Joensen, Juanna

Human capital embodies the skills, knowledge, and health of individuals.  Human capital comprises the bulk of the wealth of nations.  Understanding the origins of human capital inequality is thus key to understanding income and wealth inequality.  In her research, she seeks to quantify how incentives and circumstances interact with endowments and information in shaping human capital.  This enables a deeper and broader understanding of the causes and consequences of individual human capital investments.  She highlights important aspects of heterogeneity in human capital and its interaction with institutions and public policies; such as financial aid, choice sets, curricula, and grading.  She shows how financial and non-financial incentives can have very different impacts on individual behavior and success; depending on socioeconomic environment, skills, and gender.

Her personal webpage and research statement provide more background and details on her research.