Janet Currie Explained

Janet M. Currie
Birth Place:Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Nationality:Canadian and American
Field:economics of children, labour economics, family economics, health economics
Alma Mater:University of Toronto, Princeton University
Doctoral Advisors:Orley Ashenfelter, David Card, Angus Deaton
Doctoral Students:Anna Aizer, Diane Alexander, Emily Cuddy, Joshua Goodman, Ayako Kondo, Wanchuan Lin, Cecilia Machado, Katherine Meckel, Chris Mills, Matthew Neidell, Pia Orrenius, Fernanda Marquez-Padilla, Maya Rossin-Slater, Johannes Schneider, Molly Schnell, Emilia Simeonova, David Slusky, Herdis Steingrimsdottir, Reed Walker, Jessica Van Parys, Dan Seltzer
Repec Prefix:e
Repec Id:pcu13

Janet Currie is a Canadian-American economist and the Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, where she is Co-Director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing.[1] She is the 2024 President of the American Economic Association. She served as the Chair of the Department of Economics at Princeton from 2014–2018.[2] She also served as the first female Chair of the Department of Economics at Columbia University from 2006–2009.[3] Before Columbia, she taught at the University of California, Los Angeles and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was named one of the top 10 women in economics by the World Economic Forum in July 2015.[4] She was recognized for her mentorship of younger economists with the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economics Association in 2015 and also participated in the founding and evaluation of the AEA’s mentoring program for junior faculty.[5] [6]

Education

Currie received a B.A. in economics in 1982 and a M.A. in economics in 1983 from the University of Toronto. She then pursued graduate studies at Princeton University, where she received a Ph.D. in economics in 1988.[7]

Career

Currie co-directs the Program on Children and Families at the National Bureau of Economic Research.[8] She is past president of the Society of Labor Economists, the Eastern Economics Association,[9] the Western Economics Association, and the American Society of Health Economics, and previously served as vice-president of the American Economic Association. Currie has served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Labor and Income Statistics for Statistics Canada and as a consultant for the National Health Interview Survey and the National Longitudinal Surveys. She has served on advisory boards of the National Children's Study, the Committee on National Statistics, the National Academy of Science, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Blue Health Intelligence, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the board of governors of Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, and the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute at Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. She was appointed by the New Jersey state legislature to the board of the New Jersey Integrated Population Health Data Project.

She served on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science magazine from 2014–2018, and as the editor of the Journal of Economic Literature[10] from 2010–2013. She has held various editorial roles for numerous economic peer-reviewed journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Health Economics, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Journal of Population Economics, the , and the Journal of Public Economics.

Research

Currie is best known for her work on the impact of poverty and government anti-poverty policies on the health and well-being of children over their life cycle. She has written about early intervention programs, expansions of the Medicaid program, public housing, and food and nutrition programs. Beginning the early 1990s, she was one of the first economists to evaluate such programs from the point of view of the child. In work with Duncan Thomas and Eliana Garces, she showed that children in a public preschool program named Head Start made gains relative to their own siblings in terms of both test scores and longer-term measures of attainment.[11] [12] In work with Jonathan Gruber, she showed that expansions of public health insurance to low income women and children improved access to care and reduced infant mortality.[13] [14] Research on the effects of the safety net on American children is reviewed in her books: ″Welfare and the Wellbeing of Children″, and "The Invisible Safety Net."[15] [16] More recently, she has advocated for cash transfers, in conjunction with other safety net programs, given their helpfulness in raising families out of poverty.[17]

Currie has investigated broader socioeconomic determinants of fetal and child health, including health care,[18] [19] child maltreatment,[20] [21] nutrition,[22] [23] [24] environmental pollution,[25] [26] [27] and maternal education.[28] [29] [30] Her work showing that the adoption of EZ-Pass improved infant health in Pennsylvania and New Jersey received wide attention.[31] Some of her work showing disparities in fetal exposure to pollution and their consequences is summarized in her 2011 Ely lecture to the American Economics Association.[32] With Anna Aizer and Hannes Schwandt, she has shown that inequality in mortality is falling among U.S. children, at the same time that inequality in mortality among adults has been increasing, and attributed this improvement to the protective effect of safety net programs.[33] [34] Her work on health care has focused on differences in physician behavior as one of the key determinants in variation in the care both children and adults receive.[35] [36] Currie's work on child mental health shows that mental health is a stronger predictor of future outcomes than many common childhood physical health problems and that children's mental health is impacted by early life factors.[37] [38]

Overall, her work shows that early childhood, including the fetal period, is of great importance for the development of children's productive capabilities (their 'human capital') and that programs targeting early childhood can be particularly effective in remediating childhood disadvantage.[39] [40]

This work represents a departure from earlier work on collective bargaining in the public sector.[41] [42]

Personal

She is married to W. Bentley MacLeod, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Columbia University, and together they have two children.[43]

Awards and honors

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leadership and Affiliates . Center for Health and Wellbeing .
  2. News: Currie Named Economics Department Chair. 2014-04-08. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. 2018-07-17. en.
  3. News: Five Minutes with... Janet Currie . Columbia College Today . 2008 .
  4. Web site: 10 top women in economics. World Economic Forum. 23 July 2015 . 2018-07-17.
  5. Web site: Janet M. Currie Recipient of the 2015 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award.
  6. Ginther . Donna K. . Currie . Janet M. . Blau . Francine D. . Croson . Rachel T. A. . Can Mentoring Help Female Assistant Professors in Economics? An Evaluation by Randomized Trial . AEA Papers and Proceedings . December 2020 . 110 . 205–209 . 10.1257/pandp.20201121 .
  7. Book: Currie . Janet . Collective Bargaining In the Public Sector : Three Studies. . 1988.
  8. Web site: The NBER Program on Children. www.nber.org. 2018-07-17.
  9. Web site: Eastern Economic Association. Quinnipiac University. en. 2018-07-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211075559/http://www.easterneconomicassociation.org/. 2017-02-11. dead.
  10. Report of the Editor Journal of Economic Literature . American Economic Review . 1 May 2012 . 102 . 3 . 666–668 . 10.1257/aer.102.3.666 .
  11. Longer-Term Effects of Head Start . 2002 . American Economic Review. 10.1257/00028280260344560 . Garces . Eliana . Thomas . Duncan . Currie . Janet . 92 . 4 . 999–1012 .
  12. Currie . Janet . Thomas . Duncan . Does Head Start Make A Difference? . The American Economic Review . June 1995 . 85 . 3 . 341–365.
  13. Currie . Janet . Gruber . Jonathan . Saving Babies: The Efficacy and Cost of Recent Expansions of Medicaid Eligibility for Pregnant Women . The Journal of Political Economy . December 1996 . 104 . 6 . 1263–1296. 10.1086/262059 .
  14. Currie . Janet . Gruber . Jonathan . Health Insurance Eligibility, Utilization of Medical Care, and Child Health . The Quarterly Journal of Economics . May 1996 . 111 . 2 . 431–466. 10.2307/2946684 . 2946684 .
  15. Book: Currie . Janet . Welfare and the Well-Being of Children . 1995 . Harwood Academic Publishers . Chur Switzerland.
  16. Book: Currie . Janet . The Invisible Safety Net: Protecting the Nation's Poor Children and Families . Spring 2006 . Princeton University Press.
  17. Web site: Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. March 10, 2020. Interview with Professor Janet Currie. November 20, 2020. YouTube.
  18. Currie . Janet . MacLeod . W. Bentley . Understanding Doctor Decision Making: The Case of Depression Treatment . Econometrica . May 2020 . 88 . 3 . 847–878 . 10.3982/ecta16591 . 32981946 . 7514077 .
  19. Currie . Janet . Kurdyak . Paul . Zhang . Jonathan . Socioeconomic Status and Access to Mental Health Care: The Case of Psychiatric Medications for Children in Ontario Canada . Journal of Health Economics . 2024 . 93 . 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102841 . 38113755 . free .
  20. Currie . Janet . Tekin . Erdal . Understanding the Cycle: Childhood Maltreatment and Future Crime? . Journal of Human Resources . March 2012 . 47 . 2 . 509–549. 10.1353/jhr.2012.0017 . 24204082 . 3817819 .
  21. Currie . Janet . Spatz Windom . Kathy . Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect on Adult Economic Well-Being . Child Maltreatment . May 2010 . 15 . 2 . 111–120 . 10.1177/1077559509355316 . 20425881 . 3571659 .
  22. Bhattacharya . Jayanta . Currie . Janet . DeLeire . Thomas . Haider . Steven . Heat or Eat? Income Shocks and the Allocation of Nutrition in American Families . American Journal of Public Health . July 2003 . 93 . 7 . 1149–1154. 10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1149 . 12835201 . 1447925 .
  23. Bhattacharya . Jayanta . Breakfast of Champions? The Effects of the School Breakfast Program on the Nutrition of Children and their Families . Journal of Human Resources . July 2006 . 41 . 3 . 445–466. 10.3368/jhr.XLI.3.445 .
  24. Bitler . Marianne . Currie . Janet . Does WIC Work? The Effect of WIC on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes . Journal of Policy Analysis and Management . Winter 2005 . 24 . 1 . 73–91. 10.1002/pam.20070 . 15584177 .
  25. Currie . Janet . Walker . Reed . Voorheis . John . What Caused Racial Disparities in Particulate Exposure to Fall? New Evidence from the Clean Air Act and Satellite-Based Measures of Air Quality . American Economic Review . January 2023 . 113 . 1 . 71–97. 10.1257/aer.20191957 .
  26. Currie . Janet . Nilsson . Peter . Simeonova . Emilia . Walker . Reed . Congestion Pricing, Air Pollution, and Children's Health . Journal of Human Resources . Fall 2021 . 56 . 4 . 971–996 . 10.3368/jhr.56.4.0218-9363R2 .
  27. Currie . Janet . Davis . Lucas . Greenstone . Michael . Walker . Reed . Environmental Health Risks and Housing Values: Evidence from 1,600 Toxic Plant Openings and Closings . American Economic Review . February 2015 . 105 . 2 . 678–709 . 10.1257/aer.20121656 . 27134284 . 4847734 .
  28. Currie . Janet . Moretti . Enrico . Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings . Quarterly Journal of Economics . November 2003 . 118 . 4 . 1495–1532. 10.1162/003355303322552856 .
  29. Currie . Janet . Hyson . Rosemary . Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Birth Weight . American Economic Review . May 1999 . 89 . 2 . 245–250. 10.1257/aer.89.2.245 .
  30. Currie . Janet . Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development . Journal of Economic Literature . March 2009 . 47 . 1 . 87–122. 10.1257/jel.47.1.87 .
  31. Currie . Janet . Walker . Reed . Traffic Congestion and Infant Health: Evidence from E-ZPass . American Economic Journal: Applied Economic . January 2011 . 3 . 1 . 65–90 . 10.1257/app.3.1.65 .
  32. Currie . Janet . Inequality at Birth: Some Causes and Consequences . American Economic Review . May 2011 . 101 . 3 . 1–22 . 10.1257/aer.101.3.1 .
  33. Currie . Janet . Schwandt . Hannes . Inequality in mortality decreased among the young while increasing for older adults, 1990–2010 . Science . May 2016 . 352 . 6286 . 708–712 . 10.1126/science.aaf1437 . 27103667 . 4879675 . 2016Sci...352..708C .
  34. Aizer . Anna . Currie . Janet . The intergenerational transmission of inequality: Maternal disadvantage and health at birth . Science . May 2014 . 344 . 6186 . 856–861 . 10.1126/science.1251872 . 24855261 . 4578153 . 2014Sci...344..856A .
  35. Currie . Janet . Cuddy . Emily . Treatment of Mental Illness in American Adolescents Varies Widely Within and Across Areas . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . September 2020 . 117 . 39 . 24039–24046 . 10.1073/pnas.2007484117 . free . 32958646 . 7533674 . 2020PNAS..11724039C .
  36. Currie . Janet . Kurdyak . Paul . Zhang . Jonathan . Socioeconomic Status and Access to Mental Health Care: The Case of Psychiatric Medications for Children in Ontario Canada . Journal of Health Economics . January 2024 . 93 . 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102841 . 38113755 . free .
  37. Currie . Janet . Stabile . Mark . Manivong . Phongsack . Roos . Leslie . Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes . Journal of Human Resources . July 2010 . 45 . 3 . 517–548. 10.1353/jhr.2010.0013 .
  38. Chorniy . Anna . Currie . Janet . Sonchak . Lyudmyla . Does Prenatal WIC Participation Improve Child Outcomes? . American Journal of Health Economics . Spring 2020 . 6 . 2 . 169–198 . 10.1086/707832 . 33178883 . 7652032 .
  39. Almond . Douglas . Currie . Janet . Duque . Valentina . Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II . Journal of Economic Literature . December 2018 . 56 . 4 . 1360–1446 . 10.1257/jel.20171164 .
  40. Currie . Janet . Almond . Douglas . Human Capital Development Before Five . Handbook of Labor Economics . 2011 . 4 . Part B . 1315–1486 . 10.1016/S0169-7218(11)02413-0 .
  41. Currie . Janet . McConnell . Sheena . Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Effect of Legal Structure on Dispute Costs and Wages . The American Economic Review . September 1991 . 81 . 4 . 693–718 .
  42. Ashenfelter . Ortley . Currie . Janet . Farber . Henry . Spiegel . Matthew . An Experimental Comparison of Dispute Rates in Alternative Arbitration Systems . Econometrica . November 1992 . 60 . 6 . 1407–1433 . 10.2307/2951527 . 2951527 .
  43. Web site: Interview with Janet Currie . Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
  44. Web site: Fellows of the Econometric Society 1950 to 2019 The Econometric Society. www.econometricsociety.org. 2020-05-13.
  45. Web site: Member. National Academy of Medicine. en-US. 2020-05-13.
  46. Web site: Janet M. Currie. American Academy of Arts & Sciences. en. 2020-05-13.
  47. Web site: Janet Currie. 2016-08-08. AAPSS. en-US. 2020-05-13.
  48. News: La cérémonie de remise du titre de Docteur Honoris Causa à Janet Currie en images. web-com. com. Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3. 2018-07-17. fr-FR.
  49. News: Currie presented with honorary degree by Université Jean Moulin Lyon III . University of Zurich .
  50. Web site: Annual NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award presented to three outstanding scientists . 11 October 2019 .
  51. Web site: Janet Currie. www.nasonline.org. 2020-05-13.
  52. Web site: 2019 NAS Election. www.nasonline.org. 2020-05-13.
  53. Web site: Currie . Janet . 2023 Research Prize – Janet M. Currie . Jacobs Foundation.
  54. Web site: Currie . Janet . Distinguished CES Fellow 2023: Child Mental Health as Human Capital .
  55. Web site: Currie . Janet . Honorary Doctorate to Janet Currie .
  56. Web site: Currie . Janet . Jacob Mincer Award . Society of Labor Economists.
  57. Web site: Currie . Janet . Professor Janet Currie FBA . The British Academy.