Rebecca Jorgensen is a sixth year PhD student in Wharton's Applied Economics program with research interests in household finance, real estate, and industrial organization economics. Her current research studies how mergers between residential real estate brokerages and mortgage lenders affect the structure of the mortgage market and the interest rate paid by borrowers. Her other work examines how increasing ridership on public transit affects travel time. Prior to graduate school, Rebecca worked as a Research Assistant at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on projects related to financial stability and competition, which is where her interest in mortgage markets began. Rebecca holds a Masters degree in Economics and a Bachelors degree in Quantitative Economics and Mathematics, all from Miami University.