MY LIFE AND ECONOMICS 
by Ronald G. Ehrenberg* 
I. Introduction Out of this experience I developed a fear of 
death (which I fortunately later outgrew) and, since 
Age 51 is a bit early to be writing a retrospec as a four-year-old I viewed death as the ultimate 
tive about one's career as an economist and one's failure, a fear of failure. I became driven to avoid 
life.T his is especially true form e since I am not on failure, and since unexpected events could always 
track to win a Nobel Prize, to be admitted to the occur thatm ight frustratem y efforts, everything I 
National of Science, or even to be elect did had to be completed as soon as Academy possible. This 
ed a Fellow of the Econometric drive to achieve was a Society. Nonethe quickly things, major moti 
less, as I write this essay during the fall of 1997,1 vating 
force for the first 40 years of my life. This 
look back on the 28 years I have spent as a PhD 
drive was re-enforced by my being a first child and 
economist and see a record of of the only grandchild for five on mother's accomplishment years my 
which I am and a number of side of the The and proud messages worth family. hopes aspirations 
ofm y 
to economists. grandparents, parents, and four uncles and aunts all conveying budding Moreover, 
because I became theV ice-President forA cademic rested with me during those early years. 
Programs, Planning and Budgeting at Cornell in 
the spring of 1995 and am unsure when, or if, I will 
return to the faculty, taking the time to sum 
III. My School and College Years up my 
career to date may well help me to decide the I in a Jewish in which 
directions inw hich I want it to in the future. grew up family my par go ents were both 
I that a number of come secondary 
school teachers. Their 
hope messages through choice of 
to occupation, 
made during the depression 
you in this essay. They are thatw e all are prod years, was motivated by a desire for financial secu ucts of our environment and experiences, that fam rity as well as and students mean much more in the by 
the belief in the fundamental 
ily, friends, of education. 
than all of the on importance one's They 
were hard-working 
long-run publications vita, whose life revolved around work and fami 
that committing oneself to a single institution can 
people 
ly; however, there was little discussion in our 
be overwhelmingly satisfying, and that famous house of the social values that Judaism teaches that 
economists are not spared from adversity and must have shaped the careers of many other economists 
learn to cope with life's problems just as everyone from Jewish backgrounds. 
else does. However, I am getting ahead of myself, I benefited from what at the timem ay have well 
so let's start at the beginning. been the best public school system in the country, 
the New York City public schools. Public school 
teachers during the 1950s and early 1960s were II. My Early Years drawn predominantly from the upper tail of the 
female talent distribution. They loved and 
I was learning born in New York City inA pril of 1946. they conveyed this love to their students. Educa 
The defining event of my early life occurred tion was also seen as a vehicle for upward mobili 
around age four when an uncle and aunt took me ty.B right students were not held back in the name 
upstate to a lake for a weekend vacation. Without of "equity." I remember one teacher giving me a 
going into the details, which I vividly remember to present of a book written in French after I achieved 
this day, I almost drowned. When I regained con a ninth grade reading level while in fourth grade? 
sciousness after being saved, someone told me I she clearly felt I needed an additional challenge. 
had almost died. Sadly, I never achieved any facility in foreign Ian 
* 
IrvingM . Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics at Cornell University and 
Director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. 
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 1999) 9 
guage and this lack of language talent would, in me a strong supporter of high quality public higher 
large part, as we shall see, explain where I went to education. 
graduate school. I wish I could say that I was destined to be an 
Junior high school went rather quickly for me economist, but in truth I "fell" into it.11 started as a 
because at that time the way the New York City mathematics major in college, but when calculus 
schools coped with bright students was to group turned to advanced calculus (now called "real 
them together and compress three years of work analysis"), math became proving theorems rather 
into two. Given my need to achieve things quickly, than a tool to solve real world problems. Further 
this suited me perfectly. more, I found it quite unsettling to be given five 
I attended high school at Stuyvesant High questions 
on an exam, to be able to answer only one 
School, one of the schools and a preeminent public high parts of few others correctly, but still 
to be 
in the nation. inm ath and science, it awarded an A in the class.2 A change of course was Specializing 
drew students from all over New York called for and I switched'to City and physics. 
these students were admitted based on scores on a Physics made extensive use of calculus and I 
examination thatw as much akin enjoyed studying it until I came to a that I competitive very concept 
to an SAT examination. school were didn't understand in a fourth semester course. I My high years 
the most and asked the probably intellectually challenging professor 
to re-explain the concept; he 
competitive ones of my life, and I ultimately grad replied 
that he didn't understand my question, and 
me an was 
uated in the then he also A in the class. I dev top fifth of the class with a love of gave I A 
mathematics. Calculus thrilledm e because ith ad so astated; how could be doing work if I didn't 
to real world and I understand many something? 
So I quit the study of 
applications problems looked for another 
wanted tom ajor inm athematics in 
physics and major. 
college. If there was an at I 
Which engineering major Harpur, college would I attend? Finishing in the well have become an 
top fifth of a class in which 99% of the students 
might engineer. However, 
there wasn't. The other 
went on to was an achievement to be only disciplines 
that I per 
college proud ceived made extensive use of mathematics were 
of, but it was not an outstanding enough accom 
accounting and economics. I looked at the intro 
plishment forH arvard or Yale. While I was admit text and then the 
ted to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences for 
ductory accounting introductory 
economics text. The latterw as an edition of Paul 
the class of 1966, this was prior to the compact Samuelson's famous text. The decision was easy; I 
between the federal government and the selective switched to economics. 
private institutions that led these institutions to first three courses in economics with Robert 
adopt needs-blind admission and need-based finan 
My 
Melville, Al Carlip, and John LaTourette (later a 
cial aid policies. Public school teachers' salaries college president) made me feel like I was in heav 
were still relatively low in the early 1960s and, with en. The Kennedy/Johnson tax cut of the early 1960s 
two sisters at home, my parents could not afford to had just taken place and the economy was growing. 
send me to Cornell. So, off to Harpur College Economists believed they could "control" the 
(which later became SUNY-Binghamton) I went. macroeconomy. Microeconomics was logical and 
Harpur College in the early 1960s was a truly easy to understand for anyone, such as myself, who 
elite public liberal arts college. Itw as the sole lib understood calculus, and could be used to figure 
eral arts college in the SUNY system at the time, out the solution to virtually any resource allocation 
and with only 400 students in each class, could be program. I became an economics major.3 Only 
highly selective. Its motto was "Let Each Achieve years later did I learn how imprecise our discipline 
All That He Is Capable of Being" and we surely did actually is and how limited is our ability to "con 
that.M y rough count from my alumni directory is trol" anything. 
that over 50 of my classmates received PhDs (I The most important influence on me at Harpur 
ignore here all of the classmates who went into was Gene Silberberg, who at the time was a new 
"lesser" occupations such as medicine, law, or busi assistant professor from Purdue, and who is now a 
ness). My experiences at Harpur, which included professor at the University of Washington and 
meeting thew oman who became my wife in 1967, author of a leading mathematical economics text. 
have tied me closely to that institution and made Plagued with a fear of failing if I went on for a 
10 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIST 
PhD, my response was to think of becoming a high used to derive testable empirical implications and 
school mathematics teacher instead. Gene threat then the theory tested. 
ened to "kick me in the face" if I did. I was a cow My dissertation addressed whether an increase 
ard, and off to PhD study I went. in the overtime premium would be an effective way 
Gene also gave me a valuable piece of advice. to reduce employers' usage of overtime hours and 
He toldm e thatd uring my career I would meet peo expand employment. It was, very much, a typical 
ple like Hugo Sonnenshein and that if I used them Northwestern dissertation for that time and had the 
as my comparison group I would never be happy. I following properties. First, a dynamic model of 
had no idea at the time who Hugo was. After grad optimizing behavior was developed and equilibri 
uate school, he turned out to be the person who um obtained using either the calculus of variations 
attracted me to the faculty of the University of or optimal control theory.N ext, comparative static 
Massachusetts and was my colleague there for two or comparative dynamic analyses were conducted 
years. Hugo, of course, was a leading economic to derive testable propositions and careful econo 
theorist and editor of Econometrica and now is the metric estimation undertaken using "frontier" 
president of the University of Chicago. Gene's econometric methods to test the implications of the 
advice has served me well, however, because no theory. Finally, the resulting estimates were used to matter how good one is at what one does, invari 
someone analyze 
a policy issue and the there is implications 
for pub 
ably always better. If you make lic policy drawn. To this day, I try to impress upon 
your comparison group that one person, rather than my graduate students the need to demonstrate mod all the people you are better than, you are dooming eling and econometric skills, as well as substantive 
yourself to be unhappy. interest in policy problems, in their dissertations. 
I learned several other things during my gradu 
ate school years, which IV. influenced both how 
I treat 
Graduate School Years 
ed my students and the lessons that I conveyed to 
was a them. First, much of what I not absorbed 
in 
Harpur College household word in the graduate 
mid school 
in and 
1960s econometrics classes later and, theory given my basic insecurity about my showed in various strands of 
abilities, I was not sure that I could "hack it" at the up my applied 
best research the I stress to very graduate programs in economics. So I throughout years. repeatedly 
crossed the top 5 off of list and to the 
students that individuals who 
my applied apply 
lessons from 
next 10. one Fellowship money was readily available at 
area of economics to problems in another area 
all thanks to theN ational Defense often can make major contributions to institutions, the latter. top 
Education Act which Second, while searching for a dissertation Fellowship program, provid topic, 
ed funding for three 
Dale Mortensen to me 
years, summers, of suggested that I write to including 
PhD Robert Solow at MIT ask for a study.M any graduate programs in economics and copy of 
an 
still required proficiency in one or two foreign lan unpublished paper 
of Solow's that Dale thought 
guages to receive a PhD, but some had eliminated that I would find interesting. I did; Solow wrote 
all language requirements and instead pro back that he didn't was required have any spare copies (this 
ficiency in mathematics. Given my lack of lan during the "stone age" and pre-copiers), but he sug 
guage ability, my decision rule for which graduate gested that I might look at another topic that he 
school to attend was simple: Choose the highest thought would be interesting to think about. I fol 
rated program among the set of programs that pro lowed his advice and my dissertation resulted. 
vided them ost years of fellowship support and had More importantly, I was touched that such a distin 
no language requirement. On that basis, which had guished economist (later a Nobel Prize winner) 
nothing to do with the economists on the faculty, I would respond to a letter from a mere graduate stu 
enrolled at Northwestern University. dent at a much lesser institution. As a result, 
Having made my decision based on absolutely throughout my career I have tried to emulate Bob's 
no relevant information, I am happy to report that behavior and I promptly respond to letters (and 
Northwestern was ex post a wonderful place to now email messages) from faculty and students 
study economics. The faculty emphasized rigorous from around the world, regardless of the stature of 
analytical training. Economic models were to be the institutions at which they are located. 
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 1999) 11 
Third, after I thought about Solow's topic for a make a rational choice. Ultimately, I accepted a 
while, which led me to a paper by Sherwin Rosen, position at Berkeley but concluded several months 
perhaps the leading labor theorist of his generation, later that I needed to take a year off to regroup and 
I developed an idea for a dissertation based on decide what I really wanted to do. I spent that year 
Rosen's paper and took it to one of the faculty teaching at Loyola University of Chicago and 
members in the Northwestern department. He told wrote the equivalent of a second dissertation (with 
me itw ouldn't work. I was crushed, but since I had out any faculty advisors this time), which ultimate 
no other ideas, I continued to pursue the topic. My ly led to a second American Economic Review 
efforts led to an article in the American Economic paper and another book. 
Review, while I was still a graduate student, a dis Objectively, the faculty at Northwestern were 
sertation that I completed in four years, and ulti trying to help me to get a position that, in their 
mately three other articles and two books. This view, would be the best place for me to startm y 
experience taught me never to tell a student "it career. Their evaluation of what would be "best", 
won't work" and I encourage students to pursue however, was based on the assumption that the 
their interests regardless of my priors about their "track" that they were on was the best one form e. 
likely success. While I have wound up on that "track" myself, I 
Fourth, Robert Eisner arranged form e to spend never assume thatm y career path is best for all my 
the summer after graduate school at the Council of graduate students and I never push them towards 
Economic Advisors. My experiences at theC ouncil jobs that they don't really want. Many of them are 
transformed my career as I learned that economics now happily situated in the nonacademic sector and 
ism uch more than an intellectual exercise and that at "lesser" institutions.W hile their career choices 
economists really do have a lot to say about public have not necessarily maximized my "prestige" in 
policy. It was my good luck to work there with the profession, most are very happy doing what 
Michael Moskow (now President of the Chicago they are doing. 
Fed) and Marvin Kosters (now a senior fellow at 
theA merican Enterprise Institute). They taughtm e, 
by example, that "high-priced" senior economists V. My Life At Cornell 
should shelter their "low-priced" junior colleagues 
from the pressures that the senior people face. Their I moved from Loyola University to the Univer 
example has made life a lotm ore pleasant for all of sity of Massachusetts after a year, and four years 
the graduate research assistants who worked with later, in 1975, moved to Cornell University. I have 
me during my career. spent the last 23 years teaching undergraduates and 
Finally, my success in graduate school, coupled graduates at Cornell, conducting research on labor 
with a booming academic market meant therew ere market and educational issues, and now serving as 
many faculty positions that awaited me after my an academic administrator. I have been fortunate 
graduate career. Northwestern was an up and com enough to be associated with the National Bureau 
ing department and the faculty saw inm e a poten of Economic Research during much of this time, 
tial placement at a better department, that would which means thatw hen I was young I was regular 
enhance theN orthwestern department's reputation. ly exposed to the very best senior people in my 
My pleas that I would prefer to go to a less com field and now that I am older, I get tom eet all the 
petitive and more teaching-oriented environment upcoming young stars. I have interacted regularly 
were not heard, and theym ade contacts form e at with people inW ashington but, save for 6 months 
the very best departments. I wound up having to in the early 1970s, I never was able to spend any 
choose among positions at more than 10 different extended period of time there in a policy position. I 
major research universities. had many opportunities to do so, but these conflict 
Graduate students today faced with a weak job ed with my wife's career or my sons' schooling. I 
market would think me very lucky. In have never regretted doing what I perceived was probably 
fact, contrary to what we teach our students, more best form y family as a whole. 
alternatives are not always better than fewer, espe My career at Cornell has been a wonderful one. 
cially if none of them are the type of job one really I have had the freedom to address a wide range of 
wanted. I hit an information overload and could not interesting policy-related problems at the federal, 
12 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIST 
state and institutional levels and to think and write ly uncertain. Cornell and my colleagues were won 
about fundamental issues that our society con derful to us all during that period and I became an 
fronts. I've been lucky to have a large number of ardent supporter of the Family and Medical Leave 
wonderful colleagues and one, Bob Smith, and I Act and of legislation that prevents insurance com 
wrote thef irstm odern labor economics text book in panies from denying anyone health insurance cov 
the early 1980s. It is now in its 6th edition and is erage. Happily we are now over 6 years post-treat 
still the best-seller in its field. This book, which ment and the 1996 Memorial Day weekend marked 
was designed specifically for our students at Cor the simultaneous graduation of my older son from 
nell and stresses the usefulness of laborm arket eco Georgetown Law School and his younger brother 
nomics for social policy analysis, has influenced from Cornell. My older son is currently employed 
the way that a generation of students think about inW ashington, DC and my younger son is a second 
labor market issues. This influence is the real year law student atM ichigan. 
reward for "nonprinciples" text book writers. In 1987, Cornell made me the first Irving M. 
I am now marking my 28th year as a publishing Ives Professor at theU niversity. Ives was a United 
economist. Throughout the years my graduate stu States Senator, the founder of Cornell's School of 
dents have had a hard time believing the early inse Industrial and Labor Relations, and the co-author 
curities that I claim I felt, the dry periods that I of the first state employment discrimination law in 
claim I experienced when nothing seemed to go the United States, New York's Ives-Quinn Act, 
right, and the fears I claim I often felt during much which predated the Civil Rights Act by 20 years. 
of my career that I never would generate another Since I have devoted a good deal of my career to 
research idea. They look at my long publication analyzing the effects of social legislation, I have 
record and question if I am lying. But I repeatedly always felt an affinity to Ives and I was greatly hon 
tell them these stories anyway to emphasize to ored thatC ornell chose, to associate my name with 
them that their "heroes" are mortals and that the his. 
fears that they are feeling are not unique. Most of As I neared age 50 in 1995, the age at which my 
my research has been co-authored with my students close friend Dan Hamermesh's research suggested 
and my contacts with these students, and the other that any economist's chance of continuing to pub 
students whose dissertations I have supervised, lish inm ajor economic journals is close to zero, it 
have been among them ost rewarding parts of my was natural form e to question the direction thatm y 
professional life.M any of these students have been career would go.4 I had been teaching classes in, 
female and I've learned from them (and they from and doing research on, university behavior and the 
me) thatm entors do not have to be of the same gen economics of higher education for over a decade. I 
der. had been active on Cornell University 
The love and foundation of my life has been my faculty/administrative committees dealing with 
wife, Randy, and our marriage has now passed the economic issues, feeling that thisw as a way that I 
30-year mark. In addition to love and support, I could use my professional expertise to repay Cor 
also get research ideas from her descriptions of the nell for all that ith ad done for both me and my fam 
issues that she has faced as a teacher, a school prin ilyW. hen I was asked to serve as Vice-President for 
cipal, and now an assistant superintendent of Academic Programs, Planning and Budgeting at 
schools. We have co-authored three papers togeth theU niversity, I felt that I really had no choice but 
er and I have also co-authored a paper with our to accept. While I miss having the freedom to allo 
older son. He is still angry at me because I put my cate my time that comes with being a Professor, I 
name first on that paper and only first authors get am enjoying the opportunity to help guide this great 
the citations in the Social Science Citation Index. institution through very difficult financial times. 
My family's life has not been without its trials. 
Most recently, our oldest son was diagnosed with a 
malignant brain tumor in 1990, while he was a VI. My Contributions to Economics5 
junior at Cornell. For over a year, his younger 
brother,m y wife and I helped him cope with multi Some labor economists have developed theoret 
ple surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, ical models that now bear their names. Others have 
as he battled an illness whose prognosis was high similarly derived econometric specifications that 
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring1 999) 13 
carry their names. Still others have developed form of lower wages, how the (now abolished) 
important econometric methods that subsequently social security student benefit program influenced 
have been named after them. Examples that come college-going and labor market behavior of chil 
quickly to mind here are the "Lazear" model of dren of social security recipients, whether compa 
mandatory retirement, the "Mincer" earnings equa rable worth programs in the public sector would 
tion, and Jim Heckman's "Heckit" procedure to lead to a decline in female employment in the pub 
deal with sample selection bias. I, however, have lic sector, and whether advance notice requirements 
neither a theoretical model, an empirical specifica when workers are about to be replaced, such as 
tion, nor an econometric procedure named afterm e. those mandated under theW ARN legislation, influ 
Rather, my claim to "fame" is that I have spent a ence displaced workers' probabilities of unemploy 
career conducting empirical analyses that have ment, duration of unemployment if unemployment 
been designed to influence the public policy debate occurs, and post-unemployment earnings. In per 
in a wide variety of labor market and educational haps my major work to date on labor market poli 
areas. I also have devoted substantial effort to ana cies, I wrote a book for the Brookings Institution in 
lyzing whether compensation policies are designed 1994 that addressed how free trade agreements, 
in a way that provides agents with incentives to such as NAFTA and the European Economic Com 
perform in "desirable" manners and have been munity, influence, and are influenced by, social 
especially interested in whether such incentives insurance programs and protective labor legisla 
exist in the public, nonprofit and regulated sectors tion. 
of our economy. A second strand of my research has focused on 
My earliest strand of research, which continues public sector, nonprofit and regulated labor mar 
up to this date, focused on analyzing the impact of kets. Using models of consumer demand, including 
social insurance programs and protective labor leg those that allowed for habit-formation (which I had 
islation. As noted above, my dissertation dealt with learned about in graduate economic theory cours 
whether raising the overtime premium from time es), in 1973 I was the first economist to estimate 
and a half to double timew ould be an effective way systems of demand equations for employees in the 
of stimulating employment growth. This was public sector. The estimated wage elasticities that 
quickly followed by the first study to analyze, in were derived from these equations provided esti 
the context of a formal job search model, the labor mates of the "market constraints" that limit the 
market effects of varying unemployment insurance wage demands of unionized public employees and 
(UI) benefit levels. The study, conducted jointly thus provided support for allowing public employ 
with Ron Oaxaca, took a model of job search that ees the right to bargain over theirw ages. 
had been developed by one of my dissertation advi The estimated responsiveness of public employ 
sors, Dale Mortensen, to explain the unemploy ment levels to grants from other levels of govern 
ment-inflation tradeoff and used thism odel to pro ment that I obtained from these models provided 
vide an econometric structure to analyze the effects estimates of what has become known as the "dis 
of changing UI benefit levels on unemployed work placement" or "fiscal substitution" effects of feder 
ers' durations of unemployment and post-unem al "public employment" programs?programs that 
ployment wages. One can view longer spells of provide funding to state and local governments to 
unemployment as a social cost of higher benefit expand their employment levels Twenty years later, 
levels and higher post-unemployment wages as a I used similar analytic frameworks to estimate how 
social benefit of higher UI benefit levels. Hence, research universities react to changes in the number 
analyses of them agnitude of both relationships is of graduate students for which the federal govern 
important. ment provides financial support and how local 
During my career, I have analyzed a variety of school districts react to changes in state aid for edu 
other labor market programs and legislation. These cation. In each of these cases, my interest was in 
include studies of the effects of minimum wages on showing that institutional responses to changes in 
the educational attainment of children from differ external funding are often quite different than the 
ent family income classes, whether mandated funders may have anticipated. 
social benefits, such as unemployment insurance or My interest in public sector, regulated and non 
retirement benefits are paid for by workers in the profit labor markets led me to conduct studies of 
14 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIST 
how institutions in the public sector influence labor teeism and students' test score performance. Both 
market outcomes. In particular, I have analyzed of these studies involved major data collection 
whether having a professional city manager led to efforts and included surveys of local school dis 
lower public sector wages and whether the effects tricts inN ew York State. 
of public sector unions on wages and productivity Concern for enhancing the public debate about 
depended upon the structure of public sector bar affirmative action policies in teacher hiring recent 
gaining in the area. I also analyzed whether the sub ly led me to conduct several studies that analyzed 
stitution of different types of nurses in hospitals in whether them atch of teachers and students by race, 
response to changes in their relative wages depend gender, and ethnicity had any effect on how much 
ed upon whether the hospitals were public, private students learned or on teachers' attitudes towards 
non-profits or private for-profits and, in a book their students.6W hile others have often shied away 
written at the end of the 1970s, I analyzed how the from addressing such socially sensitive issues, I 
structure of regulated industries influences the have appreciated the freedom that tenured faculty 
wages of workers in these industries. This latter at major research universities have to dispassion 
study grew out of my participation in a regulatory ately address controversial important social issues 
case before the New York State Public Service and continually have exercised this freedom. 
Commission, and from this case I learned that the As I began to get involved with faculty gover 
standards of "refereeing" in the "real world" when nance at Cornell, itw as also natural form e to think 
"big" dollars are at stake are often much stricter about how my skills as an economist could enhance 
than those used by academic journals. my participation on faculty committees. When Cor 
Economists tend to believe that "actors" in eco nell's financial aid costs began tor ise at a rapid rate 
nomic systems respond to incentives. However, I in the early 1980s, I developed a model of how a 
have always wanted to know if incentives actually selective university should allocate a limited finan 
are structured in ways to encourage actors to per cial aid budget across different categories of 
form in ways that "principals" consider desirable accepted applicants, given a specified objective 
and, if they are, whether such incentives have function, and then showed how one could estimate 
desired effects on behavior. As a result, I have the parameters necessary to actually implement 
looked local governments and analyzed whether such a model. The model, which was nothing more 
incentives for "performance" could be inferred than a simple discriminating monopsonist model, 
from the structure of compensation for city man provided the intellectual underpinnings for what 
agers, police chiefs and fire chiefs. Similarly, I ana has since become known as "preferential packag 
lyzed whether the compensation of local building ing" in the undergraduate financial aid community. 
trade union leaders was related to the compensation Many universities now regularly estimate, for dif 
gains that they won for theirm embers. This latter ferent groups of their accepted applicants, how sen 
study required me (actually a student of mine) to sitive the decisions of admitted applicants to enroll 
collect considerable data from union records, and are to the levels of financial aid provided and vary 
throughout my career I have stressed to my stu the package of grant and loan aid that they offer to 
dents that the best research often arises from people individuals with identical levels of financial need. 
putting considerable effort into generating new My research on this subject was followed by stud 
data, or combining existing data from a wide vari ies of how colleges students' grades and graduation 
ety of sources. probabilities are influenced by their employment 
Since both my parents and my wife were while in college, whether the high tuitions charged 
involved in elementary and secondary education, it by selective private colleges and law schools are 
was natural that I should be interested in issues that warranted in terms of the post graduate education 
arise in this sector. I have studied the compensation al and labor market outcomes that they yield for 
and mobility of school superintendents to see if their graduates, and whether African-American stu 
there are incentives operating to encourage them to dents are better off if they attend Historically Black 
maximize the amount students learn and to serve as Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) instead of other 
responsible fiscal managers. I have also studied institutions of higher education. 
how sick leave provisions in teacher contracts My evolving interest in higher education led me 
influence teachers' absenteeism, students' absen to analyses of the academic labor market and how 
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 1999) 15 
the types of financial support doctoral students addressed religious behavior. We then set out to 
receive for graduate school influences their com develop a simple household allocation of time 
pletion probabilities and times to degree. I have model that could explain all of the observed empir 
also studied whether reductions in tenure probabil ical about behavior that other 
ities influence the salaries that universities must regularities religious 
social scientists had as well as to 
pay for 
found, provide 
faculty and analogously, how faculty salary 
levels affect their turnover probabilities. The latter 
new testable implications. What began as a joke 
study grew out of my service on theA AUP com wound up 
as two very serious papers in the Journal 
mittee that annually collects data on faculty salaries of Political Economy and the start of what twenty 
from American colleges and universities and was years later is now a growing subfield of research on 
another example of how I have combined service the economics of religion. 
(this time to the profession) and research during my While I have considered the research I 
career. More always recently, I have analyzed the determi have to be of I realized 
nants of doctoral program rankings and have also 
produced great interest, 
written about the future of from after 
a while that it is difficult for one's own 
higher education, 
the perspective of an economist. 
research to have a major impact on either the pro 
It is worth emphasizing that my research has fession or public policy. So I began organizing con 
often been fun to conduct and to lecture about, as ferences inw hich I would bring together groups of 
well as intellectually stimulating. Two specific researchers working on similar topics and then pub 
examples illustrate this point. First, my interest in lished the proceedings of these conferences as 
compensation policies led me to try to test the the 
of tournaments that had been Ed symposia 
in journals or as books. Among the con 
ory developed by ferences that I and saw to 
Lazear and Sherwin Rosen, among others, in the organized through publi 
1980s. To do so, I needed to find an environ cation have been ones early dealing 
with whether com 
ment in which the prizes for winning were speci pensation policies mattered, whether raising the 
fied a priori, measures of individual output were minimum wage would be desirable, contemporary 
available and estimates of the relationship between policy issues in education, gender and family issues 
output and input could be inferred.A fter bemoan in thew orkplace, and the role of race and gender in 
ing the fact that such data were not available for American education. I believe that the 
I realized that impact 
of 
any "real world" situation, profes each of these collections has been far than 
sional greater golf tournaments provided a perfect natural I could have done 
experiment. I wrote two papers on the incentive anything individually. 
effects of the prize structure in 
As I look back with considerable at 
professional golf pride my 
and when I lectured about these papers in various long publication record and at the wide variety of 
venues, the audience was always very attentive. interesting issues on which I have worked, I am 
Second, after Gary Becker's household alloca almost ashamed to admit that I never had a 
tion of time models had been used to analyze the "research program," or long-term research plan, as 
determinants of an individual's investments in of did. Rather, the on 
health, which in turn 
many my colleagues topics 
imply the determinants of an which I have worked arose from discus 
individual's expected length of life, as well as to 
typically 
analyze the determinants of an individual's deci 
sions with family members or colleagues, and from 
sion to commit suicide, which in turn imply the ideas for research that I got from reading theN ew 
determinants of the individual's actual length of York Times, Business Week and the Chronicle of 
life, I joked with a colleague at a party that the next Higher Education. I was also fortunate enough to 
extension would be to analyze a multi-lifetime util attain a sufficient level of stature in the profession 
ity function (which permitted utility after death) to so that after a while, often asked me tow rite 
derive implications about the 
people 
life-cycle pattern of review on A number of 
participation in religious activities. As my Catholic 
papers particular topics. 
such "commissioned often ledm e to devel 
colleague and I began to think about this topic, we papers" 
discovered that there was a considerable serious op the ideas for new independent research and a 
research by sociologists and psychologists that series of subsequent papers. 
16 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIST 
VII. Economists Who Have Made a when, after graduate school, he would hear a paper 
Difference inM y Career and Life of mine at a professional meeting. I cannot even 
begin to express how much such praise from an 
A number of economists have played important economist, who later became President of the 
roles inm y career and my life. I have already men American Economic Association, meant to me. I 
tioned some. In this concluding section, at the risk try to remember to always behave in a similar man 
of alienating people who I inadvertently have left ner tom y former students. I have also unabashedly 
out, I want tom ention a few more. adopted the externality framework that Bob has 
While I was a graduate student, one of my dis used for years when he explains the rationale for 
sertation advisors, Frank Brechling, introduced me wage subsidy programs in my own writings on 
to Dan Hamermesh who was then a graduate stu government interventions in labor markets.7 Bob 
dent at Yale working on a similar topic. Over a 30 spent virtually his whole career at Northwestern 
year period Dan and I became close colleagues and University and, by example, taughtm e the impor 
friends, although we have never been at the same tance of committing oneself to a single institution. 
institution and have written only one short paper I once went up to Sherwin Rosen, after listening 
together. For years, until my research productivity to a seminar of his, and commented that any one of 
declined when I moved into academic administra his papers was deeper than the sum of everything 
tion,w e regularly exchanged drafts and commented that I had written inm y life. 
on each other's work. We have shared each other's Sherwin replied that I had it all wrong. He said 
happiness and family hardships. Every economist that he and I pursued different types of research, 
needs to have a professional friend like Dan. that the research that I pursued was equally as 
When I was in graduate school, everything I important as what he was doing and thatw hat I did, 
learned about unions came from a book written by I did exceedingly well. His words of praise were 
Albert Rees titled The Economics of Trade Unions. very important to me and encouraged me to keep 
I was introduced toA l, who was then a Professor at on my chosen path, even though the economics 
Princeton, when he came toN orthwestern to give a profession often seemed to value theory and econo 
seminar. Al, who laterw as Provost at Princeton and metric innovations more than empirical research. 
then President of the Sloan Foundation, invited me A best unnamed noted economist once told me 
to Princeton where I met Orley Ashenfelter, and that I would never have a major effect on public 
some 15 years later, Al also funded a major policy because I always sought to understand how 
research project/conference of mine. His son Dan policies are actually working rather than to pursue 
was one of my PhD students and I am delighted a political agenda. As such, he toldm e that liberals 
that I could repay Al for what he meant to my consider me conservative, conservatives consider 
career by serving as a mentor forD an. me liberal and neither group trustsm e. When I told 
Orley Ashenfelter is "my" Hugo Sonnenshein this story to Henry Aaron, form any years head of 
(see section III). Once I realized that I could never the Brookings Institution Economic Studies Pro 
be as prominent as Orley, rather than feeling bad gram, Hank replied that the noted economist had it 
about myself I relaxed and learned everything that all backwards. He said that the profession under 
I could from him. Orley showed me that one can stood that I had no "axe to grind" and thus my 
model the determinants of labor market institu research was taken very seriously. I appreciated 
tions, as well as their impacts, in rigorous analyti Hank's words very much, as well as his efforts to 
cal frameworks. He also hired me as a consultant to involve me more closely in Brookings activities. 
work with him inW ashington for six months at the In the mid 1980s I ruptured a disk in my back 
U.S. Department of Labor, which solidified my and had back surgery, but the pain persisted. For a 
interest in policy-related research and led me to number of years I was preoccupied with pain and 
teach courses at Cornell for a decade on evaluation my professional productivity suffered. The fear of 
research methods. failure which had dominated my early life came 
I have already mentioned how Bob Eisner back and I was convinced thatm y career was over. 
obtained a position form e at the Council of Eco Out of the blue came a call from Dan Newlon, the 
nomic Advisors after I completed graduate school. Director of the National Science Foundation Eco 
If this was not enough, Bob always praised me nomics Program, inviting me to became a member 
Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring1 999) 17 
of the NSF Panel on Economics. Dan's invitation from discussions on some major issues that faced 
was the push that I needed to stop feeling sorry for theU niversity inw hich I feltm y input would have 
myself and I was able to redirectm yself back tom y been useful. As a result, in July of 1998, at the end 
work and my life.W hen my son's illness, which I of my third year as a vice president at Cornell, I 
have described above, struck my family several returned tom y faculty position and established and 
years later, I was in a much better emotional posi became firstD irector of the Cornell Higher Educa 
tion to cope with it. tion Research Institute.9 
Walter Oi's accomplishments as an economist 
are extraordinary, all the more so because he has Notes 
been blind throughoutm ost of his career.W alter has 
been a friend and mentor tom any labor economists 1. However, I was born the week that JohnM ay 
of my generation. WTien my son permanently lost nard Keynes died. 
three-quarters of his vision as a result of his illness, 2. To this day, some math professors persist in giv 
I took him to Rochester to meet Walter. This visit ing impossible exams in similar courses and 
helped him to understand that physical limitations then grading on curves. 
need not limit one's intellectual accomplishments. 3. Albeit Einstein is reputed to have found eco 
Finally, about a decade ago, Charles Clotfelter nomics more difficult than physics. This differ 
of Duke invited me to join him to work on a book ence in our perceptions may be best understood 
on the economics of higher education. His invita as a difference in comparative advantage. My 
tion is what firmly set me on the professional guess is thatE instein had a big absolute advan 
course that I am on today.W e have also become tage over me in both subjects. 
close friends. The best part of being an academic 4. See Sharon Oster and Daniel Hamermesh, "Age 
economist is meeting people like Charlie. For as I and Productivity Among Economists," Review 
said in the introduction, family, friends and stu of Economics and Statistics (February 1998). 
dents mean much more in the long-run than all the 5. Readers interested in citations to my writings 
publications on one's vita. can check my web page, <www.ipr.cornell.edu/ 
RGEspage/RonsHome.HTML>. My publica 
tions are grouped there both chronologically and 
VIII. Postscript by subject. 
6. In an effort to get something named after me, 
I loved being a senior central administrator at throughout one of these papers I used the abbre 
Cornell. To paraphrase the words of James Freed viation RGE to refer to race, gender and ethnic 
man, one of the best parts of my job was that I was ity effects. Sadly, to date, no one has caught on 
able to raise very fundamental issues with my col that these are my initials and the abbreviation is 
leagues in the administration and on the faculty and not yet widely used. 
to force them to think about these issues. They did 7. Another rationale for government was provided 
not always respond to these issues in thew ay that I to me long ago by Chicago labor economist 
personally would have preferred, but I had the sat Arnold Weber (who was later president of both 
isfaction of knowing that the University was seri the University of Colorado and of Northwest 
ously thinking about these issues.8 ern), who remarked that "the invisible hand is all 
I had agreed that I would serve inm y adminis thumbs in the labor market." 
trative position for either three or five years. By the 8. See James O. Freedman, Idealism and Liberal 
third year I had accomplished many things in my Education (Ann Arbor, MI, University ofM ichi 
role and all of my faculty and administrative col gan Press, 1996). 
leagues were appreciative of my contributions to 9. For a description of what my years as an admin 
the University. However, I found myself getting istrator taughtm e about the use, and uselessness 
increasingly frustrated about the nature of my posi of economic analysis in academic administra 
tion because I did not always have access to the tion, see Ronald G. Ehrenberg, "Adam Smith 
resources that I needed to finalize projects upon Goes to College: An Economist Becomes An 
which I had been working, and because my posi Academic Administrator," Journal of Economic 
tion in the administrative hierarchy excluded me Perspectives 13 (Winter 1999). 
18 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIST