Resources for Students and Academics

As a student at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and the University of Wyoming, I learned about the importance of advice and wisdom about what major to focus on, and how to approach the selection of graduate programs and first jobs. I have therefore attempted to maintain an active research program in this area.

Exploring the Impact of Financial Incentives on Stereotype Threat: Evidence from a Pilot Study

Fryer, Roland G., Steven D. Levitt, and John A. List

American Economic Review, (2008), 98(2—P&P), pp. 370-375.

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An influential finding in experimental psychology is the presence of stereotype threat: making gender salient induces large gender gaps in performance on math tests (Steven J. Spencer, Claude M. Steele, and Diane M. Quinn 1999)

Cyclicality and the Labor Market for Economists

Gallet, Craig A., John A. List, and Peter F. Orazem

Southern Economic Journal, (2005), 72(2), pp. 284-304.

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The 1987 academic market was strong, whereas the 1997 market was weak. A multimarket theory of optimal search suggests that job seekers will respond to a weakening market by changing their search strategies at the extensive margin (which markets to enter) and the intensive margin (how many applications to submit per market). Employers respond to the weakening market by raising their hiring standards. High-quality applicants will obtain an increased share of academic interviews in weak markets while applicants from weaker schools will increasingly secure interviews outside of the academic market. Empirical results show that in the bust market, graduates of elite schools shifted their search strategies to include weaker academic institutions, while graduates of lower-ranked schools shifted their applications away from academia and toward the business sector. In bust conditions, academic institutions increasingly concentrate their interviews on elite school graduates, women, and U.S. residents.

Determinants of securing academic interviews after tenure denial: evidence from a zero-inflated Poisson model

List, John A.

Applied Economics, (2001), 33(11), pp. 1423-1431.

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This paper uses a new data set to estimate empirically the optimal job search strategies for recently non-tenured economists seeking to obtain an academic job. Estimates from a zero inflated Poisson model suggest that a portion of interview counts is beyond the candidate’s control as age, colour of skin, gender, and citizenship all play a part in the interview decision. A candidate can substantially enhance the probability of obtaining initial interviews by maintaining quality research and teaching portfolios, however.

Academic Economists Behaving Badly? A Survey on Three Areas of Unethical Behavior

List, John A., Charles D. Bailey,Patricia J. Euzent, and Thomas L. Martin

Economic Inquiry, (2001), 39(1), pp. 162-170.

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This article measures the degree to which academic economists have engaged in unethical behavior and the degree to which academic economists believe the profession as a whole engages in unethical behavior. Three main types of unethical behavior are examined: (1) falsification of research; (2) expropriation of graduate student research funding or including an undeserving co-author on a research paper; and (3) exchange of grade for gifts, money, or sex. Using a unique data set gathered at the 1998 American Economic Association (AEA) meetings, we find that there is a significant amount of misconduct, particularly in the second category.

Interview Scheduling Strategies of New Ph.D. Economists

John List

Journal of Economic Education Vol. 31, Number 2, pp. 191-201 (2000).

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Given the importance of job placement for Ph.D.s, it is surprising that economists have not closely examined the factors that affect procuring job interviews for new Ph.D. economists. In this study, I investigated those factors using a data set gathered at the 1997 American Economic Association (AEA) meetings in New Orleans. My purpose was to increase the information available to Ph.D. candidates who wish to maximize their post graduation job prospects. In addition, this study may guide undergraduates and master’s candidates who seek to pursue a Ph.D. in economics. The results of the findings, however, could benefit more than job seekers -they may provide academic departments and private industry with a comparative baseline for making decisions to interview job candidates.