Profile

Dr. Stephen Bronars is an expert in employment discrimination, wage and hours matters, and the use of criminal background checks in hiring decisions, bringing his expertise in the rigorous analysis of complex datasets to the economic issues considered in these matters. Dr. Bronars testifies on issues related to class certification, liability, and economic damages in matters involving screens used in hiring decisions; wrongful terminations; and age, race, and gender discrimination at the federal and state levels.

Dr. Bronars is a sophisticated researcher, with extensive experience in academia and public policy. He previously led the Department of Economics at the University of Texas and has held faculty positions at Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California Santa Barbara, Yale University, and Texas A&M University.

Dr. Bronars publishes widely on the topics of labor economics, econometrics, and microeconomics and has been featured on CNN’s The Situation Room and Good Morning America. His commentary has been included in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, among others. He has also participated in Senate committee meetings, working to draft new legislation regarding immigration matters.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

  • Senior Economist,  Welch Consulting
  • Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
  • Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Texas


Case Highlights

Insights & News

Publications

  • White Paper, Edgeworth Economics | 10.26.2023

    The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) September 8, 2023 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) increases the standard salary level for the white-collar exemption to the 35th percentile of the pay distribution of full-time, non-hourly workers in the South Census region and imposes automatic updates to the salary threshold every three years.  The automatic adjustments would use the most recent quarterly data from the Current Population Survey to determine the 35th percentile of the pay distribution for full-time non-hourly workers in the South Census region. 

  • White Paper, Edgeworth Economics | 10.24.2023

    The Department of Labor’s September 8, 2023 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) increases the salary threshold for the white-collar FLSA exemption.  In the NPRM, the Department explains that the purpose of the salary level test is to serve as an initial screening tool.[1]  It then goes on to downplay the extent to which the new threshold will increase the fraction of white-collar workers who will fail the salary level test by stating “the number of salaried white-collar employes for whom salary would be determinative of their non-exempt status and who earn at least the long test salary level – 3.2 million – is nearly ten times smaller than the number of salaried white-collar workers for whom job duties would continue to be determinative of their exemption status…”[2] 

  • Published Article, Law360 | 04.26.2023

    Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the anticipated new salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act, expected to be proposed in May.

  • Published Article, A condensed version of this article was published in Bloomberg Law | 03.07.2023

    Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the Federal Trade Commission’s stance that non-compete clauses reduce worker earnings across industries, saying that research doesn’t support this conclusion.

  • Published Article, Law360 | 06.13.2022

    The Congressional Progressive Caucus recently proposed an increase in the salary threshold that they claim will reach $82,732 by 2026 $1,591 per week. Businesses required to accurately record the work hours and accurately calculate regular rates of millions of managers and professionals, many of whom receive bonuses and commissions, are likely to face a considerable increase in compliance costs.

  • Published Article, Law360 | 07.08.2021

    In this article, Dr. Stephen Bronars explains that a single $56,000 nationwide salary threshold would likely result in the reclassification of many managers and professionals in low-wage states, while having much less impact in high-wage states and metropolitan areas.

  • Published Article, Law360 | 05.11.2021

    In this article Dr. Stephen Bronars quantifies the impact of the new $15 minimum wage for three contractor jobs that were identified by the White House in its announcement of the executive order. He shows that the impact of a $15 minimum wage for janitors, cafeteria attendants and nursing assistants varies substantially by metropolitan area.

  • Published Article, Law360 | 05.01.2020

    Headlines announcing impending layoffs and furloughs abound as the economy declines due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus and a downturn in the oil and gas sector. Depending on the demographics of their employees, some firms may be particularly susceptible to risk of adverse impact in layoff and furlough decisions.

  • Law360 | 04.15.2019

    Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster discuss the Department of Labor's recent proposal to increase the HCE salary threshold from $100,000 to $147,414. 

  • Law360 | 05.23.2018

    In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

  • Law360 | 05.23.2018

    In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

  • ABA Consumer Financial Services Committee Newsletter | 08.05.2016

    In this article written for the ABA Consumer Financial Services Committee Newsletter Dr. Stephen Bronars explores the implications of behavioral economics on consumer financial services law.

  • Law360  | 06.17.2016

    The DOL's estimate of an additional 2.5 percent increase in the new salary threshold over three adjustments may not be accurate and likely understates its magnitude.

  • Law360  | 05.12.2016

    The pay ranges specified in the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's proposed EEO-1 forms are broader than the pay differences it aims to detect. While the goal of determining instances of pay discrimination is sensible, the authors show that the proposed data collection system is unlikely to accomplish the objective.

  • Law360 | 10.09.2015

    In this Law360 article, Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Nathan Woods discuss the possibly profound consequences of using external benchmarks when conducting analyses of age discrimination allegations.

  • Forbes | 09.01.2015

    Dr. Stephen Bronars publishes “Ten Years after Katrina: African Americans in New Orleans and the Evacuation Divide” in Forbes, analyzing residents’ access to vehicles ten years after hurricane Katrina.

  • Law360 | 08.25.2015

    Drs. Bronars, Foster, and Woods discuss the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed salary test for the white collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

  • Law360 | 08.14.2015

    Drs. Deborah K. Foster, Stephen G. Bronars, and Nathan D. Woods published the article “Approaches to Hourly Rates Under DOL White Collar Rules” in Law360.

  • Law360 | 07.17.2015

    Dr. Stephen Bronars and Chuck Fields, along with Christopher Craig of O’Melveny & Myers, co-authored the article in Law360.

Edgeworth Insights

  • Blog, 12.18.2023

    Farmers and ranchers who hire seasonal workers on H-2A visas will face prevailing wages in 2024 that are about 5.54% higher, on average, than in 2023.  This occurs after a large increase in H-2A wages between 2022 and 2023.  The H-2A visa program requires that visa workers, and domestic workers in corresponding employment, are paid at least the prevailing wage, or Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR).  AEWRs are determined by the US Department of Labor (DOL) and vary by region.  AEWRs will increase in every region between 2023 and 2024 with the largest increases in Hawaii (8.64%), Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina (7.39%), and Oregon and Washington (7.12%).

  • Blog, 10.31.2023

    The NPRM claims the new salary threshold for the EAP exemption “will, in combination with the standard duties test, better define and delimit which employees are employed in a bona fide EAP capacity in a one-test system.”  However, the new salary threshold is set at the 35th percentile of the non-hourly pay distribution in the South region, which is $1,059 per week.  The non-hourly pay distribution includes many blue-collar workers and white-collar workers explicitly excluded from the FLSA (such as teachers), raising doubts as to whether an arbitrary threshold from this distribution has any ability to determine which EAP employees are bona fide.

  • Blog, 10.30.2023

    The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) NPRM provides estimates of the number of employees affected by the proposed salary test level increases, but projections are only as good as the data on which they are based.  In fact, there is no data currently collected that would enable an accurate and reliable estimate of the number of employees who are subject to the FLSA or how many employees are classified as exempt, much less an estimate of those that would be impacted by the proposed changes. 

  • Blog, 10.27.2023

    The NPRM touts that an estimated 3.4 million employees will “gain overtime protection” under the proposed regulations.  As described in our post on October 25, it is unlikely that the new rule will increase compensation of the re-classified employees.

  • Blog, 10.25.2023

    The Department of Labor claims that the increased salary test level will “give employees higher earnings in the form of transfers of income from employers to employees,” but that assertion is inconsistent with economic reasoning.  Even the economic studies cited in the NPRM cast doubt on that assumption. 

  • Blog, 10.23.2023

    On September 8, 2023, a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) from the Department of Labor was published in the Federal Register titled “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees.”

  • Blog, 10.23.2023

    The Department of Labor’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the white-collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that is required for all regulations that will have a material impact on small businesses.  In that analysis, the Department concludes that 1.3 million workers employed by between 179,700 and 1.3 million small businesses will be impacted by the substantial increase in the white-collar exemption salary threshold in the NPRM.  However, that analysis almost certainly understates the impact on small businesses.

  • Blog, 03.07.2023

    Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the Federal Trade Commission’s stance that non-compete clauses reduce worker earnings across industries, saying that research doesn’t support this conclusion.

  • Blog, 12.02.2022

    Farmers and ranchers who hire foreign-born seasonal workers on H-2A visas will face prevailing wages in 2023 that are about 9.36% higher, on average, than the prevailing wages for H-2A workers in 2022.

  • Blog, 06.27.2022

    Federal and state labor laws limit which employees can legally be paid a salary independent of hours worked. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the Federal law requiring that certain workers receive overtime compensation, at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, for all hours of work above 40 each week.

  • Blog, 05.03.2022

    On July 1 of each year, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) publishes prevailing wage rates and salaries that establish a floor for what U.S. businesses must pay foreign workers hired under H-2B and other work visa programs.

  • Blog, 03.01.2022

    We gathered our Labor and Employment experts together and asked them:  What is the “Great Resignation,” and what does it mean for employers?

    Excerpts of their wide-ranging conversation were lightly edited for clarity and reported here.

Speaking Engagements

News

Multimedia

Multimedia

  • Dr. Stephen Bronars Testifies Before Congress

    Edgeworth Economics Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars was called to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest regarding the economic impact of the H-2B Temporary Foreign Worker Program on the wages of US workers.

Industries

Industries

  • Federal Government
  • Financial Services
  • Food Manufacturing
  • Healthcare
  • Retail
  • State Government
  • Technology

Education

Dr. Bronars earned his PhD and MA in economics from the University of Chicago and his BA in economics from the University of Illinois. 

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