Stanford University

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

Fellowship Overview
For the 2019-2020 academic year, the Stanford Basic Income Lab is seeking to appoint a postdoctoral research fellow who will be responsible for carrying out extensive research on basic income experiments, studying ongoing pilot designs and reviewing the findings of cash-based programs throughout the world. This research will culminate in a comprehensive report - ‘Universal Basic Income: Learning from the Global Evidence Base’.

About the Basic Income Lab
Founded in 2017, the Basic Income Lab (BIL) is an academic home for research on universal basic income (UBI). It regularly convenes scholars, policymakers and foundations around the politics and economics of UBI and informs city and state leaders of best practices in the space of UBI experimentation. An initiative of the Stanford McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, BIL is currently carrying out a comprehensive review of basic income literature and mapping it onto a user-friendly visual online platform. The Lab also recently launched a Toolkit with the National League of Cities entitled, “Basic Income in Cities: A Guide to City Experiments and Pilot Projects.”

Postdoctoral Fellowship Description
The Lab is interested in candidates who have research interests and experience in universal basic income or related cash transfer programs, poverty eradication, or social and economic inequality. Applicants must hold a PhD in economics, political science, public policy, psychology, sociology, or related fields. We have a strong preference for candidates trained in the social sciences with a background in empirical research methods.

As part of the Lab, the postdoctoral fellow will produce a comprehensive report, ‘Universal Basic Income: Learning from the Global Evidence Base’. The intention of the report is to address some of the following questions: Are unconditional cash transfers a promising route for building healthy communities? What are the potential limitations of universal basic income and what kind of problems is it unable to address? What other programs are necessary to achieve positive social outcomes? What further elements of UBI programs need to be tested to cover important knowledge gaps?

The fellow will review findings from previous experiments, explore designs from ongoing pilots and analyze the successes and failures of cash-based programs throughout the world. The fellow will also communicate with practitioners and experimenters to gather information on designs and findings and identify knowledge gaps. The report will be discussed and launched at an international event in 2020.

The postdoctoral fellow will also participate in the intellectual life of the Basic Income Lab, attending events and working alongside a team of graduate fellows, the Faculty Director and the Program Manager. While the postdoctoral fellow’s time will be mainly spent supporting the Lab’s research project (the review of the global evidence base, primarily, and also assisting with the more general literature review project of the Lab), the fellow will also have some time for personal research as it relates to universal basic income.

The appointment term is for one year, from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. Applicants must have completed all requirements for their Ph.D. by June 30, 2019. Candidates must also be no more than three years from the awarding of their degree (i.e., September 2016).