Robert Garlick is an economist studying labor markets in developing economies, particularly how to reduce search and matching frictions to increase employment, earnings and productivity. He also studies how labor markets intersect with government policies on income support and public works employment, education systems, survey design, and econometric methods.

Garlick is currently based at the Duke University Economics Department and affiliated with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and Institute of Labor Economics. He previously worked as Postdoctoral Researcher in the World Bank's Development Research Group and studied at the University of Michigan and University of Cape Town.