Professor Of Economics Research Articles

Doctoral degrees awarded to Blacks in agricultural economics: 1999–2019

AbstractThis paper looks at 21 years of data on doctoral degrees granted across the US and compares agricultural economics to economics and other fields. While the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to Blacks is generally higher than that in economics, both the percent and the number of Blacks completing their degrees have decreased slightly over time in agricultural economics. The number and percent of doctoral degrees across all fields awarded to Black students increased over the same period. The paper also reviews studies related to diversity in the economics and agricultural economics professions and discusses possible reasons for the disparities.

Whose Inflation Expectations Best Predict Inflation?

We examine the predictive relationship between various measures of inflation expectations and future inflation. We find that the expectations of professional economists and of businesses have tended to provide more accurate predictions of future inflation than the expectations of households and of financial market participants. However, the forecasts coming from a relatively simple and popular benchmark inflation forecasting model have historically been roughly as accurate as the expectations of businesses and professional economists.

Understanding diversity (or the lack thereof) in the economics profession in Latin America

Understanding diversity (or the lack thereof) in the economics profession in Latin America

Diversifying the economics profession: the long road to overcoming discrimination and sub-representation of Hispanics and African Americans. An analysis of the United States between 1995-2019.

This paper analyses the dynamics related to the representation of African Americans and Hispanics in every level of economics within U.S. post-secondary institutions from 1995 to 2019. I show that there is underrepresentation of Hispanics and African Americans in economics and evaluate some of the possible reasons for the persistence of socioeconomic barriers, including discrimination and attitudes of self-isolation, which block minorities from advancing in academia and professional areas. I discuss some of the advances in economics that address the discrimination problem and some models that try to explain its existence. I present ways in which each member of the economics community could help to alleviate the underrepresentation of minorities in the field and relate some of the posible effects of this problem to non-U.S. institutions that teach economics. Finally, I discuss why addressing underrepresentation and discrimination in economics is important.

The Opening of Minds Towards more Active Government that Steers the Production Structure

Deep society-wide crises tend to produce new economic thinking. 2020 familiarized many millions with trauma and loss. It also intensified the questioning – already started by the North Atlantic Financial Crisis (NAFC) of 2007-12 and by the dramatic rise of China on world technology and military frontiers – of the conservative ideology or world view which has dominated the economics profession and economic statecraft across the capitalist world for the past four decades – dominated as though simple common sense, quietly transforming western societies. This essay discusses the content of emerging thinking about the role of the state, and causes of the changes. But first, more on where we are coming from: from the deeply entrenched conservative ideology and its anti-government “intervention” in the economy.

Past, present, and future: Status of women and minority faculty in agricultural and applied economics

AbstractAs with many academic fields in the United States, white male faculty have historically been the norm in the agricultural and applied economics profession, but demographics in the field have started to shift over the past several decades. This paper presents descriptive evidence of the current and historical status of underrepresented and historically underserved groups in our profession, including white women and racial and ethnic minorities of all genders. It also provides a snapshot of perceptions of departmental climate, data on incidents of harassment and discrimination in our profession, motivations for switching academic institutions, and finally, data on strategies for retaining faculty from diverse groups.

The Role of Parental Wealth and Income in Financing Children’s College Attendance and Its Consequences

V. J. Hotz†⇑, Emily Wiemers‡⇑, Joshua Rasmussen§ and Kate Maxwell Koegel¶ †V. Josheph Hotz is the Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Economics at Duke University. ‡Emily Wiemers is an associate professor of public administration and research associate at the Aging Studies Institute and Center for Aging and Policy Studies at Syracuse University. §Joshua Rasmussen is an associate at Energy GPS. ¶Kate Maxwell Koegel is an associate at Cornerstone Research. Email: v.joseph.hotz{at}duke.edu Email: eewiemer{at}syr.edu

1 - Ferocity of Whites, Ferocity of Capitalism


 
 
 
 
 
 Translated from the French version, was first published posthumously as a foreword to Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe's book White Ferocity: The Genocides of Non-Whites and Non-Aryans from 1492 to Date (CODESRIA 2020).
 
 
 
 Samir Amin, (1931–2018), Professor of Economics and Former Director of Third World Forum, Dakar, Senegal.
 
 

How women saved agricultural economics

AbstractWomen entered agricultural economics in numbers starting in the 1980s, and their ranks are increasing over time. We make the case that women have increased the relevance in the field of agricultural economics through their diverse interests, perspectives, and experiences. We document how women have changed the profession of agricultural economics in both academia and government. In research, women have expanded the field's treatment of non‐traditional topics such as food safety and nutrition and environmental and natural resource economics. In this sense, women saved the profession from a future as a specialty narrowly focused on agricultural production and markets.

Geographic diversity in economic publishing

Is the representation of editors at prestigious economics journals geographically diverse? Using data on the affiliations of academics working in an editorial capacity at such journals, we map the locations of editorial power within the economics profession. This allows us to rank institutions according to this measure of power. Further, by considering the average distance of a journal’s editorial affiliations from a geographic mean, we rank journals by geographic diversity. We find that power is concentrated in five geographical hubs and that most editorial teams are less geographically diverse and more North American than the authors they publish.

The Unintended Consequences of Informal Child Care Subsidies for Older Women’s Retirement Security

Yulya Truskinovsky⇑ Yulya Truskinovsky is an assistant professor of Economics at Wayne State University (yulya.truskinovsky{at}wayne.edu)

Editorial: New conversations in development studies

Editorial: New conversations in development studies

Changes in Women's Representation in Economics: New Data from the AEA Papers and Proceedings

<ns3:p>The shortage of women and historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the economics profession has received considerable public attention in the past several years. The American Economic Association (AEA), the professional organization for economists, has been taking steps to address criticism that the economics discipline is unwelcoming to women and underrepresented minorities.</ns3:p>

Book Review: Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy

Steven Kates, historian of economic thought, is a persistent and vocal critic of Keynesian demand side economics. His recent book, _Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy_, connects the dots in his critique by explaining, elaborating on, and advocating for classical economic theory. It should be a welcome addition to the reading lists of both amateurs and professional economists, whether one’s interest is in macroeconomics or the history of economic thought.

Does New Zealand's inflation target anchor long-term expectations?

A claimed benefit of an inflation target is that it provides an anchor for long-term inflation expectations. We evaluate this by using survey-based inflation expectations data for New Zealand to assess whether forecasts for different horizons systematically converge to the RBNZ's target. We find evidence of this from the aggregated expectations data, and for most individual professional economists and financial sector forecasters in our sample. However, the evidence from forecasters in other sectors is mixed. In particular, those from the business community appear more focussed on the RBNZ's inflation track record. This could contribute to episodes of persistently low inflation.

Accelerating Economic Growth: The Science beneath the Art

Rapid and sustained accelerations in economic growth can have huge implications for poverty alleviation and people's wellbeing, but does the economic profession have the knowledge to engineer them? Conspicuously disappointing outcomes for countries scrupulously following mainstream growth policy recipes have sown some doubt. This paper deploys a novel statistical approach to show that 80% of 135 successful growth acceleration episodes – occurring between 1962 and 2002 worldwide – were preceded by major improvements in standard growth determinants, and particularly orthodox policies such as economic liberalisations. However, a set of counterfactual analyses suggest that such major improvements in growth determinants are a necessary but hardly sufficient condition for success, failing to accelerate growth in 9 out of 10 instances. Our overall results indicate that to increase their effectiveness, acceleration strategies should remain focussed on mainstream growth recipes, but abandon off-the-shelf approaches or all-encompassing “shock therapy” solutions, favouring improved tailoring to local economic conditions.

The Growing Importance of Social Tasks in High-Paying Occupations

Guido Matias Cortes*, Nir Jaimovich* and Henry E. Siu*⇑ *Guido Matias Cortes is an associate professor of economics at York University and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). *Nir Jaimovich is a professor of economics at the University of Zürich and a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). *Henry E. Siu is a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) <hankman{at}mail.ubc.ca>

Dynamics of the Gender Gap in High Math Achievement

Glenn Ellison* and Ashley Swanson* *Glenn Ellison is a professor of economics at MIT. *Ashley Swanson is an assistant professor of economics at Columbia Business School.

The Effects of After-School Programs on Maternal Employment

Fabian T. Dehos and Marie Paul⇑ Fabian T. Dehos is a postdoctoral researcher at RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Marie Paul is a professor in economics at the University of Duisburg-Essen and an external fellow at CReAM and RWI. Correspondence to: marie.paul{at}uni-due.de. The Online Appendix can be found at http://jhr.uwpress.org.

Jacob Mincer Award

Jacob Mincer Award