Jacob R. Morris

PhD Student in Economics
University of California San Diego

Department of Economics
University of California San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive #0508
La Jolla, CA 92093

About

I am a PhD student in Economics at the University of California San Diego.

My research is in labor and public economics, with a focus on job loss and policies meant to protect displaced workers.

I am also a researcher at the California Policy Lab and California’s Employment Development Department (EDD), where I work with administrative unemployment insurance claims and linked employer–employee wage records.

Research

Spell or Scar? Wildfire Damage and the Insurance of Job Loss

with Anna NewmanWork in progress

Abstract coming soon

Estimating the Cost of Advance Notice for Firms Conducting Mass Layoffs

with Sarah BanaWork in progress

This paper investigates the impact of advance notice requirements on firm behavior during large-scale workforce reductions. We exploit discontinuous policy rules in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) to estimate the cost of additional notice requirements for firms conducting mass terminations in Ontario, Canada. Our novel empirical evidence shows that firms strategically manipulate the scale of layoffs to circumvent additional notice obligations. Specifically, we utilize quasi-experimental variation in notice requirements facilitated by the ESA to estimate an approximate 30% increase in the frequency of layoff events that bunch just below the threshold at which the mandatory notice period discontinuously increases from 8 to 12 weeks. These discrete jumps in mandatory notice reveal that the costs associated with additional notice provisions for displaced workers significantly distort firms’ termination behavior during mass layoffs.

Scatter plot of the number of mass layoff events by number of employees terminated, from 0 to about 700. Dashed vertical lines mark 50, 200, and 500 employees. Counts peak just above 50 and decline with layoff size, with visible spikes just below 200 and just below 500. — Layoff events by number of employees terminated. Dashed lines mark the 50-, 200- and 500-employee thresholds in Ontario's mass termination notice rules.

Number of layoff events by number of employees terminated, from 50 to about 450, with a smooth fitted counterfactual curve. A shaded region between roughly 180 and 200 employees shows layoff counts well above the counterfactual just below the 200-employee threshold. — Excess mass of layoffs just below 200 employees, where required notice rises from 8 to 12 weeks, relative to a smooth counterfactual.

Policy Reports

Tracking AI-Related Job Loss Using Unemployment Insurance Claims Data in California

with Ben Hyman, Till von Wachter, Diana Herrera, Roozbeh Moghadam, Swapnil Motghare, Kara Segal, and Neethy ChengappaCalifornia Policy Lab, 2026

Unemployment Insurance Claims After the LA Wildfires

with Paul Lapinski, Peter Mannino, Roozbeh Moghadam, and Till von WachterCalifornia Policy Lab, 2025

Report

The 2025 Palisades and Eaton wildfires in Los Angeles County destroyed over 13,000 homes and nearly 2,000 business establishments, displacing thousands of residents and workers. This report shows the impact the fires had on workers and local economies and highlights key insights for policymakers responding to natural disasters. In the weeks following the fires, 6,300–8,700 more new regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims were filed than would be expected without the fires, a 12–17% increase. An additional 5,000 workers filed claims through the federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program.