International Fellows

James Heckman

University of Chicago

James is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.

He has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic problems related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, skill formation and regulation, and to devising and evaluating alternative strategies for addressing those problems.

Selected Publications

Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation

This paper formulates and estimates multistage production functions for children’s cognitive and noncognitive skills. Skills are […]

Flavio Cunha, James Heckman, Susanne M. Schennach
21 May 2010 | Journal Article

Previous version

Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation
Flavio Cunha, James Heckman, Susanne M. Schennach
25 April 2010 | CWP09/10
Testing the correlated random coefficient model

The recent literature on instrumental variables (IV) features models in which agents sort into treatment status […]

James Heckman, Daniel Schmierer, Sergio Urzua
26 April 2010 | CWP10/10

Latest version

Testing the correlated random coefficient model
James Heckman, Daniel Schmierer, Sergio Urzua
31 October 2010 | Journal Article
Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation

This paper formulates and estimates multistage production functions for children’s cognitive and noncognitive skills. Skills are […]

Flavio Cunha, James Heckman, Susanne M. Schennach
25 April 2010 | CWP09/10

Latest version

Estimating the technology of cognitive and noncognitive skill formation
Flavio Cunha, James Heckman, Susanne M. Schennach
21 May 2010 | Journal Article
Comparing IV with structural models: what simple IV can and cannot identify

This paper compares the economic questions addressed by instrumental variables estimators with those addressed by structural […]

James Heckman, Sergio Urzua
24 April 2010 | CWP08/10

Latest version

Comparing IV with structural models: what simple IV can and cannot identify
James Heckman, Sergio Urzua
31 May 2010 | Journal Article
Evaluating marginal policy changes and the average effect of treatment for individuals at the margin

This paper develops methods for evaluating marginal policy changes. We characterize how the effects of marginal […]

Pedro Carneiro, James Heckman, Edward Vytlacil
1 January 2010 | Journal Article
Evaluating marginal policy changes and the average effect of treatment for individuals at the margin

This paper develops methods for evaluating marginal policy changes. We characterize how the effects of marginal […]

Pedro Carneiro, James Heckman, Edward Vytlacil
30 July 2009 | CWP21/09
Instrumental variables, local instrumental variables and control functions

We consider the identification of the average treatment effect in models with continuous endogenous variables whose […]

Jean-Pierre Florens, James Heckman, Costas Meghir, Edward Vytlacil
1 September 2008 | Journal Article
Dynamic policy analysis

This chapter studies the microeconometric treatment-effect and structural approaches to dynamic policy evaluation. First, we discuss […]

Jaap Abbring, James Heckman
11 February 2008 | CWP05/08
Econometric causality

This paper presents the econometric approach to causal modeling. It is motivated by policy problems. New […]

James Heckman
7 February 2008 | CWP01/08

Latest version

Econometric causality
James Heckman
1 January 2008 | Journal Article
Econometric causality

This paper presents the econometric approach to causal modeling. It is motivated by policy problems. New […]

James Heckman
1 January 2008 | Journal Article

Previous version

Econometric causality
James Heckman
7 February 2008 | CWP01/08