

  University of Colorado Boulder

  5 shared

• Patrick Turner

  University of Notre Dame

  5 shared

• Kristin S. Seefeldt

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  2 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Economics

  University of Michigan

  2008

• M.A., Economics

  University of Michigan

  2005

• B.A., Economics and Psychology

  Northwestern University

  2003