John J. Siegfried (born in
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
, on February 23, 1945) is an American
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
and Emeritus Professor of Economics at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
. He is one of the world's leading education economists in terms of research output.
Biography
A native of
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
, John J. Siegfried earned a
B.Sc.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...
in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
in 1967, a
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in economics from
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
in 1969, and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in economics from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
(UW) in 1972.
After obtaining his Ph.D., Siegfried became an assistant professor of economics at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, with which he remained affiliated throughout his academic career, being promoted to associate professor in 1975, full professor in 1981, chairing the Department of Economics (1980–1986), and being emerited in 2010. Additionally, he also worked intermittently at Vanderbilt University as lecturer in law (1973–1981) and as adjunct professor in management (1979–1987; 1996–1997). Beyond Vanderbilt University, Siegfried has been a
visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...
, the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
and especially the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
. Other professional activities included work with the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ove ...
, the U.S. President's
Council of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...
, the Committee on Economic Education of the
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals acknowledged in business and academia. There are some 23,000 members.
History and Constitution
The AEA was esta ...
(which he chaired in 1988–1993), presidencies of the
Southern Economic Association The Southern Economic Association (SEA) is a regional-based scholarly economic organization based at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The SEA was founded in 1928. It is one of five general professional economic associations. For the SEA m ...
(1996) and Midwest Economic Association (2000–2001) and of the Society of Economic Educators (2014–15), and directorships on the boards of the
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
(1997–2012) and the National Council on Economic Education (1998–present). In terms of editorial work, Siegfried has sat or sits on the editorial boards of the ''
Journal of Sports Economics
The ''Journal of Sports Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications in association with the North American Association of Sports Economists covering the economics of sports. It was established by economist Leo "H ...
'', ''
Journal of Economic Education
''The Journal of Economic Education'' (''JEE'') offers original peer-reviewed articles on teaching economics. The inaugural issue appeared in the fall of 1969. At the time, G.L. Bach (Stanford University) wrote in the ''American Economic Review Pa ...
'', ''Review of Industrial Organization'', ''Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance'', ''Australian Economic Papers'', and ''Australasian Journal of Economic Education''.
Research
John Siegfried's research interests include the economics of higher education,
economic education
Economics education or economic education is a field within economics that focuses on two main themes:
*The current state of, and efforts to improve, the economics curriculum, materials and pedagogical techniques used to teach economics at all e ...
,
sports economics Sports economics is a discipline of economics focused on its relationship to sports. It covers both the ways in which economists can study the distinctive institutions of sports, and the ways in which sports can allow economists to research many top ...
,
industrial organization
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and market (economics), markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complic ...
, and
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
economics. In terms of research output, he is among the top 2% of economists registered on
IDEAS/RePEc
Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in many countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, preprints, ...
and belongs to the most-cited education economists.
Research on the economics education
The study and improvement of economic education has been a core topic in Siegfried's research. Reviewing the research on teaching economics in (mainly U.S.)
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
s written until the late 1970s with Rendigs Fels, he surveys the measurement of inputs and outputs in economics education, the impacts of human capital, the college environment and of alternative teaching methods on economics education, and the long-term effects of economic education on students. Siegfried and Fels conclude that "different students learn economics in different ways" and that thus "the best teaching strategy provides alternative learning methods directed towards the different needs of different student". They find positive impacts for computer-study-management programmes (including frequent testing and adapted assignments) and programmed learning, but are less positive about the use of self-paced instruction and computerized games in economic education, and argue that graduate students are generally as good teachers as regular faculty, but would benefit from teacher training. In a survey of the scant research on male-female differences in economic education produced until 1979, Siegfried finds few differences between genders in terms of learning and understanding of economics at the elementary school level, though gaps appear to develop in high school and persist through the college years without further widening. In the early 1990s, together with other economic educators such as
Deirdre McCloskey
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey (born Donald N. McCloskey; September 11, 1942 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is the distinguished professor of economics, history, english, and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She is also adjunct pr ...
, Siegfried made the case for reforming economics majors, which they suggested to consist of (i) a strong introductory sequence oriented towards application, (ii) rigorous intermediate theory courses involving economic analysis, (iii) background courses in mathematics and quantitative methods, (iv) at least five electives, and (v) a capstone experience (e.g. a thesis). Moreover, in the late 1990s, Siegfried and Michael Salemi called on universities, among else, to offer economics as part of general education, to revise economics curricula to foster students' proficiency in economics (more particularly, the "Hansen proficiencies") by applying economics in the classroom, and to teach economic faculty teaching methods besides lecturing. More recently, Siegfried, Allen Sanderson and Peter McHenry have criticized the quality of economic impact studies of colleges and universities, arguing that they often overestimate local returns on investment due to inadequate counterfactuals and pointing to the definitions of the "local" area and "new" expenditures, the double-counting of economic impacts, problems with local taxes and the omission of local spillovers through increased human capital as common problems in such studies.
Research in sports economics and other research
In sports economics, Siegfried has applied production theory to
professional basketball in the U.S. (with Cliff Huang and Thomas Zak), studied the demand for minor league baseball (with Jeff Eisenberg), the economics of sports facilities and their communities (with Andrew Zimbalist), and the concerns for competitive balance in sports in general and in baseball in particular (with Allen R. Sanderson). Other studies, in particular in
industrial organization
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and market (economics), markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complic ...
, concern topics such as
corporate taxation
A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...
, corporate lobbying, and patterns of firm exit and entry; in the last, co-authored with Laurie Beth Evans, Siegfried finds that firm exits accelerate face to lower profits and a lower capital-intensity while entry is more frequent in profitable, high-growth industries with low requirements in terms of investment capital, with both firm exit and entry being highly correlated (possibly) due to displacement and vacuum effects.
Siegfried, J.J., Evans, L.B. (1994). Empirical studies of entry and exit: a survey of the evidence. ''Review of Industrial Organization'', 9(2), pp. 121-155.
/ref>
Bibliography
* Clotfelter, C.T., Ehrenberg, R.G., Getz, M., Siegfried, J.J. (1991, eds.). ''Economic Challenges in Higher Education''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
References
External links
Webpage of John J. Siegfried on the website of Vanderbilt University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegfried, John J.
Living people
1945 births
Education economists
Vanderbilt University faculty
American economists
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
Pennsylvania State University alumni
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Educators from Allentown, Pennsylvania