Katherine Lim is a research agricultural economist in the Farm Economy Branch, Resource and Rural Economics Division at the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) where she studies farm households.

Prior to joining ERS in 2023, Katherine was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, studying the effect of labor market institutions on low- and moderate- income workers. She also was a financial economist with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, focusing on tax issues relating to pass-through businesses. Her research and policy interests cover issues relating to self-employment, women’s labor force participation, and the taxation of pass-through businesses.

Katherine received a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Economics and an M.A. in Economics, both from the University of Michigan. She has a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Mathematics, both from Macalester College.

Lim, K. 2019. "Do American Mothers Use Self-Employment as a Flexible Work Alternative?," Economic Review of the Household, 17,805–842.

Lim, K. and K. Michelmore. 2018. "The EITC and Self-Employment Among Married Mothers," Labour Economics, 55,98–115.