Nathan Wilmers

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Nathan Wilmers

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Nathan Wilmers is the Sarofim Family Career Development Associate Professor and an Associate Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is in the core faculty of the Institute for Work and Employment Research and affiliated with the Economic Sociology program. For the most up-to-date information on his research, please see his personal website at www.nathanwilmers.com.

Wilmers researches wage and earnings inequality, economic sociology, and the sociology of labor. In his empirical research, he studies how wage stagnation and rising earnings inequality result from weakening labor market institutions, changing market power, and job restructuring. More broadly, he is interested in bringing insights from economic sociology to the study of labor markets and the wage structure. His research has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, ILR Review, Journal of Labor Economics, PNAS, and Social Forces.

Wilmers holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Chicago and an MA and PhD in sociology from Harvard University.

 

Honors

Wilmers wins dissertation award

Wilmers wins 2020 best paper award

Publications

"Declining Earnings Inequality, Rising Income Inequality: What Explains Discordant Inequality Trends in the United States?"

Parolin, Zachary, Lukas Lehner, and Nathan Wilmers. Journal of Public Economics Vol. 244, (2025): 105337.

"Rubbing Shoulders: Class Segregation in Daily Activities."

Massenkoff, Maxim and Nathan Wilmers. Journal of Public Economics Vol. 244, (2025): 105335.

"Between-Firm Inequality and Informal Social Relations."

Wilmers, Nathan, Di Tong, and Victoria Y. Zhang. American Journal of Sociology Vol. 130, No. 5 (2025): 1217-1262.

"More Autonomy for Frontline Workers Supports Higher-Paying Jobs."

Dylan Nelson, Nathan Wilmers, and Letian Zhang (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research). Kalamazoo, MI: August 2024.

"Firms and the Intergenerational Transmission of Labor Market Advantage."

Engzell, Per and Nathan Wilmers, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6945-21. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, April 2024.

"Generative AI and the Future of Inequality."

Wilmers, Nathan, Working Paper. March 2024.

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