John Engberg is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in
applied statistical methods and microeconomics. Engberg's research spans the areas
of education, health, labor markets, economic development, and crime. One theme that
connects much of this work is the analysis of data that contain temporal and spatial
dependencies: His evaluation of the impact of state enterprise zone programs on local
housing and labor markets and his analysis of public school teachers' collective
bargaining contracts exemplify this. 

Engberg's ongoing projects include an evaluation of a principal pay-for-performance
program for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, an evaluation of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation's Intensive Partnership Sites, and two grants from the U.S. Department of
Education's Institute for Education Sciences to develop and use experimental and
non-experimental methods for education policy and program evaluation. He is also working
on several National Institutes of Health–funded projects to examine nursing home quality
of care and staffing issues. 

Prior to joining RAND, Engberg was an associate professor of economics at the Heinz
School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. He also served as
the research director of the Carnegie Mellon Census Data Research Center, one of only a
few places in the country where researchers can obtain access to confidential census
data. Engberg received his Ph.D. in labor economics from the University of
Wisconsin–Madison.