Elena Spatoulas Patel

I am a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. 

My research examines how public policy—through tax systems, health programs, the social safety net, and governance structures—shapes economic behavior and well-being. I study how tax policies influence investment and capital accumulation, including work on the design of optimal tax systems. I also explore how workers make employment decisions in the face of changing incentives and risks, how organizational leadership and governance affect firm behavior, and how health policy, including the role of hospitals and health shocks, spill over into labor markets. Across these areas, my work highlights the ways policies interact with both economic opportunity and economic security.

In addition to my role at Brookings, I consult as an external Senior Economist for Alterra Property Group, where I advise on internal machine learning initiatives. 

Prior to joining Brookings, I was the Sorenson Assistant Professor in the Division of Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. I have also held a range of positions in the federal government, including as Senior Public Finance Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Financial Economist at the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis, Economist at the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Congressional Budget Office, and Social Science Analyst in the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice. 

In 2007, I earned a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Economics (with Honors) and Mathematics, with a minor in Modern Greek Studies from the University of Michigan. In 2008, I earned a Master of Arts in Economics in 2008, and in 2013, I earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Michigan. Go Blue!