Brett Fischer

Brett Fischer is a Researcher at CPL Berkeley, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship. In his current role, Brett helps enhance the usability of the UC Consumer Credit Panel and applies these data to help address a range of policy questions that speak to challenges facing Californians. An economist by training, he has extensive experience leveraging complex administrative data to better understand what makes for effective, equitable policy in areas ranging from education and criminal justice to labor markets and the social safety net.

Brett’s research approaches the policymaking process holistically, asking both whether existing programs work and how political pressure shapes the contours of public policy. Most of his work applies rigorous experimental and non-experimental research designs to arrive at actionable evidence. Past studies of his have highlighted the role that California school boards play in mitigating disparities in education finance and examined the benefits of early legal representation for individuals accused of criminal offenses in Santa Clara County. These and similar studies have been published in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.  At CPL, Brett has also helped deliver actionable descriptive research about the economic well-being of Californians, including measuring the take-up of anti-poverty tax credits and documenting the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brett holds a PhD in economics from the University of Virginia, as well as undergraduate degrees in economics, mathematics, and English from Arizona State University. Prior to rejoining CPL, he was a Researcher at Mathematica. Outside of work, Brett is an enthusiastic reader, runner, and traveler.