Professor of Economics Caroline M. Hoxby ’88 has resigned from the Katz Committee effective today, claiming that the committee has favored a pro-living wage agenda.

The Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies (HCECP), popularly dubbed the Katz Committee after its chair, Professor of Economics Lawrence F. Katz, has been charged with examining the University wage and employment policies. The committee is scheduled to release its preliminary data at the ARCO Forum this evening. In a letter to The Crimson, Hoxby questioned whether that data came from a balanced process.

“I believe that the HCECP has neither the process nor the principle to fulfill its duties,” Hoxby wrote.

The resignation of nationally recognized education economist Hoxby will place tonight’s forum under even sharper scrutiny.

“I am ashamed to admit that my university does not currently have an atmosphere that fosters the free exchange of ideas on this topic,” she wrote.

Hoxby declined to be interviewed.

As of last night, Hoxby had not announced her resignation to members of the Katz Committee.

“She’s an integral member of the committee,” Katz said last night. “We hope she’ll continue to provide us with information and valuable insights.”

The much-publicized committee was born last spring out of the three-week-long occupation of Mass. Hall, home of the president’s office. The Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) organized the sit-in as part of their push for a “living wage”—a mandatory wage floor of $10.25 per hour for all Harvard employees.

Committee members are scheduled to present a set of recommendations for wage policies to University President Lawrence H. Summers by Dec. 19.

According to Hoxby’s letter, the committee’s membership—selected last spring by former University President Neil L. Rudenstine—fails to represent a balanced set of viewpoints.

Membership includes 11 faculty members, three unionized Harvard employees, two administrators and four students.

Two of the four students, Benjamin L. McKean ’02 and second-year law student Faisal Chaudhry, are PSLM members who occupied Mass. Hall last spring.

McKean declined to comment, and Chaudhry could not be reached for com ment.

According to Hoxby, the committee has heard testimony exclusively from pro-living wage groups, like the living wage campaign, Workers’ Center and union representatives.