Robert Fairlie is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research interests include entrepreneurship, education, inequality, information technology, labor economics, and immigration. His research projects explore questions around what causes racial inequality, whether technology helps students, whether there have been disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses and unemployment, and how many jobs entrepreneurs create. He has held visiting positions at Stanford University, Yale University, UC Berkeley, and Australian National University. He has received funding for his research from numerous government agencies and foundations. He has testified to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Department of Treasury, and the California State Assembly regarding the findings from his research, and received a joint resolution from the California Legislature.