Mackenzie Alston

Assistant Professor of Finance

Contact

4046 Business Instructional Facility

515 Gregory Dr

Champaign, IL 61820

Ph.D., Economics, Texas A & M, 2019
A.B., Cum Laude, Economics and Mathmatics, Washington University at Saint Louis, 2013

Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2024 to present
Lecturer of Finance, Finance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-2022
Assistant Professor of Finance, Finance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022 to present
Invited Researcher, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, 2022 to present
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2021-2022
Faculty Affiliate, Notre Dame Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, 2021 to present
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University/AEA Summer Program, 2020
Assistant Professor, Economics, Florida State University, 2019-2022

Alston, M., Deryugina, T., & Shurchkov, O. Forthcoming. Leaving Money on the Table. Journal of Economic Psychology, 114. link >
Alston, M., & Jacobson, S. (2026). Show Us, Don’t Just Tell Us: Tips for Curating a Racially and Ethnically Inclusive Department. The Minority Report, (18). link >
Alston, M., & Owens, E. (2025). Does Black and Blue Matter?: An Experimental Investigation of Race and Perceptions of Police Bias. Journal of Public Economics, 249. link >
Alston, M. (2023). Eliminating Discrimination in Hiring Isn’t Enough. IZA World of Labor. link >

Alston, M., Darity, W., Eckel, C., McNeil, L., & Sharpe, R. (2022). The effect of stereotypes on black college test scores at a historically black university. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 194 408-424. link >
Alston, M., Eckel, C., Meer, J., & Zhan, W. (2021). High-Capacity Donors’ Preferences for Charitable Giving. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50 (6), 1262 - 1273. link >
Jaeger, D., Arellano-Bover, J., Karbownik, K., Martínez-Matute, M., Nunley, J., Alston, M., Seals, A., & Becker, S. (2021). The Global COVID-19 Student Survey: First Wave Results. Covid Economics, (79), 152-217. link >
Alston, M. (2015). The Effect of Dropping Lowest Test Scores on Learning and Performance. Equilibria, (3), 13-18.

Police Recruitment and Officer Quality, J-PAL, 2026 to present
Understanding the Role of Social Media in Academic Careers<br>, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022 to present

Financial Economics (FIN 501) A firm's long-run value ultimately depends on its business fundamentals. This course covers micro- and macro-economic drivers of such fundamentals, such as consumer demand, market competitiveness, government regulation, interest rates, business cycles, and monetary policy. Also includes topics in risk and intertemporal decision-making.
Methods in Surveys&Experiments (FIN 580) Lectures and discussions relating to new areas of interest. See class schedule for topics and prerequisites.
Individual Study and Research (FIN 590) Directed reading and research.

4046 Business Instructional Facility

515 Gregory Dr

Champaign, IL 61820