Peter Mueser is a Chancellor's Professor in the Department of Economics and the Harry S. Truman School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, where he has taught since 1985. His research focuses on poverty, welfare, job training and job search assistance programs, and migration. His work is published in The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Political Economy, The Journal of Urban Economics, Demography, The Journal of Labor Economics and other social science journals. His book, Food Stamps and the Working Poor, coauthored with David Ribar and Erdal Tekin (Upjohn Institute, 2019), examines the dynamics of one of the largest programs to aid poor families in the US.

He has held positions at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Johns Hopkins University. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1983.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in February 2005.