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The Labor Dynamics Institute goals are trifold. We study and improve labor market outcomes of workers; more generally we improve access to and understanding of data sources for the study of the labor market; and improve the transparency and accessibility of economics research to enhance its credibility.

Employment Opportunities

Work with LDI

LDI designs many of its projects to include Cornell graduate and undergraduate students. We hire a number of times a year. Interested?

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Future of Work: Research focuses

We investigate effective labor market outcomes for workers. Current projects feature creating, maintaining, and enhancing job search tools with the goal of observing outcomes of such interventions for workers. We are building collaborations with Computer and Data Scientists at both faculty and student level to enhance research into this field. We have examined existing online platforms to understand features and how employers use them. We also advocate advancing changes in employer records at the federal level to enable measurement of outcomes not previously possible..

We seek to improve access to data at multiple levels. Our leadership and affiliates serve on National Academies panels and committees at government agencies in the United States and Canada that are tasked with enabling easier and enhanced access to comprehensive confidential administrative data for research. Our affiliate Erica Groshen is a leading advocate for a U.S. "21st Century National Data Infrastructure." Better data access contributes to our other goals. It enables more comprehensive scrutiny of academic research when data cannot be published, supporting integrity even where transparency is limited.

We house leading practice and research to make economics more transparent and reproducible. LDI's Reproducibility Lab conducts reproducibility verifications for American Economic Association's Data Editor. We coordinate and share expertise with colleagues in economics, sociology, political science, program evaluation, demography, and computer science at Cornell and elsewhere to improve infrastructure, methods, and standards. Our projects also pursue development of new standards and tools to enhance transparency. 

Latest News

“Labor in New York in 2026” Presented in Albany

Experts from the ILR School met with Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson, New York State Chairs of the Committee on Labor, to discuss the current state of labor in New York.
Esta Bigler presents to Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson in Albany.
“Labor in New York in 2026” Presented in Albany

LDI Seeks Next Replication Lab Coordinator and Research Assistant

The School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Law School at Cornell University is seeking a Replication Lab Coordinator & Research Assistant (Research Aide IV). This full-time, benefits-eligible position is based in the Labor Dynamics Institute (LDI) on the Cornell campus, with a joint appointment in the Law School.
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LDI Seeks Next Replication Lab Coordinator and Research Assistant

Acquire Replication Skills During Your Studies

Interview with Lars Vilhuber, Executive Director of ILR’s Labor Dynamics Institute, about Open Science and reproducibility in teaching.
Photo of Lars Vilhuber, Executive Director of ILR’s Labor Dynamics Institute
Acquire Replication Skills During Your Studies

Join LDI’s Replication Lab

Join a leading research verification effort and grow your computational skills.
ILR School
Join LDI’s Replication Lab

Abowd Honored for Advancing Computing Field

An ILR emeritus professor has “transformed the government’s capacity to improve the accuracy and availability of vital statistical and data resources,” according to the Association for Computing Engineering.
John Abowd
Abowd Honored for Advancing Computing Field

John Abowd highlights better U.S. Census products

Watch Prof. Abowd's explainer of which Census sources for statistical researchers offer the most under 2020 differential privacy implementation.
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John Abowd highlights better U.S. Census products

In the News

Media Mentions

Why the Bureau of Economic Analysis is updating how it calculates inflation The

Marketplace
“These measures of what inflation is are part of what the Federal Reserve looks at when it sets interest rates,” explains Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor, in this audio interview about this year’s changes to how the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates inflation.
Why the Bureau of Economic Analysis is updating how it calculates inflation The

What happens when wages grow at the same rate as inflation

Marketplace
Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor, explains how stagnant real earnings and reduced job-changing are affecting worker purchasing power.
What happens when wages grow at the same rate as inflation

Right-Wing Groups Just Got a Big Win on the Census

Yahoo News
The political context and practical effects of a recent Commerce Department memo banning certain privacy protections used in the 2020 U.S. Census are discussed by Lars Vilhuber, executive director of ILR’s Labor Dynamics Institute, and John Abowd, ILR emeritus professor. [Syndicated from Talking Points Memo]
Right-Wing Groups Just Got a Big Win on the Census