Dr. Lanier joined LAI as an economist in 2014. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Dallas. An applied micro theorist, his research focuses on occupational sorting and college major selection effects on the race wage gap, and spatial dependency of migration and its effects on various factors, such as income. He also brings years of experience related to the application of econometric techniques using various econometric packages. Dr. Lanier is involved with several research projects, one of which focuses on migration and income and the effect of human capital, as measured by education and experience, on the geographic breadth of the market for skills.