CV | Lars Vilhuber

For a longer biography and high-res headshot, see this page.

Contact Information

Name	Lars Vilhuber
Title	Economist, Senior Research Associate, Executive Director, Data Editor
Email	lars.vilhuber@cornell.edu
Phone	+1-607-330-5743

Professional Summary

Data Editor at the American Economic Association and Executive Director of the Labor Dynamics Institute at Cornell University. Research interests include labor market conditions, displacement effects, privacy and confidentiality in administrative data, and statistical disclosure limitation.

Impact

Google Scholar

3544

Citations

23

H-index

View Profile

CitEc (RePEc)

562

Citations

12

H-index

View Profile

Research Output

244

Publications & Documents

View Publications

Research Funding

18

Grants (2007–present)

As AEA Data Editor

2791

manuscripts

4973

authors reached

View details

LDI Replication Lab

201

undergradudates trained

View details

Experience

2018 - present

USA
Data Editor

American Economic Association

Oversee data and code availability for economics journals published by the AEA
- Developed reproducibility verification processes
- Created training materials for reproducible research
2011 - present

Ithaca, NY
Executive Director

Labor Dynamics Institute, Cornell University

Lead research on
- labor dynamics
- confidentiality protection
- data access mechanisms
- reproducibility in social science research
2007 - present

Ithaca, NY

Senior Research Associate

Cornell University, ILR School

Research on labor economics and statistical disclosure limitation
2007 - present

USA

Vice-President

ACES-Research, LLC
2004 - 2020

Washington, D.C.

Senior Research Associate

U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Research on confidentiality protection and administrative data, creation of LEHD data infrastructure
2001 - 2007

Ithaca, NY, USA

Economist, Senior Research Associate or contractor

Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER), Cornell University
1999 - 2001

Washington, D.C.

Economist

U.S. Census Bureau, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Program
1999 - 2002

Toronto, Canada

Adjunct Professor

Dept. of Economics, York University
1998 - 1999

Toronto, Canada

Research Fellow

Dept. of Economics, York University

Co-responsible for COEP 1996 data administration and dissemination

Publications

Google Scholar Metrics: Citations: 3544 | H-index: 23

CitEc Metrics: Citations: 562 | H-index: 12 | i10-index: 13

2026

Full publication list

See the complete publication list on my website.

Professional Service

2018 - present

Data Editor, American Economic Association journals

Oversee data and code availability for economics journals published by the AEA

https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/data
2019 - present
Harvard Data Science Review

https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/reinforcing-rr
- Associate Editor since 2019
- Column Editor, “Reinforcing Reproducibility and Replicability”, since 2023
2014 - present

Canada

Conseil d'orientation du Centre interuniversitaire québécois de statistiques sociales (CIQSS)/Advisory board of the Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS) [Canada], member

https://ciqss.org/
2012 - present

France
Comité scientifique du Centre d'accès sécurisé aux données (CASD) [Scientific advisory board of the Center for secure data access, France]

https://www.casd.eu/
- Chair 2014-present
- Member 2012-2014
2019 - 2026

Canada
Board of Directors of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network/ Réseau canadien des Centres de données de recherche

https://crdcn.ca/
- Member
2018 - 2024
Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality

Relaunched the journal with Cynthia Dwork, implemented open access infrastructure, ran the day-to-day process of the journal.

http://www.journalprivacyconfidentiality.org
- Relaunch, 2018
- Executive Editor, 2018-2024
2019 - 2021
Journal of Econometrics

https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-econometrics
- Guest Editor for special issue on Linked Employer-Employee Data
2019 - 2020

Ithaca, NY
Committee on the Future of Scholarly Communications (Cornell University)
- Member
2018 - 2019

Canada
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
- Adjudication committee for Insight Grants, 2018-2019
2016 - 2021

USA
American Statistical Association, Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality
- Chair 2020-2021
- Member 2016-2020
2016 - 2019

USA
Contributions to activities of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
- Forecasting Costs for Preserving, Archiving, and Promoting Access to Biomedical Data (DEPS-BMSA-18-02)
- Transparency and Reproducibility of Federal Statistics for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (DBASSE-CNSTAT-17-04)
- Workshop on Transparency and Reproducibility in Federal Statistics (DBASSE-CNSTAT-16-02), presentation in June 2017, workshop report see Vilhuber, 2019a
- Committee on Reproducibility and Replicability in Science (DBASSE-BBCSS-17-03), commissioned paper prepared July 2018 (Vilhuber, 2018c), final consensus report see National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019
2016 - 2018

USA

National Science Foundation, Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) Advisory Panel
2016 - Present

Germany

International Data Service Centre, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Advisory Board
2000 - 2007

LEHD Technical Papers

https://ideas.repec.org/s/cen/tpaper.html)
Professional Associations
- Society of Labor Economists (SOLE)
- American Economic Association (AEA)
- American Statistical Association (ASA)
- Elected member, The International Statistical Institute, 2018-

Grants & Funding

2023 - 2026

To train the next generation of scholars to conduct replication studies and produce transparent, reproducible, and replicable research

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2023-22326 | $250,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Abel Brodeur

To train the next generation of scholars to conduct replication studies and produce transparent, reproducible, and replicable research.
2022 - 2025

Conferences on Reproducibility and Replicability in Economics and the Social Sciences (CRRESS)

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #2217493 | $50,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Aleksandr Michuda

This award provides partial support for a series of virtual and in-person conferences on the topics of reproducibility, replicability, and transparency in the social sciences. The conferences address educational and procedural barriers slowing down adoption of best practices, whether journals should be the verifiers of reproducibility, whether (and how) scientists’ work can be made to be reproducible at every stage of the research process, and implications thereof for funding, technical infrastructure, and the training of undergraduate and graduate students.
2022 - 2025

Collaborative Research: Elements: TRAnsparency CErtified (TRACE): Trusting Computational Research Without Repeating It

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Grant #2209629 | $631,994 all collaborative

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber (this grant: $182,000), Bertram Ludaescher (Grant 2209628), Timothy M McPhillips (Grant 2209628), Kacper Kowalik (Grant 2209628), Craig Willis (Grant 2209628), Thu-Mai Christian (Grant 2209630)

The central goal of the TRACE project is the development, validation, and implementation of a technical model of certified transparency. This includes a set of infrastructure elements that can be employed by system owners to (1) declare the dimensions of computational transparency supported by their platforms; (2) certify that a specific computational workflow was executed on the platform; and (3) bundle artifacts, records of their execution, technical metadata about their contents, and certify them for dissemination. The first phase of the project focuses on the development of a conceptual model and technical specification that can be used to certify the description of a system, termed a Transparency-Certified System (TRACE system), and the aggregation of artifacts along with records of their execution, termed Transparency-Certified Research Objects (TROs). The second phase focuses on the development of reusable software components implementing the TRACE model and approach. To demonstrate certified transparency, the toolkit is used to TRACE-enable existing platforms including Whole Tale, SKOPE, and the SLURM workload manager. These TRACE-enabled systems produce certified TROs that can be trusted and do not need to be repeated or re-executed to verify that results were obtained as claimed.
2021 - 2025

To identify and test effective interventions for enhancing the quality and completeness of randomized-controlled-trial registries

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2021-17105 | $214,901

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Sarah Kopper, Jack Cavanagh

To identify and test effective interventions for enhancing the quality and completeness of randomized-controlled-trial registries.
2019 - 2021

To support a conference on research using linked employer-employee data to study labor markets and disseminate these insights to the wider economics community

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2019-12486 | $20,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Ian Schmutte, David Card

To support a conference on research using linked employer-employee data to study labor markets and disseminate these insights to the wider economics community.
2019 - 2022

To improve policy-relevant research by facilitating the use of administrative data among economists who design, run, and analyze randomized controlled trials

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2019-11391 | $1,083,750

Investigators: Anja Sautmann, Shawn Cole, Iqbal Dhaliwal, Lars Vilhuber (subaward to Cornell University)

To improve policy-relevant research by facilitating the use of administrative data among economists who design, run, and analyze randomized controlled trials. Grant supported the Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action Initiative (IDEA) at J-PAL Global, including core technical staff, two pilot projects in the United States, and creation of the Handbook on Using Administrative Data for Research and Evidence-Based Policy.
2018 - 2020

To enhance the transparency, reproducibility, and replicability of empirical research in the social sciences by simplifying how authors can, when submitting a paper to a journal, also provide structured metadata about the provenance and archiving of code, data, and other supplementary materials

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2018-11377 | $50,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Carl Lagoze

To enhance the transparency, reproducibility, and replicability of empirical research in the social sciences by simplifying how authors can, when submitting a paper to a journal, also provide structured metadata about the provenance and archiving of code, data, and other supplementary materials.
2016 - 2023

Subaward from: CC*DNI DIBBS: Merging Science and Cyberinfrastructure Pathways: The Whole Tale

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Grant #1541450 | $5,887,240

Investigators: Bertram Ludaescher, Victoria Stodden, Niall I Gaffney, Matthew J Turk, Kyle Chard, Subaward: Lars Vilhuber, $35,000

The goal of this project is to strengthen the second layer of research output, and to build a robust third layer that integrates all parts of the story, conveying the holistic experience of reproducible scientific inquiry by (1) exposing existing cyberinfrastructure through popular frontends, e.g., digital notebooks (IPython, Jupyter), traditional scripting environments, and workflow systems; (2) developing the necessary ‘software glue’ for seamless access to different backend capabilities, including from DataNet federations and Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBs) projects; and (3) enhancing the complete data-to-publication lifecycle by empowering scientists to create computational narratives in their usual programming environments, enhanced with new capabilities from the underlying cyberinfrastructure (e.g., identity management, advanced data access and provenance APIs, and Digital Object Identifier-based data publications). The technologies and interfaces will be developed and stress-tested using a diverse set of data types, technical frameworks, and early adopters across a range of science domains. (I was not involved in the original proposal)
2015 - 2017

To study the economics of socially efficient protocols for managing research databases containing private information

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2015-13903 | $535,970

Investigators: John M Abowd, Lars Vilhuber

This project characterized the ‘efficient frontier’ of privacy-accuracy tradeoffs in research data protocols, assembling a library of protocols (including homomorphic encryption, secure computation, and differential privacy) and measuring public attitudes toward these tradeoffs.
2014 - 2017

RCN: Coordination of the NSF-Census Research Network

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #1507241 | $488,785

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Margaret C Levenstein, Jerome P Reiter

Coordinates a national research network to advance theory, methodology, and tools for the Census Bureau and the federal statistical system.
2012 - 2015

RCN: Coordination of the NSF-Census Research Network

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #1237602 | $748,577

Investigators: Alan F Karr, John M Abowd, Jerome P Reiter, Lars Vilhuber

Coordinates a national research network to advance theory, methodology, and tools for the Census Bureau and the federal statistical system.
2011 - 2017

NCRN-MN: Cornell Census-NSF Research Node: Integrated Research Support, Training and Data Documentation

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #1131848 | $3,560,887

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, John M Abowd, William C Block, Ping Li

Creates tools and methods for documenting, preserving, and sharing restricted-access social science data, supporting reproducible research with confidential datasets.
2010 - 2015

Synthetic Data User Testing and Dissemination

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #1042181 | $252,465

Investigators: John M Abowd, Lars Vilhuber

Develops and tests methods for making detailed government data available to researchers while protecting individual privacy, focusing on synthetic data.
2010 - 2017

TC: Large: Collaborative Research: Practical Privacy: Metrics and Methods for Protecting Record-level and Relational Data

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Grant #1012593 | $1,326,660

Investigators: John M Abowd, Johannes E Gehrke, Lars Vilhuber

Bridges statistics and computer science to develop privacy-preserving methods for releasing confidential data, focusing on synthetic data and formal privacy guarantees.
2009 - 2013

Social Science Gateway to TeraGrid

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #0922005 | $393,523

Investigators: John M Abowd, Lars Vilhuber

Expands access to large-scale confidential Census Bureau data for social science research, building infrastructure for tera-scale data analysis.
2009 - 2011

Joint NSF-Census-IRS Workshop on synthetic data and confidentiality protection, July 2009 Washington, DC

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #0922494 | $18,480

Investigators: John M Abowd, Ronald Jarmin, Jerome P Reiter, Lars Vilhuber

Workshop to discuss and improve synthetic and partially synthetic public-use micro-data, fostering collaboration between researchers and statistical agencies.
2008 - 2013

The economics of mass layoffs: displaced workers, displacing firms, and causes and consequences

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #0820349 | $245,950

Investigators: John M Abowd, Lars Vilhuber

Measures the cost of job loss for workers using mass layoffs as a natural experiment, addressing exogeneity and representativeness in labor market research.
2007 - 2010

Synthesis of HRS-SSA linked data

National Institute on Aging

Grant #1R41AG029756-01 | $99,986

Investigators: John M Abowd, Lars Vilhuber

This project is a Phase I feasibility study of applying these new methods, called synthetic data, to a subset of the variables in the SSA records that link to the general-use RAND-HRS data. The project has three main components: (1) port a general data synthesizer that was developed at the U.S. Census Bureau for use with SSA data linked to the Survey of Income and Program Participation for adaptation to the HRS/SSA link; (2) synthesize a few variables from the HRS/SSA link and test their usefulness in statistical modeling; (3) perform studies of the statistical disclosure risk associated with linking synthetic SSA data to the RAND-HRS general-release ?le. If the confidentiality-protected data prove scientifically useful and if the statistical disclosure risk can be controlled, then Phase II of the research would synthesize the entire HRS/SSA data link.

Education

1993 - 1999

Montreal, Canada

PhD

Université de Montréal

Economics
1992 - 1993

Montreal, Canada

MSc

Université de Montréal

Economics
1990 - 1992

Bonn, Germany

Vordiplom VWL

Universität Bonn

Economics

Languages

English : Fluent

German : Native speaker

French : Fluent

Portuguese : Advanced (used to be fluent)

Spanish : Conversational (but opinions might differ)

Contact Information

Professional Summary

Impact

Google Scholar

3544

23

CitEc (RePEc)

562

12

Research Output

244

Research Funding

18

As AEA Data Editor

2791

4973

LDI Replication Lab

201

Experience

Data Editor

American Economic Association

Oversee data and code availability for economics journals published by the AEA

Executive Director

Labor Dynamics Institute, Cornell University

Lead research on

Senior Research Associate

Cornell University, ILR School

Research on labor economics and statistical disclosure limitation

Vice-President

ACES-Research, LLC

Senior Research Associate

U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Research on confidentiality protection and administrative data, creation of LEHD data infrastructure

Economist, Senior Research Associate or contractor

Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER), Cornell University

Economist

U.S. Census Bureau, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Program

Adjunct Professor

Dept. of Economics, York University

Research Fellow

Dept. of Economics, York University

Co-responsible for COEP 1996 data administration and dissemination

Publications

Full publication list

Professional Service

Data Editor, American Economic Association journals

Oversee data and code availability for economics journals published by the AEA

Harvard Data Science Review

Conseil d'orientation du Centre interuniversitaire québécois de statistiques sociales (CIQSS)/Advisory board of the Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS) [Canada], member

Comité scientifique du Centre d'accès sécurisé aux données (CASD) [Scientific advisory board of the Center for secure data access, France]

Board of Directors of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network/ Réseau canadien des Centres de données de recherche

Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality

Relaunched the journal with Cynthia Dwork, implemented open access infrastructure, ran the day-to-day process of the journal.

Journal of Econometrics

Committee on the Future of Scholarly Communications (Cornell University)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

American Statistical Association, Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality

Contributions to activities of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine

National Science Foundation, Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) Advisory Panel

International Data Service Centre, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Advisory Board

LEHD Technical Papers

Professional Associations

Grants & Funding

To train the next generation of scholars to conduct replication studies and produce transparent, reproducible, and replicable research

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2023-22326 | $250,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Abel Brodeur

Conferences on Reproducibility and Replicability in Economics and the Social Sciences (CRRESS)

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

Grant #2217493 | $50,000

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Aleksandr Michuda

Collaborative Research: Elements: TRAnsparency CErtified (TRACE): Trusting Computational Research Without Repeating It

National Science Foundation - Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Grant #2209629 | $631,994 all collaborative

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber (this grant: $182,000), Bertram Ludaescher (Grant 2209628), Timothy M McPhillips (Grant 2209628), Kacper Kowalik (Grant 2209628), Craig Willis (Grant 2209628), Thu-Mai Christian (Grant 2209630)

To identify and test effective interventions for enhancing the quality and completeness of randomized-controlled-trial registries

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Grant #g-2021-17105 | $214,901

Investigators: Lars Vilhuber, Sarah Kopper, Jack Cavanagh

To support a conference on research using linked employer-employee data to study labor markets and disseminate these insights to the wider economics community