Dr. Rivera-Batiz earned a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University in 1975; and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979.
Dr. Rivera-Batiz's research interests in education include the effects of schooling and increased skills on labor market outcomes, how education affects economic development, the determinants of learning and student achievement, and urban education policy. He has also carried out research on global migration issues, including studies on the labor market impacts of migration in source countries and in host economies, the economic progress of immigrants, the earnings of undocumented workers, and the education of immigrant children. Professor Rivera-Batiz has also written on the socioeconomic and educational status of Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican and other Latino groups in New York City and in the U.S.
Hernández, R., Rivera-Batiz, F.L. and Sisay, S. (2022) “Dominicans in the United States: A Socioeconomic Profile 2022,” Dominican Studies Research Monograph, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, The City College of New York.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2018). “The Job Terminator? Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Work,” Journal of International Affairs.
Feng, N. and Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2017). “Education and Attitudes towards Internal Migrants in China,” in F.L. Rivera-Batiz, ed., International and Interregional Migration: Theory and Evidence, World Scientific Publishers.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2013). “The Globalization of International Labor Flows,” in Lukauskas, A., Stern, R. and Zanini, G. eds., Handbook of Trade Policy for Development, Oxford University Press.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2008). “International Migration, the Brain Drain and Economic Development,” in Dutt, A.K. and Ros, J. ed., International Handbook of Development Economics, Edward Elgar Publishers, Cheltenham, U.K.
Ladd, H. and Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2006). “Education and Economic Development in Puerto Rico,” in B. Bosworth and S. Collins, eds, The Puerto Rican Economy: Prospects for Growth, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 2006.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (2003). “The Impact of School-to-Work Programs on Minority Youth Employment and Student Outcomes,” in Stull, W.J. and Sanders, N. eds., The School to Work Movement: Origins and Destinations, Praeger Publishers.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (1999). “Undocumented Workers in the Labor Market: An Analysis of the Earnings of Legal and Illegal Mexican Immigrants in the U.S.,” Journal of Population Economics.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (1992). “Quantitative Literacy and the Likelihood of Employment Among Young Adults in the U.S.," Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 27, No. 2, Spring, 313-328.
Rivera-Batiz, F.L. (1990). "English Language Proficiency and the Economic Progress of Immigrants," Economics Letters.
Dr. Rivera-Batiz joined the Teachers College faculty for the first time in 1991 as an associate professor of economics and education, but has served TC and Columbia in general in many other capacities. He was the director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College until 1995, and from 1997 to 1999 he served as the director of the Latino Studies Program at Columbia university. From 1996 to 2002 he was the director of the MPA in Economic Policy Management (PEPM) at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) as well as an associate professor in the economics department at Columbia. He currently maintains his teaching at the University as an adjunct professor at SIPA.
Before his appointment at Teachers College, Dr. Rivera-Batiz held teaching or research positions at the University of Chicago, Indiana University in Bloomington, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He has also received postdoctoral fellowships from the Ford Foundation in 1982-83 and Educational Testing Service in 1988-89. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in 2003-04, and the recipient of the Lifetime Academic Achievement Award granted by the American Society of Hispanic Economists, presented at the American Economic Association Meetings in 2010.
Professor Rivera-Batiz has worked on research or technical advising projects to the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations, the Soros Foundation, the Center for a New Economy, and the Harvard Institute for International Development. He has also provided technical or educational services to governmental and non-governmental institutions in the United States and abroad, including Argentina, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, the Republic of Georgia, El Salvador, Mongolia, Paraguay, and Puerto Rico. In 2006 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Friendship from the country of Mongolia in honor of his contributions to Mongolian education and society.