J. Landin Smith

I am an Instructional Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Mississippi. I hold a Ph.D. in Economics from UC Berkeley, where I was advised by Barry Eichengreen, Enrico Moretti, Chris Walters, and Edward Miguel. 

My research examines how human capital development shapes economic outcomes across a variety of developing contexts. In my historical work, I study the American South during the early twentieth century, employing diverse methodological approaches—from instrumental variables using novel county-level policy data to spatial models of labor supply and demand to historical analysis of census records. My work on education policy investigates how compulsory schooling laws affected wages and labor markets through direct effects and spillovers, revealing how racial discrimination limited the equalizing potential of these reforms. My work on migration (co-authored with Daria Bakhareva) explores how religious networks facilitated the Great Migration and shaped Southern labor markets. I am also conducting ongoing field research on education interventions in Pakistan, working with tutors to understand how targeted human capital investments affect learning outcomes in resource-constrained environments. 

In my teaching, I emphasize practical applications of economic theory to real-world questions. I teach courses in both theoretical and applied microeconomics, focusing on building both intuition and technical proficiency. My goal is to help students develop the analytical skills essential for understanding how economic forces shape individual decisions and broader development patterns, showing them how economic frameworks can illuminate both historical transformations and contemporary policy challenges.