Ezra G. Goldstein

Ezra Goldstein is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, with research spanning public economics, social policy, and applied econometrics. His work focuses on how public institutions—particularly the child welfare system, courts, and social safety net—shape the well-being of vulnerable children and families. He specializes in using linked administrative data and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the causal effects of programs and policies related to parental incarceration, substance use disorder, child maltreatment, and family support obligations. Professor Goldstein's research has informed debates on racial disparities in foster care, the impacts of judicial discretion, and access to treatment for maternal substance use. At Georgia Tech, he teaches courses in statistics and social policy, with an emphasis on policy applications and hands-on data analysis. Before joining Georgia Tech, Professor Goldstein was an Assistant Research Professor at his Alma Mater, Penn State, working with an interdisciplinary group dedicated to empirically documenting the challenges facing youth interacting with the child welfare system. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Florida State University.