We examine the role of financial aid in shaping the formation of human capital in economics. Specifically, we study the impact of a large merit-based scholarship for graduate studies in affecting individuals' occupational choices, career trajectories, and labor market outcomes of a generation of...

In their stormy response to Nancy MacLean’s book Democracy in Chains, some academics on the libertarian right have conducted a concerted defense of Nobel Laureate James Buchanan’s credentials as an anti-racist, or at least a non-racist. An odd component of their argument is a claim of...

We compile a ranking of the research output of all Nobel Laureates in economics using the Handelsblatt methodology and compare the outcome to the Handelsblatt ranking of economists in the Germanspeaking area. Our analysis focuses on whether the overall rating scores of the Nobel Laureates are...

Nobel laureates in economics make their most important and creative contributionsbetween the ages of 29 and 38. The average creative age of Nobel economists is slightly belowthat of laureates in physics, and considerably younger than that of laureates in chemistry andmedicine/physiology. The...

I ask generally whether a country can benefit from the temporary importation of human capital, and specifically whether a program that attracts large groups of academic visitors to a distant country benefits it by generating additional scholarly research on local issues. Using the list of...

We surveyed academic economists on their experiences and perceptions of legal consulting. Nearly two-thirds have consulting experience and 40 percent have consulted within the last five years. Base hourly rates average $244, with a median of $200. Women are less likely than men to have served as...

In this paper we argue that any meaningful bibliometric evaluation of researchers needs to take into account that research productivity follows distinct life cycles. Using an encompassing data set portraying the research behavior of German academic economists, we first show that research...

We examine the research productivity of German academic economists over their life cycles. It turns out that the career-patterns of research productivity as measured by journal publications are characterized by marked cohort effects. Moreover, the life-cycles of younger German economists are...

This paper describes James M. Buchanan’s analysis of human capital concepts in a class paper that he wrote in 1946 titled “Federalism: One Barrier to Labor Mobility.” The paper described how federal financing of human capital investments impeded labor mobility and formed the basis for his...