Caroline Hoxby
Encyclopedia
Caroline Minter Hoxby is a labor and public economist
whose research focuses on issues in education
and local public economics. Currently, she is the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford and director of the Economics of Education Program for the National Bureau of Economic Research
. She is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
.
where she was one of only 24 Harvard College Professors and was the Allie S. Freed Professor of Economics. In 2006, she won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize.
A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio
, where she attended Shaker Heights High School
, Hoxby is a Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, where she won a Hoopes Prize
. She attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship
. In 1994, she received her PhD from MIT.
In 2011 she was invited as main speaker at the Bocconi Lecture of Bocconi University
.
She is married to Blair Hoxby, also a Rhodes Scholar. He is an Associate Professor of English at Stanford University who writes on John Milton
and Renaissance theater.
Hoxby's research has received much recognition including a Carnegie Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, a John M. Olin Fellowship, a National Tax Association Award, and Global Leader of Tomorrow from the World Economic Forum. She is the recipient of the 2006 Thomas J. Fordham Prize for Distinguished Scholarship. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Education Sciences, and the National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Her well known work includes The Economics of School Choice (University of Chicago Press, 2003), College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay for It (University of Chicago Press, 2004), "How Teachers' Unions Affect Education Production" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 1996), "The Effects of Class Size on Student Achievement" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 1999), "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?" (American Economic Review
, 2000), "Not All School Finance Equalizations Are Created Equal" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 2001), "Pulled Away or Pushed Out? Explaining the Decline of Teacher Aptitude in the United States" (American Economic Review
, 2004), and "Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities" (Journal of Political Economy
, 2004).
Hoxby's 2005 paper, "A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities," ranked American colleges based on students' revealed preferences. As of February 25, 2007, it is the sixth most downloaded paper from the Social Science Research Network.
One of Hoxby's most-cited papers, "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?" (American Economic Review, 2000), argues that increased school choice improves educational outcomes for all students. Her methods in the paper have attracted serious criticism: Jesse Rothstein (at the time, a graduate student at UC Berkeley under Professor David Card
) published a paper claiming that he was unable to replicate her results. Hoxby published a response in defense of her original work a few months later.
Stanford Professor Sean F. Reardon also published a critique of her evaluation of the effectiveness of New York City's charter schools claiming that her report “relie[d] on an inappropriate set of statistical models to analyze the data…[that] appear to overstate the cumulative effect of attending a charter school. In addition, the report does not provide enough technical discussion and detailed description to enable a reader to assess the validity of some aspects of the report’s methodology and results.”
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
whose research focuses on issues in education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and local public economics. Currently, she is the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford and director of the Economics of Education Program for the National Bureau of Economic Research
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...
. She is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research is a nonpartisan economic research institution housed at Stanford University. It was founded in 1982 as a way to bring together economic scholars from different parts of the University. George Shultz was a key player in its inception...
.
Education, Family Life, and Professional Appointments
From 1994 to 2007, she was a faculty member of Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where she was one of only 24 Harvard College Professors and was the Allie S. Freed Professor of Economics. In 2006, she won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize.
A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 28,448. It is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland that abuts the city on its eastern side.-Topography:Shaker Heights is located at...
, where she attended Shaker Heights High School
Shaker Heights High School
Shaker Heights High School is a public high school located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA, in Greater Cleveland. The high school is the only public high school in the Shaker Heights City School District, which serves Shaker Heights and a small part of Cleveland...
, Hoxby is a Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, where she won a Hoopes Prize
Thomas T. Hoopes, Class of 1919, Prize
The Hoopes Prize is an award given annually to Harvard University undergraduates, and is considered one of thehighest academic commendations the University can bestow upon an undergraduate....
. She attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
. In 1994, she received her PhD from MIT.
In 2011 she was invited as main speaker at the Bocconi Lecture of Bocconi University
Bocconi University
Bocconi University is a private university located in central Milan, beside Parco Ravizza. Bocconi provides undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education, in addition to a range of double degree programs, in the fields of economics, management, finance and law. According to many university...
.
She is married to Blair Hoxby, also a Rhodes Scholar. He is an Associate Professor of English at Stanford University who writes on John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
and Renaissance theater.
Research
Hoxby conducts research on all aspects of education including college choice, the effects of financial aid, the outcomes of graduates from different colleges, college tuition policy, public school finance, school choice, the effect of education on economic growth and income inequality, teacher pay and teacher quality, peer effects, and class size. She also works on topics that fit under the headings of public finance (property taxes, government finance), labor economics (earnings, returns to skills), and quantitative methods.Hoxby's research has received much recognition including a Carnegie Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, a John M. Olin Fellowship, a National Tax Association Award, and Global Leader of Tomorrow from the World Economic Forum. She is the recipient of the 2006 Thomas J. Fordham Prize for Distinguished Scholarship. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Education Sciences, and the National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Her well known work includes The Economics of School Choice (University of Chicago Press, 2003), College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay for It (University of Chicago Press, 2004), "How Teachers' Unions Affect Education Production" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
Quarterly Journal of Economics
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, or QJE, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press and edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics. Its current editors are Robert J. Barro, Elhanan Helpman and Lawrence F. Katz...
, 1996), "The Effects of Class Size on Student Achievement" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
Quarterly Journal of Economics
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, or QJE, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press and edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics. Its current editors are Robert J. Barro, Elhanan Helpman and Lawrence F. Katz...
, 1999), "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?" (American Economic Review
American Economic Review
The American Economic Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics publishing seven issues annually by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field. The current editor-in-chief is Penny Goldberg . The...
, 2000), "Not All School Finance Equalizations Are Created Equal" (Quarterly Journal of Economics
Quarterly Journal of Economics
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, or QJE, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press and edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics. Its current editors are Robert J. Barro, Elhanan Helpman and Lawrence F. Katz...
, 2001), "Pulled Away or Pushed Out? Explaining the Decline of Teacher Aptitude in the United States" (American Economic Review
American Economic Review
The American Economic Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics publishing seven issues annually by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field. The current editor-in-chief is Penny Goldberg . The...
, 2004), and "Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities" (Journal of Political Economy
Journal of Political Economy
The Journal of Political Economy is an academic journal run by economists at the University of Chicago and published every two months by the University of Chicago Press. The journal publishes articles in both theoretical economics and empirical economics...
, 2004).
Hoxby's 2005 paper, "A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities," ranked American colleges based on students' revealed preferences. As of February 25, 2007, it is the sixth most downloaded paper from the Social Science Research Network.
One of Hoxby's most-cited papers, "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?" (American Economic Review, 2000), argues that increased school choice improves educational outcomes for all students. Her methods in the paper have attracted serious criticism: Jesse Rothstein (at the time, a graduate student at UC Berkeley under Professor David Card
David Card
David Edward Card is a Canadian labour economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.Card earned his B.A. degree from Queen's University in 1978 and his Ph.D. degree in Economics in 1983 from Princeton University....
) published a paper claiming that he was unable to replicate her results. Hoxby published a response in defense of her original work a few months later.
Stanford Professor Sean F. Reardon also published a critique of her evaluation of the effectiveness of New York City's charter schools claiming that her report “relie[d] on an inappropriate set of statistical models to analyze the data…[that] appear to overstate the cumulative effect of attending a charter school. In addition, the report does not provide enough technical discussion and detailed description to enable a reader to assess the validity of some aspects of the report’s methodology and results.”