Jane received her BA in economics from the College of William and Mary and PhD in economics from Duke University. She worked at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant professor of economics for 5 years before joining the faculty of economics at Cambridge and Christ's College.

Her research interests lie primarily in social economics and the economics of education, particularly focusing on policies related to improving outcomes for socially or economically disadvantaged populations.  She has studied how peers may contribute to racial achievement gaps in U.S. schools and the implications for the benefits of school desegregation on minority achievement.  Current research includes the effect of having failing students repeat a year in school and the effect of school accountability policies, which require schools to meet certain achievement thresholds, on student achievement.  She has also worked on the topic of how to detect racial discrimination, individuals' willingness to pay to avoid air pollution and the economic return to an MBA.