Summer Internship - Research Department - Macro (onsite)

CompanyFederal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. It helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and savings and loan holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia serves eastern and central Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
Bring your passion and expertise, and we’ll provide the opportunities that will challenge you and propel your growth!

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is seeking an undergraduate level Sophomore, Junior, or Senior, preferably economics major, with research experience, but students with non-economics major with similar knowledge and skills may also be considered.  This opening will be onsite.  The work schedule is Monday – Friday (40 hour per week).  This is a 10-week paid internship.  The hourly rate for this position is $22.00 per hour.  

Intern projects:

The research project you will work on is trying to document and understand the heterogeneity in the marginal propensity to consume (MPC), using the data on economic stimulus payments during the previous three recessions (2001, 2008, 2020).

You will download the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) during the last three recessions, together with the special data modules related to the stimulus payments, merge and clean the data following the series of work by Jonathan Parker, compute the consumption response to stimulus payment receipts of each household (which is the MPC), and document the distribution of the MPC. This step requires running complex regressions to identify the MPC in a messy dataset.

After documenting the distribution, you will try to compute what fraction of the disparity can be explained by various characteristics (age, sex, race, family composition, income, liquid wealth holding, etc).

You will write up the results, and hopefully there will be a small research paper out of it. You also have a chance to present the findings within the Bank.

Required Skills:

• Microsoft office suite fluency required
• Knowledge in economics and statistics/econometrics.
• Experiences with large dataset and statistical software (such as Matlab or Stata) to process the dataset.
• Academic writing since the intern will work on an academic research project.

Preferred Competencies:

Strong communication skills 

Ability to work on a large dataset(s)

Ability to write a long computer code to process and analyze the dataset.

Strong problem-solving skills

Excellent attention to details

Good organizational skills

Ability to work independently and with teams

Flexibility to manage multiple priorities

Other:

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time

Additional Information:

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia takes your information privacy seriously. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia staff will only email you from the “@phil.frb.org” domain or through the Workday system “[email protected]”.  If you are initially contacted by phone, feel free to request that the caller provide you with their email address to validate their identity.  If you have any questions about the validity of someone who contacts you regarding this position, please email the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

• We are an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring the best candidates and to providing equal employment opportunity to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, military service, or any other basis protected by law.

• We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job responsibilities, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at [email protected].

• All Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia employees must comply with the Bank's ethics rules, which generally prohibit employees, their spouses/domestic partners, and minor children from owning securities, such as stock, of banks or savings associations or their affiliates, such as bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies. If you or your spouse/domestic partner or minor child own such securities and would not be willing or able to divest them if you accepted an offer of Bank employment, you should raise this issue with the Recruiter for this posting, who can provide you contact information for our ethics officer if necessary. You should review the Bank's Employee Code of Conduct to ensure compliance with conflict of interest rules and personal investment restrictions.

• Background investigations and drug testing are required for all new hires as a condition of employment, after the job offer is made. Candidates for positions deemed as "safety sensitive" will also be screened for the presence of marijuana. Employment may not begin until the Bank accepts the results of the background investigation.

• All employees will be subject to FBI fingerprint / criminal background and Patriot Act/ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) watch list checks at least once every five years.

• Certain eligibility rules apply. You will provide work authorization to prove your eligibility to work in the United States.

• The above statements are intended to describe the general nature, level of work and the requirements of this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities associated with this position or the personnel so classified. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of this position, management reserves the right to revise this or any job description at its discretion at any time.

• This is an onsite opportunity.

• Learn more about the Philly Fed and its culture. Learn more about working for the Philly Fed.

Full Time / Part TimePart time

Regular / TemporaryTemporary

Job Exempt (Yes / No)No

Job Category

Work ShiftFirst (United States of America)

The Federal Reserve Banks are committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and job applicants in compliance with applicable law and to an environment where employees are valued for their differences.

Always verify and apply to jobs on Federal Reserve System Careers (https://rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/FRS) or through verified Federal Reserve Bank social media channels.

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