View source for James Heckman

{{short description|American economist (born 1944)}}
{{Infobox economist
| school_tradition  = [[Chicago School of Economics]]
| image             = Laureate-heckman-james.jpg
| caption           =
| image_size        = 200px
| birth_name        = James Joseph Heckman
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1944|4|19}}
| birth_place       = [[Chicago, Illinois]], US
| death_date        =
| death_place       =
| institution       = [[University of Chicago]]<br />[[University of Southern California]]<br />[[Columbia University]]<br />[[Chinese University of Hong Kong]]
| field             = [[Microeconomics]]
| alma_mater        = [[Colorado College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Princeton University]] ([[PhD]])
| doctoral_advisors = [[Harry H. Kelejian]]<br />[[Stanley Warren Black]]
| doctoral_students = [[Carolyn Heinrich]]<br />[[George Borjas]]<br />[[Petra Todd]]<br />[[Stephen Cameron]]<br />[[Mark Rosenzweig (economist)|Mark Rosenzweig]]<br />[[Russ Roberts]]
| influences        = [[Albert Rees]]<br />[[Gary Becker]]<br />[[Jacob Mincer]]
| contributions     = [[Heckman correction]]
| awards            = [[John Bates Clark Medal]] (1983)<br />[[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics]] (2000)<br />[[Frisch Medal]] (2014)
| thesis_title       = Three Essays on the Supply of Labor and the Demand for Goods
| thesis_url         = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302535216/
| thesis_year        = 1971
}}

'''James Joseph Heckman''' (born April 19, 1944) is an American [[economist]] and Nobel laureate who serves as the [[Henry Schultz]] Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the [[University of Chicago]], where he is also a professor at [[College of the University of Chicago|the college]], a professor at the [[Harris School of Public Policy]], Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development (CEHD),<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cehd.uchicago.edu/page/professor-james-heckman |title=Professor James Heckman}}</ref> and co-director of Human Capital and Economic Opportunity (HCEO) Global Working Group.<ref name="heckmanprofile">{{cite web |url=https://economics.uchicago.edu/directory/james-j-heckman |title=Prof. Heckman's University of Chicago Department of Economics Profile}}</ref> He is also a professor of law at [[University of Chicago Law School|the Law School]], a senior research fellow at the [[American Bar Foundation]], and a research associate at the [[National Bureau of Economic Research|NBER]]. He received the [[John Bates Clark Medal]] in 1983, and the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 2000, which he shared with [[Daniel McFadden]]. He is known principally for his pioneering work in [[econometrics]] and [[microeconomics]].

Heckman is noted for his contributions to [[selection bias]] and [[self-selection]] in quantitative analysis in the social sciences, especially the [[Heckman correction]], which earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is also well known for his empirical research in [[labor economics]] and his scholarship on the efficacy of [[early childhood education]] programs. As of June 2024, according to [[RePEc]], he is the third-most influential economist in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.person.all.html |title=Economist Rankings|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720162242/https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.person.all.html |archive-date=2024-07-20 }}</ref>

==Early years==
Heckman was born to John Jacob Heckman and Bernice Irene Medley in [[Chicago, Illinois]].<ref name=nndb>{{cite web |title=James J. Heckman |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/743/000141320/ |work=The Notable Names Database |year=2008 |access-date=2008-11-18}}</ref> He received his B.A. in mathematics from [[Colorado College]] in 1965 and his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in economics from [[Princeton University]] in 1971 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Three essays on the supply of labor and the demand for goods" under the supervision of Stanley W. Black.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heckman |first=James J. |url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/1583351 |title=Three essays on the supply of labor and the demand for goods |date=1971 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Laureate. 2019">{{cite web |title=The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2000 |website=NobelPrize.org |date=January 30, 2019 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2000/heckman/biographical/ |access-date=January 30, 2019}}</ref>

==Career==
He served as an assistant professor at [[Columbia University]] before he moved to the [[University of Chicago]], in 1973. He has been a dissertation advisor for over 70 students, including [[Carolyn Heinrich]], [[George J. Borjas|George Borjas]], [[Stephen Cameron]], [[Mark Rosenzweig (economist)|Mark Rosenzweig]], and [[Russ Roberts]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jenni.uchicago.edu/home_page/vitae.pdf |title=James J Heckman CV |website=jenni.uchicago.edu |access-date=2018-12-25}}</ref>

In addition to serving as the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor and director of the Economics Research Center in the department of economics, Heckman is also a professor of law at the Law School<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/heckman |title=James J. Heckman {{!}} University of Chicago Law School|website=www.law.uchicago.edu|date=23 August 2011 |access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref> and a professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, where he is director of both the Center for Social Program Evaluation and Center for the Study of Childhood Development. He also serves as a member of the [[Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics]]'s Research Council. Heckman has held many appointments at other institutions and notably served as the Distinguished Chair of Microeconometrics at [[University College London]] (2004–2008), a professor of Science and Society at [[University College Dublin]]<ref>[http://www.ucd.ie/news/jun06/060606_nobel.htm University College Dublin web site].</ref> (2005–2014), and as the Alfred Cowles Distinguished Visiting Professor at [[Yale University]] (2008–2011). His current appointments include Presidential Scholar-in-Residence at the [[University of Southern California|University of Southern California's]] Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics (2015–)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.usc.edu/82972/nobel-laureate-james-heckman-joins-usc-schaeffer-center/ |title=Nobel laureate James Heckman joins USC Schaeffer Center |last=Gersema |first=Emily |date=2015-06-19 |website=USC News |publisher=University of Southern California |access-date=2016-03-24 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193540/http://news.usc.edu/82972/nobel-laureate-james-heckman-joins-usc-schaeffer-center/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and International Research Fellow at the [[Institute for Fiscal Studies]] (2014–).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ifs.org.uk/people/profile/96?year_published%5Bstart%5D=&year_published%5Bend%5D=&page=1& |title=James Heckman – Institute For Fiscal Studies – IFS |website=www.ifs.org.uk |access-date=2016-03-24 |archive-date=2016-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022180725/http://www.ifs.org.uk/people/profile/96?year_published%5Bstart%5D=&year_published%5Bend%5D=&page=1& |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Center for the Economics of Human Development ===
Founded in 2014 and directed by Heckman, the Center for the Economics of Human Development (CEHD), at the University of Chicago, umbrellas his multiple research areas and initiatives that encompass rigorous empirical research to determine effective human capital policies and program design. CEHD initiatives include the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, the Pritzker Consortium on Early Childhood Development, the [[Heckman Equation]], the Research Network on the Determinants of Life Course Capabilities and Outcomes, and the Asian Family in Transition Initiative.

==Research==
Heckman is noted for his contributions to [[selection bias]] and [[self-selection]] analysis, especially [[Heckman correction]], which earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is also well known for his empirical research in [[labor economics]], particularly regarding the efficacy of [[early childhood education]] programs.

His work has been devoted to the development of a scientific basis for economic policy evaluation, with special emphasis on models of individuals and disaggregated groups, and the problems and possibilities created by [[unobserved heterogeneity|heterogeneity, diversity, and unobserved counterfactual states]]. He developed a body of new econometric tools that address these issues. His research has given policymakers important new insights into areas such as education, jobtraining, the importance of accounting for general equilibrium in the analysis of labor markets, anti-discrimination law, and civil rights. He demonstrated a strong causal effect of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] in promoting [[African-American]] economic progress. He has recently demonstrated that the high school dropout rate is increasing in the US. He has studied the economic benefits of sorting in the labor market, the ineffectiveness of active labor market programs, and the economic returns to education.

His recent research focuses on inequality, human development and lifecycle skill formation, with a special emphasis on the economics of early childhood education. He is currently conducting new social experiments on early childhood interventions and reanalyzing old experiments. He is also studying the emergence of the underclass in the US and [[Western Europe]]. For example, he showed that a high IQ only improved an individual's chances of financial success by 1 or 2%.<ref name="bloombergifyouresosmart">{{cite news |last1=Flam |first1=Faye |title=If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-22/if-you-re-so-smart-why-aren-t-you-rich |access-date=June 2, 2017 |work=Bloomberg |date=December 22, 2016}}</ref> Instead, "conscientiousness," or "diligence, perseverance and self-discipline," are what led to financial success.<ref name="bloombergifyouresosmart"/>

In the early 1990s, his pioneering research, on the outcomes of people who obtain the [[GED]] certificate, received national attention.

Heckman has published over 300 articles and several books. His books include ''Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policy?'' (with Alan Krueger); ''Evaluating Human Capital Policy, Law, and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean'' (with Carmen Pages); the ''Handbook of Econometrics'', volumes 5, 6A, and 6B (edited with Edward Leamer); ''Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law,'' (edited with R. Nelson and L. Cabatingan); and ''The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in American Life'' (with John Eric Humphries and Tim Kautz).

He is currently co-editor of the ''Journal of Political Economy''. He is also a member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] (USA) and the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=James+J.+Heckman&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2021-04-28 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He is  a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], the [[Econometric Society]] (of which he is also former president), the [[Society of Labor Economics]], the [[American Statistical Association]], and the [[International Statistical Institute]].

==Awards==
Heckman has received numerous awards for his work, including the [[John Bates Clark Medal]] of the American Economic Association in 1983, the 2005 and 2007 Dennis Aigner Award for Applied Econometrics from the ''[[Journal of Econometrics]]'', the 2005 [[Jacob Mincer Award|Jacob Mincer Award for Lifetime Achievement in Labor Economics]], the 2005 Ulysses Medal from the [[University College Dublin]], the 2007 Theodore W. Schultz Award from the [[American Agricultural Economics Association]], the Gold Medal of the President of the Italian Republic awarded by the International Scientific Committee of the [[Pio Manzù Centre|Pio Manzú Centre]] in 2008, the Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children Award from the [[Society for Research in Child Development]] in 2009, the 2014 [[Frisch Medal]] from the [[Econometric Society]], the 2014 Spirit of Erikson Award from the [[Erikson Institute]], and the 2016 [[Dan David Prize]] for Combating Poverty.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prize |first=Dan David |title=James J. Heckman |url=https://www.dandavidprize.org/laureates/2016/present-combatting-poverty/james-j-heckman |access-date=2020-10-25 |website=www.dandavidprize.org |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=James Heckman Earns Dan David Prize for Combating Poverty {{!}} HCEO|url=https://hceconomics.uchicago.edu/news/james-heckman-earns-dan-david-prize-combating-poverty|access-date=2020-10-25|website=hceconomics.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Heckman in 1979 married sociologist Lynne Pettler-Heckman, who died July 8, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=lynne-carol-pettler-heckman&pid=186475784 |title=Lynne Heckman Obituary (2017) |location= New York, NY |publisher=New York Times|website=[[Legacy.com]] }}</ref> They had two children: a son, Jonathan (b. 1982) who is an associate professor of physics at the [[University of Pennsylvania]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heckman |first=Jonathan |date=March 20, 2025 |title=website at the University of Pennsylvania |url=https://live-sas-physics.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/people/standing-faculty/jonathan-heckman}}</ref> and a daughter, Alma (b. 1986), who is an associate professor of history at the [[University of California at Santa Cruz]].<ref name=nndb /><ref>{{cite web |title=Alma Heckman's website at UC Santa Cruz |url=http://history.ucsc.edu/faculty/profiles/singleton.php?&singleton=true&cruz_id=aheckman}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of economists]]
* [[List of think tanks]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://cehd.uchicago.edu/page/professor-james-heckman James J. Heckman's Homepage at the University of Chicago] Center for the Economics of Human Development'
* [https://cehd.uchicago.edu/page/impact Heckman Media Coverage & Policy Impact]
* [https://ideas.repec.org/e/phe22.html IDEAS/RePEc]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080228063456/http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/05-06/heckman.cfm?js=0 Interview with James J. Heckman in The Region, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, 2005]
* [http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/heckman.htm Interview with James Heckman] on the economic arguments for investing in the health of our children's learning
* {{Google Scholar id | id=7EelTwgAAAAJ | name= James J. Heckman}}
* {{ResearchGate | id=James_Heckman3 | name= James J. Heckman}}
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/14/james-heckman-in-early-childhood-education-quality-really-matters/ James Heckman: In early childhood education, 'Quality really matters.'] Phone interview with the [[Washington Post]]
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=James J. Heckman (1944–&nbsp;) |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Heckman.html |encyclopedia=[[The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics]] |edition=2nd |series=[[Library of Economics and Liberty]] |publisher=[[Liberty Fund]] |year=2008|isbn=978-0865976665 |editor-first=David R.|editor-last=Henderson |editor-link=David R. Henderson |pages=543–44 }}
* {{C-SPAN|38623}}
* {{Nobelprize|name=James J. Heckman}} includes the Prize Lecture 8 December 2000 ''Microdata, Heterogeneity and the Evaluation of Public Policy''

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{{s-bef | before = [[Robert A. Mundell]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[List of Nobel Memorial Prize laureates in Economics|Laureate of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics]] | years = 2000 | alongside = [[Daniel L. McFadden]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[George A. Akerlof]] | after2 = [[A. Michael Spence]] | after3 = [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]] }}
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{{Chicago school economists}}
{{John Bates Clark Medal recipients}}
{{Nobel laureates in economics 1976–2000}}
{{2000 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Frisch Medal recipients}}
{{Presidents of the Econometric Society}}

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[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Academics of University College London]]
[[Category:American labor economists]]
[[Category:Education economists]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American econometricians]]
[[Category:Microeconomists]]
[[Category:Microeconometricians]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Economics]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:University of Chicago faculty]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Colorado College alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American economists]]
[[Category:21st-century American economists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Econometric Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Econometric Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Statistical Association]]
[[Category:Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:University of Southern California faculty]]
[[Category:University of Chicago Law School faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century American educational theorists]]
[[Category:Distinguished fellows of the American Economic Association]]
[[Category:Institute for New Economic Thinking]]
[[Category:National Bureau of Economic Research]]
[[Category:Journal of Political Economy editors]]
[[Category:21st-century American educational theorists]]