Mr Reuben Finighan
Senior Research Support Officer
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
Location
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
Level 5, Faculty of Business and Economics Building, 111 Barry Street,
The University of Melbourne
Biography
Reuben joined the Melbourne Institute in March 2015, as a Senior Research Support Officer. Reuben holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar and Frank Knox Fellow.
Reuben’s recent research predominantly concerns intergenerational disadvantage and the application of behavioural economics to policy problems. In 2013/2014, he was part of Harvard Prof. Robert Putnam’s statistical analysis team for the highly influential 2015 book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis; he undertook qualitative research for George Soros’ Institute for New Economic Thinking in NYC, consulting on their engagement with behavioural economics research; and he co-authored with Lord Nicholas Stern the lead chapter of UK Chief Scientist Mark Walport’s inaugural Annual Report on the UK's innovation system, concerning risk, uncertainty and human behaviour.
Research Interests
Behavioural economics; subjective well-being; intergenerational disadvantage; social policy; and inequality