01
Understanding the Effects of a Math Placement Exam on Calculus 1 Enrollment and Engineering Persistence
Education Sciences, 2025
PH.D. CANDIDATE IN ECONOMICS
Reza
Tavakoli
Department of Economics, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Virginia Tech, specializing in applied microeconomics. My research interests include education, inequality, and development economics.
Research Interests
Applied Microeconomics
Economics of Education
Labor Economics
Development Economics
Publications
402
The Effect of After-School Tutoring on Students' National University Entrance-Exam Performance in Iran
2025
03
Evaluating the Efficiency of Students' University-Major Choice in Terms of Labor-Market Outcomes
Journal of Economic Modeling Research, 2021
04
Modeling the Behavior of Choosing a University Major and the Role of Labor-Market Information: A Meta-Analysis
Journal of Iran's Economic Essays, vol. 18, 2021
Working Papers
1·
The Impact of Tax Credits on Higher Education Enrollment and URM Representation
Teaching
Instructor
Principles of Economics
Virginia Tech
Summer 2025 · Winter 2025
Data Analysis with Stata Graduate
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Spring 2016 · 2017
Teaching Assistant
Analysis of Economic Data
Dr. Brianna Felegi · Virginia Tech
Spring 2025
Labor Economics
Dr. Brianna Felegi · Virginia Tech
Fall 2024
Economics of Immigration
Dr. Sergio Barrera · Virginia Tech
Spring 2024
Analysis of Economic Data
Dr. Brianna Felegi · Virginia Tech
Fall 2023
Interactive Decision Making
Dr. Matthew Kovach · Virginia Tech
Spring 2023
Econometrics I Graduate
Prof. Mohammad Vesal · Sharif University
Fall 2019
Research Experience
Data Scientist · Part Financial Information Processing Group
Mar 2021 – Dec 2022Led a data-science team on a nationwide credit-scoring project. Built default-prediction models on ~2 million loan records using gradient-boosted trees and regularized logistic regression, and delivered a production scoring system supporting data-driven lending decisions.
Research Assistant & Data Analyst · FAO, United Nations
Nov 2018 – Mar 2021Questionnaire design, fieldwork, econometric analysis, and report writing across three field-based projects, supervised by Prof. Mohammad Vesal.
- Farm Household Survey, Qazvin Province (2020–2021)
- Drought Vulnerability Assessment & Impact Evaluation (2020)
- Farm Household Survey, Urmia Lake Basin (2018–2020)
Research Assistant · Sharif University of Technology
Sep 2017Assisted Profs. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani & Mohammad Vesal on "The Role of Iran's Education System in Human Capital Formation," International Workshop on Labor-Market Studies, Tehran.
Education
Ph.D., Economics
Virginia Tech · 2024 – present
M.Sc., Economics
Virginia Tech · 2023 – 2024
M.Sc., Economics
Sharif University of Technology · 2015 – 2018
B.Sc., Economics
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad · 2011 – 2015
Contact
Let's get in touch.
I'm always glad to discuss research in the economics of education and labor. The fastest way to reach me is by email.