Zachary Wagner

Zachary Wagner is an economist at the Center for Economic and Social Research. His research uses economic theory and econometrics to study how people make decisions about health and health care around the globe. Wagner’s topical expertise includes take-up of health technology, quality of care in low-income countries, disasters and health, health insurance for the poor, community health workers, HIV/AIDS, child diarrhea, private sector health care, the opioid crisis, and family planning. Wagner’s research uses a variety of methodologies including randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental evaluations, analysis of large secondary data sets, cost-effectiveness analysis, and geospatial analysis. He has completed research in a wide variety of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. He is currently leading two NIH funded projects; one that studies how to improve treatment of child diarrhea in India and another that estimates the effect of natural disasters on child health in low- and middle-income countries. Wagner’s research has been featured in leading journals including Science, Nature, The Lancet, BMJ, PLOS Medicine, Health Affairs, and AEJ: Economic Policy. Prior to joining USC, Dr. Wagner was an Economist at RAND for 5 years and a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. He has a Ph.D. in health policy (economics track) from UC Berkeley and a Master’s degree in international development from UC San Diego.

• Ph.D. Health Economics, UC Berkeley