Press representatives wishing to interview Atlanta Fed economists should contact Public Affairs at media@atl.frb.org or call 470-858-6665. For other inquiries, please send an email to atl-res-admin@atl.frb.org.
M. Melinda Pitts is the research center director of the Center for Human Capital Studies (CHCS) in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Dr. Pitts is part of the applied microeconomics team. Her major fields of study are health and labor economics. She also contributes to the Atlanta Fed's macroblog, which provides commentary on economic topics, including monetary policy, macroeconomic developments, and the Southeast economy.
Prior to joining the Bank in 2002, Dr. Pitts was an assistant professor of economics at Georgia State University, in Atlanta. She also worked as an assistant professor of economics at Salisbury State University in Salisbury, Maryland.
Dr. Pitts has published in several journals, including Industrial Relations, the American Economic Review, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Research in Labor Economics.
She is a member of the American Economic Association, International Health Economics Association, American Society of Health Economists, and the Society of Labor Economics.
Dr. Pitts received her doctorate in economics in 1997 and her master's degree in economics in 1993, both from North Carolina State University. She received her bachelor of arts in economics in 1987 from Clemson University.
2023-11a
Modeling Event Studies with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
Laura M. Argys, Thomas A. Mroz, and M. Melinda Pitts
September 2023 (Revised August 2025)
Simulated data creation files (Stata format files)
2022-6
Is Our Fiscal System Discouraging Marriage? A New Look at the Marriage Tax
Elias Ilin, Laurence Kotlikoff, and M. Melinda Pitts
June 2022
2020-11
The Dynamics of the Smoking Wage Penalty
Michael E. Darden, Julie L. Hotchkiss, and M. Melinda Pitts
July 2020
2019-16a
Driven from Work: Graduated Driver License Programs and Teen Labor Market Outcomes
Laura M. Argys, Thomas A. Mroz, and M. Melinda Pitts
July 2019 (Revised August 2025)
2018-4
State Merit Aid Programs and Youth Labor Market Attachment
David E. Frisvold and M. Melinda Pitts
June 2018
2017-6a
Losing Public Health Insurance: TennCare Disenrollment and Personal Financial Distress
Laura M. Argys, Andrew I. Friedson, M. Melinda Pitts, and D. Sebastian Tello-Trillo
August 2017 (Revised October 2019)
2016-14
Killer Debt: The Impact of Debt on Mortality
Laura M. Argys, Andrew I. Friedson, and M. Melinda Pitts
November 2016
2014-23
Impact of First-Birth Career Interruption on Earnings: Evidence from Administrative Data
Julie. L Hotchkiss, M. Melinda Pitts, and Mary Beth Walker
November 2014
2014-22
The Gap between the Conditional Wage Distributions of Incumbents and the Newly Hired Employees: Decomposition and Uniform Ordering
Esfandiar Maasoumi, M. Melinda Pitts, and Ke Wu
November 2014
2014-20
Do Minimum Wages Really Increase Youth Drinking and Drunk Driving?
Joseph J. Sabia, M. Melinda Pitts, and Laura Argys
November 2014
2012-10
A Closer Look at Nonparticipants During and After the Great Recession
Hotchkiss, Julie L., M. Melinda Pitts, and Fernando Rios-Ávila
August 2012
2011-2
To Work or Not to Work: The Economics of a Mother's Dilemma
Hotchkiss, Julie L., M. Melinda Pitts, and Mary Beth Walker.
March 2011.
2011-1
A Decomposition of the Black-White Differential in Birth Outcomes
Pitts, Melinda M., Mary Beth Walker, and Brian S. Armour.
March 2011.
2010-2
Assessing the Impact of Education and Marriage on Labor Market Exit Decisions of Women
Hotchkiss, Julie L., M. Melinda Pitts, and Mary Beth Walker.
February 2010.
2008-8
Working with Children? The Probability of Mothers Exiting the Workforce at Time of Birth
Hotchkiss, Julie L., M. Melinda Pitts, and Mary Beth Walker.
February 2008.
2007-19
Cigarette Smoking and Food Insecurity among Low-Income Families in the United States, 2001
Brian S. Armour, M. Melinda Pitts, and Chung-won Lee
August 2007
2007-18
Does Disability Explain State-Level Differences in the Quality of Medicare Beneficiary Hospital Inpatient Care?
Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts.
August 2007
2007-16
Evidence of Demand Factors in the Determination of the Labor Market Intermittency Penalty
Julie L. Hotchkiss and M. Melinda Pitts.
July 2007
2007-1
The Role of Labor Market Intermittency in Explaining Gender Wage Differentials
Julie L. Hotchkiss and M. Melinda Pitts.
February 2007
2006-12
Smoking: Taxing Health and Social Security
Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts
September 2006
2006-1
The Push-Pull Effects of the Information Technology Boom and Bust: Insight from Matched Employer-Employee Data
Julie L. Hotchkiss, M. Melinda Pitts, and John C. Robertson
February 2006
2005-22
Freshman Learning Communities, College Performance, and Retention
Julie L. Hotchkiss, Robert E. Moore, and M. Melinda Pitts
September 2005
2005-11
Earnings on the Information Technology Rollercoaster: Insight from Matched Employer-Employee Data
Julie L. Hotchkiss, M. Melinda Pitts, and John C. Robertson
June 2005
2004-19
Wage Gains among Job Changers across the Business Cycle: Insight from State Administrative Data
Julie L. Hotchkiss, M. Melinda Pitts, and John C. Robertson
August 2004
2002-30
Why Choose Women's Work If It Pays Less? A Structural Model of Occupational Choice
M. Melinda Pitts
December 2002
2002-29
Incorporating Insurance Rate Estimates and Differential Mortality into Net Marginal Social Security Tax Rate Calculations
Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts
December 2002
Melinda Pitts. "The Impact on the Labor Market of Potential Reductions in Federal Employment." Policy Hub: Macroblog. April 21, 2025.
Patrick Higgins, M. Melinda Pitts, and David Wiczer "Industry-Level Sources for Solid US Employment Growth: Running on Empty or More Room to Run?." Policy Hub (2024-8).
Nicholas Croteau, Lei Fang, and Melinda Pitts. "The Pause and Resumption of the Wage Growth Tracker." Policy Hub: Macroblog. August 28, 2024.
Lei Fang, Melinda Pitts, and Michael Sparks. "Labor Supply of Newly Immigrated Workers." Policy Hub: Macroblog. August 19, 2024.
Elias Ilin, Laurence Kotlikoff, and M. Melinda Pitts "Pink and Poverty Taxes on Marriage." Policy Hub (2022-12).
M. Melinda Pitts "Where Are They Now? Workers with Young Children during COVID-19." Policy Hub (2021-10).
Michael E. Darden, Julie L. Hotchkiss, and M. Melinda Pitts "Where There's Smoke...: The Wage Impact of Smoking." Policy Hub (2020-11).
Brian S. Armour and M. Melinda Pitts. "Smoking: Taxing Health and Social Security." Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review (2007 Q3).
Jason DeBacker, Julie Hotchkiss, M. Melinda Pitts,and John Robertson. "It's Who You Are and What You Do: Explaining the IT Industry Wage Premium." Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review (2005 Q3).
Laura Argys, Andrew Friedson, and Melinda Pitts. "Bad Debt Is Bad for Your Health." macroblog. March 30, 2017.
Rebekah Durham, Julie L. Hotchkiss, and Melinda Pitts. "How Will Employers Respond to New Overtime Regulations?." macroblog. July 15, 2016.
M. Melinda Pitts, Richard Rogerson, and Robert Shimer. "A Closer Look at Changes in the Labor Market," macroblog. November 5, 2015.
Melinda Pitts. "Prospects for a small business-fueled employment recovery," macroblog. October 6, 2009.
M. Melinda Pitts. "'We Do Find a Meaningful Impact': Novice Driver Restrictions and the Labor Force." Economy Matters podcast. July 25, 2019.
M. Melinda Pitts. "The Economic Impact on Individuals of Losing Public Health Insurance." Economy Matters podcast. August 31, 2017.
M. Melinda Pitts. "A Conversation about the Health Effects of Delinquent Debt." Economy Matters podcast. March 2, 2017.
M. Melinda Pitts. "The Relationship between the Minimum Wage and Rates of Youth Drinking and Driving." Economy Matters podcast. October 15, 2015.