H. Peters
Professor
2007
PAM

Web Bio Page

Current Activities

Current Professional Activities
Elizabeth Peters joined the department in 1994. She received her Ph.D. in Economics and MA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Before coming to Cornell she was a faculty member in the Department of Economics and a research associate in the population program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her professional career has focused on issues in family economics and family policy, specifically examining the effects of public policies such as divorce laws, taxes, and welfare reform on family formation and dissolution decisions, inter- and intra-household transfers, and family investments in children. Her research has been widely published in journals of economics, demography, and sociology and has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition to her research activity, she has been active in the profession serving on the technical advisory board of the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey Birth Cohort (ECLES_B), and she was a member of the board of directors of the Population Association of America from 2002-2004. She is currently the director of the newly established Cornell Population Program.

Current Research Activities
Peters is currently working on four topics: (1) the impact of welfare reform on family behavior such a non-marital childbearing, household living arrangements, and child care choices; (2) the impact of consumer information on child care choices and the competitiveness and supply of quality in the child care market; (3) the relationship betwen altruism and family resource allocation decisions; and (4) the role of policies such as child support and paternity establishment in affecting the transition to fatherhood and the quality of father involvement with children.  She directed the Evolving Family Project, the first theme project supported by Cornell's Institute for the Social Sciences. Peters currently is principle investigator of a major new initiative on the Transition to Fatherhood, a program project grant funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that is a multidisciplinary effort across four research institutions. 

Current Extension Activities
The Consumer Information and Child Care Quality project, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and from the U.S. Child care Bureau is an extension-research effort that developed an intervention to educate parents about the importance of child care quality and to give them information about the high quality child care programs in their counties. The project was implemented in Albany, Onondaga, Ontario, and Yates counties in cooperation with the Day Care Councils in those counties. The experience from implementing this rating system has been shared with policy makers and administrators from other states that are considering similar types of rating systems.

Courses, Websites, Pubs

Courses Taught
PAM 204 - Applied Public Finance
PAM 603 - Experimental, Quasi-Experimental, & Economic Evaluation Methods
PAM 605 - Economics of Family Policy


Related Websites

ISS Evolving Family Theme Project

Child Care Quality

Curriculum Vitae-2006

Transition to Fatherhood Program



Publications
Horvath-Rose, Ann E., H. Elizabeth Peters; & Joseph J. Sabia (forthcoming). “Capping Kids: The Family Cap and Non-marital Childbearing,” Population Research and Policy Review.

Kathryn Hynes, Felicia Yang DeLeone, Kara Joyner & H. Elizabeth Peters (forthcoming) “The Transition to Early Fatherhood: National Estimates Based on Multiple Surveys.” Demographic Research.

Doyle, Joseph J. & H. Elizabeth Peters (2007). “The Market for Foster Care: An Empirical Study of the Impact of Foster Care Subsidies,” Review of Economics of the Household, 5:329-351.

Dunifon, Rachel; Kathryn Hynes; and H. Elizabeth Peters (2006). "Welfare Reform and Child Well-being," Children and Youth Services Review, 28(11): 1273-1292

Averett, S., Gennetian, L. and Peters, E.H.(2005). "Fathers as Providers of Child Care," Journal of Population Economics, 18: 391-414.

Peters, H. Elizabeth; Jeremy Clark; A. Sinan Unur; & William D. Schulze (2004). "Free-Riding and the Provision of Public Goods in the Family: An Experimental Test of the Rotten Kid Theorem," International Economic Review, 45(1): 283-299.

Peters, H.E., Argys, L.M.,Wynder, H. and Butler, J.S.(2004). “Legislating Love: The Effect of Child Support and Welfare Policies on Father-Child Contact", Review of Economics of the Household 2(3): 255-274. 

Argys, Laura & H. Elizabeth Peters (2003). "Can Adequate Child Support Be Legislated? A Model of Responses to Child Support Guidelines and Enforcement Efforts," Economic Inquiry, 41(3): 463-479.

Argys, Laura, Peters, H. Elizabeth, and Waldman, Donald. (2001). "Can the Family Support Act Put Some Life Back Into Dead Beat Dads: An Analysis of Child Support Guidelines, Award Rates and Levels," Journal of Human Resources, 36(2): 226-252.

Argys, Laura & H. Elizabeth Peters. (2001). "Interactions Between Unmarried Fathers and Their Children: The Role of Paternity Establishment and Child-Support Policies," American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 91(2): 125-129.

Averett, Susan; Lisa Gennetian; & H. Elizabeth Peters (2000)."Patterns and Determinants of Paternal Child Care During a Child's First Three Years of Life," Marriage and Family Review, 29(2/3): 115-136

Cabrera, N., and Peters, H.E. (2000). "Public Policies and Father Involvement", Marriage and Family Review",29(4): 295-314.

Scullin, M.H.,Peters, H.E., Williams, W.M. and Ceci, S.J. (2000). "The Role of IQ and Education in Predicting Later Labor Market Outcomes: Implications for Affirmative Action," Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 6(1).

Rendal, Michael S., Clarke, Lynda, Peters, H. Elizabeth, Ranjit, Nalini, and Verropoulou, Georgia. (1999). "Incomplete Reporting of Male Fertility int he United States and Britain : A Research Note". Demography 36(1): 135-144.

Falaris, E., and Peters, H.E. (1998). "Survey Attrition and Schooling Choices", Journal of Human Resources, 33(2): 531-554.

Peters, E., Argys, L, Brooks-Gunn, J and Smith, J. (1998). The Impact of Child Support on Cognitive Outcomes of Young Children. Demography, 35(2):159-173.

Argys, L., Peters, H.E., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Smith, J. (1998). "The Impact of Child Support on Cognitive Outcomes of Young Children", Demography, 35(2): 159-173.

Averett, S., Peters, H.E., and Waldman, D. (1997). "Tax Credits, Labor Supply, and Child Care", The Review of Economics and Statistics, 79(1): 125-135.

Whittington, L., and Peters, H.E. (1996). "Economic Incentives for Financial and Residential Independence", Demography, 33(1):82-97

Falaris, E., and Peters, H.E. (1996). "Responses of Female Labor Supply and Fertility to the Demographic Cycle", Research in Population Economics, 8: 63-89.