Dr. Alex A. Smith Associate Professor Director - Economic Curriculum Advisory Council social Personal Website alexander.smith [at] westpoint.edu About Education Research & Publications Dr. Alex Smith is an associate professor of economics specializing in labor and public economics, focusing on the role of early interventions in shaping social mobility. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia and holds a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Williams College. Since 2023, Dr. Smith has also served as a research fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. His research has been published in leading journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and cited in influential policy reports such as the Economic Report of the President and the National Academies Consensus Study Report, as well as in newspapers in the United States and abroad. Ph.D., Economics - University of VirginiaB.A., Mathematics and Economics - Williams College Research Interests Labor economics, public economics, economics of education, early childhood interventions, social mobility Current Research The Big Economic Consequences of Small Financial Shocks: Evidence from Minor Car Accidents, The Heterogeneous Long Run Effects of Universal Preschool, The Life Cycle and Intergenerational Effects of Free College Selected Publications Barr, Andrew C., Jonathan Eggleston, and Alexander A. Smith. “Investing in Infants: The Lasting Effects of Cash Transfers to New Families.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 137, no. 4 (2022): 2539–83.Anders, John, Andrew C. Barr, and Alexander A. Smith. “The Effect of Early Childhood Education on Adult Criminality: Evidence from the 1960s through 1990s.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 15, no. 1 (2023): 37–69.Barr, Andrew C. and Alexander A. Smith. “Fighting Crime in the Cradle: The Effects of Early Childhood Access to Nutritional Assistance.” Journal of Human Resources 58, no. 1 (2023): 43–73.