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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. 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. She also served as the first female Chair of the Department of Economics at Columbia University from 2006–2009. 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. 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.

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.

Career

Currie co-directs the Program on Children and Families at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is past president of the Society of Labor Economists, the Eastern Economics Association, 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 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 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 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. 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. 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." More recently, she has advocated for cash transfers, in conjunction with other safety net programs, given their helpfulness in raising families out of poverty.

Currie has investigated broader socioeconomic determinants of fetal and child health, including health care, child maltreatment, nutrition, environmental pollution, and maternal education. Her work showing that the adoption of EZ-Pass improved infant health in Pennsylvania and New Jersey received wide attention. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

This work represents a departure from earlier work on collective bargaining in the public sector.

Personal

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

Awards and honors

• Fellow of the Society of Labor Economics, elected May 2006
• Fellow of the Econometric Society, elected 2013
• Member of the National Academy of Medicine, elected 2013
• Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected 2014
• Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow, American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2014
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Lyon, 2016
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Zurich, 2017
• NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award, 2019
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences, elected 2019
• Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for work aimed at improving learning, development, and living conditions of children and youth, 2023.
• Distinguished CES Fellow, 2023
• Honorary Doctorate, Università della Svizzera italiana, 2024.
• 2024 Society of Labor Economists Jacob Mincer Award honoring lifetime contributions to the field of labor economics.
• International Fellow of the British Academy, elected July 2024

References

1. "Leadership and Affiliates". Center for Health and Wellbeing.
2. "Currie Named Economics Department Chair". Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. 2014-04-08. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
3. "Five Minutes with... Janet Currie". Columbia College Today. 2008. Archived from the original on 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
4. "10 top women in economics". World Economic Forum. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
5. "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. (December 2020). "Can Mentoring Help Female Assistant Professors in Economics? An Evaluation by Randomized Trial". AEA Papers and Proceedings. 110: 205–209. doi:10.1257/pandp.20201121.
7. Currie, Janet (1988). Collective Bargaining In the Public Sector : Three Studies.
8. "The NBER Program on Children". www.nber.org. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
9. "Eastern Economic Association". Quinnipiac University. Archived from the original on 2017-02-11. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
10. "Report of the Editor Journal of Economic Literature". American Economic Review. 102 (3): 666–668. 1 May 2012. doi:10.1257/aer.102.3.666.
11. Garces, Eliana; Thomas, Duncan; Currie, Janet (2002). "Longer-Term Effects of Head Start". American Economic Review. 92 (4): 999–1012. doi:10.1257/00028280260344560.
12. Currie, Janet; Thomas, Duncan (June 1995). "Does Head Start Make A Difference?". The American Economic Review. 85 (3): 341–365.
13. Currie, Janet; Gruber, Jonathan (December 1996). "Saving Babies: The Efficacy and Cost of Recent Expansions of Medicaid Eligibility for Pregnant Women". The Journal of Political Economy. 104 (6): 1263–1296. doi:10.1086/262059.
14. Currie, Janet; Gruber, Jonathan (May 1996). "Health Insurance Eligibility, Utilization of Medical Care, and Child Health" (PDF). The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 111 (2): 431–466. doi:10.2307/2946684. JSTOR 2946684.
15. Currie, Janet (1995). Welfare and the Well-Being of Children. Chur Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers.
16. Currie, Janet (Spring 2006). The Invisible Safety Net: Protecting the Nation's Poor Children and Families. Princeton University Press.
17. Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge (March 10, 2020). "Interview with Professor Janet Currie". YouTube. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
18. Currie, Janet; MacLeod, W. Bentley (May 2020). "Understanding Doctor Decision Making: The Case of Depression Treatment". Econometrica. 88 (3): 847–878. doi:10.3982/ecta16591. PMC 7514077. PMID 32981946.
19. Currie, Janet; Kurdyak, Paul; Zhang, Jonathan (2024). "Socioeconomic Status and Access to Mental Health Care: The Case of Psychiatric Medications for Children in Ontario Canada". Journal of Health Economics. 93. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102841. PMID 38113755.
20. Currie, Janet; Tekin, Erdal (March 2012). "Understanding the Cycle: Childhood Maltreatment and Future Crime?". Journal of Human Resources. 47 (2): 509–549. doi:10.1353/jhr.2012.0017. PMC 3817819. PMID 24204082.
21. Currie, Janet; Spatz Windom, Kathy (May 2010). "Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect on Adult Economic Well-Being" (PDF). Child Maltreatment. 15 (2): 111–120. doi:10.1177/1077559509355316. PMC 3571659. PMID 20425881.
22. Bhattacharya, Jayanta; Currie, Janet; DeLeire, Thomas; Haider, Steven (July 2003). "Heat or Eat? Income Shocks and the Allocation of Nutrition in American Families". American Journal of Public Health. 93 (7): 1149–1154. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1149. PMC 1447925. PMID 12835201.
23. Bhattacharya, Jayanta (July 2006). "Breakfast of Champions? The Effects of the School Breakfast Program on the Nutrition of Children and their Families". Journal of Human Resources. 41 (3): 445–466. doi:10.3368/jhr.XLI.3.445.
24. Bitler, Marianne; Currie, Janet (Winter 2005). "Does WIC Work? The Effect of WIC on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes". Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 24 (1): 73–91. doi:10.1002/pam.20070. PMID 15584177.
25. Currie, Janet; Walker, Reed; Voorheis, John (January 2023). "What Caused Racial Disparities in Particulate Exposure to Fall? New Evidence from the Clean Air Act and Satellite-Based Measures of Air Quality" (PDF). American Economic Review. 113 (1): 71–97. doi:10.1257/aer.20191957.
26. Currie, Janet; Nilsson, Peter; Simeonova, Emilia; Walker, Reed (Fall 2021). "Congestion Pricing, Air Pollution, and Children's Health" (PDF). Journal of Human Resources. 56 (4): 971–996. doi:10.3368/jhr.56.4.0218-9363R2.
27. Currie, Janet; Davis, Lucas; Greenstone, Michael; Walker, Reed (February 2015). "Environmental Health Risks and Housing Values: Evidence from 1,600 Toxic Plant Openings and Closings". American Economic Review. 105 (2): 678–709. doi:10.1257/aer.20121656. PMC 4847734. PMID 27134284.
28. Currie, Janet; Moretti, Enrico (November 2003). "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings". Quarterly Journal of Economics. 118 (4): 1495–1532. doi:10.1162/003355303322552856.
29. Currie, Janet; Hyson, Rosemary (May 1999). "Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Birth Weight" (PDF). American Economic Review. 89 (2): 245–250. doi:10.1257/aer.89.2.245.
30. Currie, Janet (March 2009). "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development" (PDF). Journal of Economic Literature. 47 (1): 87–122. doi:10.1257/jel.47.1.87.
31. Currie, Janet; Walker, Reed (January 2011). "Traffic Congestion and Infant Health: Evidence from E-ZPass". American Economic Journal: Applied Economic. 3 (1): 65–90. doi:10.1257/app.3.1.65.
32. Currie, Janet (May 2011). "Inequality at Birth: Some Causes and Consequences". American Economic Review. 101 (3): 1–22. doi:10.1257/aer.101.3.1.
33. Currie, Janet; Schwandt, Hannes (May 2016). "Inequality in mortality decreased among the young while increasing for older adults, 1990–2010". Science. 352 (6286): 708–712. Bibcode:2016Sci...352..708C. doi:10.1126/science.aaf1437. PMC 4879675. PMID 27103667.
34. Aizer, Anna; Currie, Janet (May 2014). "The intergenerational transmission of inequality: Maternal disadvantage and health at birth". Science. 344 (6186): 856–861. Bibcode:2014Sci...344..856A. doi:10.1126/science.1251872. PMC 4578153. PMID 24855261.
35. Currie, Janet; Cuddy, Emily (September 2020). "Treatment of Mental Illness in American Adolescents Varies Widely Within and Across Areas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (39): 24039–24046. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11724039C. doi:10.1073/pnas.2007484117. PMC 7533674. PMID 32958646.
36. Currie, Janet; Kurdyak, Paul; Zhang, Jonathan (January 2024). "Socioeconomic Status and Access to Mental Health Care: The Case of Psychiatric Medications for Children in Ontario Canada". Journal of Health Economics. 93. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102841. PMID 38113755.
37. Currie, Janet; Stabile, Mark; Manivong, Phongsack; Roos, Leslie (July 2010). "Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes" (PDF). Journal of Human Resources. 45 (3): 517–548. doi:10.1353/jhr.2010.0013.
38. Chorniy, Anna; Currie, Janet; Sonchak, Lyudmyla (Spring 2020). "Does Prenatal WIC Participation Improve Child Outcomes?". American Journal of Health Economics. 6 (2): 169–198. doi:10.1086/707832. PMC 7652032. PMID 33178883.
39. Almond, Douglas; Currie, Janet; Duque, Valentina (December 2018). "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II". Journal of Economic Literature. 56 (4): 1360–1446. doi:10.1257/jel.20171164.
40. Currie, Janet; Almond, Douglas (2011). "Human Capital Development Before Five". Handbook of Labor Economics. 4 (Part B): 1315–1486. doi:10.1016/S0169-7218(11)02413-0.
41. Currie, Janet; McConnell, Sheena (September 1991). "Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector: The Effect of Legal Structure on Dispute Costs and Wages". The American Economic Review. 81 (4): 693–718.
42. Ashenfelter, Ortley; Currie, Janet; Farber, Henry; Spiegel, Matthew (November 1992). "An Experimental Comparison of Dispute Rates in Alternative Arbitration Systems". Econometrica. 60 (6): 1407–1433. doi:10.2307/2951527. JSTOR 2951527.
43. "Interview with Janet Currie". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
44. "Fellows of the Econometric Society 1950 to 2019 | The Econometric Society". www.econometricsociety.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
45. "Member". National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
46. "Janet M. Currie". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
47. "Janet Currie". AAPSS. 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
48. web-com, com. "La cérémonie de remise du titre de Docteur Honoris Causa à Janet Currie en images". Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (in French). Retrieved 2018-07-17.
49. "Currie presented with honorary degree by Université Jean Moulin Lyon III". University of Zurich.
50. "Annual NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award presented to three outstanding scientists". 11 October 2019.
51. "Janet Currie". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
52. "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
53. Currie, Janet. "2023 Research Prize – Janet M. Currie". Jacobs Foundation.
54. Currie, Janet. "Distinguished CES Fellow 2023: Child Mental Health as Human Capital".
55. Currie, Janet. "Honorary Doctorate to Janet Currie".
56. Currie, Janet. "Jacob Mincer Award". Society of Labor Economists.
57. Currie, Janet. "Professor Janet Currie FBA". The British Academy.

External links

• Janet Currie's page at Princeton University

• 20th-century Canadian economists
• 21st-century American women
• 21st-century Canadian economists
• Living people
• American women economists
• Canadian women economists
• Education economists
• Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellows of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
• Fellows of the Econometric Society
• Labor economists
• Members of the National Academy of Medicine
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• Presidents of the American Economic Association
• Princeton University alumni
• Princeton University faculty
• University of Toronto alumni