Jonathan Rothwell

Jonathan Rothwell is Gallup’s principal economist, where he researches and publishes on a broad range of social science topics and advises Gallup clients and associates on research questions, methods, and analytics, particularly in the areas of labor markets, discrimination, subjective well-being, entrepreneurship, and parenting. Rothwell is the author of the 2019 book “A Republic of Equals: A Manifesto for a Just Society,” which is about the causes of income inequality and how political equality and competitive markets can mitigate its extreme forms. It was published by Princeton University Press.  

While at Gallup, Rothwell’s scholarly publications have included an analysis of who supported various presidential candidates during the 2016 election, the causes of slowing U.S. productivity growth, the effect of trade competition on regional economic outcomes, and the validity of using consumer ratings to assess colleges. He has also published several articles about the economic and social consequences of COVID-19, including partisan polarization, how information affects consumer behavior and policy preferences, and how disease-suppression policies affected job losses around the world. In collaboration with Andre Perry and other Brookings scholars, Rothwell has been actively involved in research studying the valuation of assets held in majority-Black neighborhoods and the social factors that predict healthy lives for Black Americans. His most recent work focuses on the current and lifelong mental health effects of parenting practices, the personality and management practices of entrepreneurs, and how to measure systemic discrimination. He is working on a book about the fundamental importance of parenting to lifelong well-being, and its biological basis in evolution. 

Before joining Gallup, Rothwell was a fellow at Brookings Metro. Rothwell frequently published research on issues such as trade; innovation; zoning and housing markets; education; college quality; the supply and demand for skills; residential segregation by income, race, and ethnicity; and the causes of income inequality. Rothwell was a regular contributor to Social Mobility Memos, the Brookings blog on social mobility, and contributed to The New York Times’ The Upshot from 2017 to 2021. In 2015, Rothwell was commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences to define “skilled technical work.”  

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biological and evolutionary psychology, a master’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in economics, and a Ph.D. in public affairs.