Jessica Min
Welcome! I am a labor economist and PhD candidate in Economics at Princeton University.
I am on the academic job market in 2024-25.
You can find my CV here, or you can reach out to me at: jessicamin@princeton.edu.
Job Market Paper
Health Insurer Mergers, Employer-Sponsored Premiums, and Labor Market Inequality.
Abstract: This paper investigates whether health insurer mergers have contributed to the striking rise in employer-sponsored premiums in the U.S., and examines how these rising premiums impact labor market inequality. Using administrative data and an event study analysis of insurer mergers occurring over the last two decades, I find that insurer mergers lead to a 10 percent increase in premiums for vulnerable firms that directly purchase plans in affected markets. As a result, vulnerable firms facing higher premium costs suffer employment losses of 4.4 percent, concentrated among noncollege-educated, middle-income workers. Incorporating my findings into a competitive labor market model, I show that insurer mergers explain 22 percent of the overall premium increase and 10 percent of the U.S.-specific decline in employment among noncollege-educated workers from 1999 to 2019.
Working Papers
The Effect of Personal Income Taxes on Inflation: Evidence from U.S. States.
Abstract: This paper studies the effect of taxes for different income groups on inflation. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I compare states that enact large tax changes to states that do not have personal taxes from 1978 to 2017. I find tax cuts are inflationary. A 1 percentage point decrease in the state income average tax rate for lower-income groups increases prices by 2.5 percent, while a 1 percentage point decrease for higher-income groups increases prices by 1.5 percent. My results suggest the positive relationship between tax cuts and price growth is largely driven by consumer demand and employment growth.
Works in Progress
Mandated HIV/AIDS Education and Teen Childbearing (with Rachel Fung).