Plan of Heckman's Lectures

I. Facts

  1. Cross-section, lifecycle (earnings dynamics) and intergenerational within and across countries
  2. Top 1% and executive pay
  3. Measuring poverty and real income
  4. How important are trade- and skill-biased technical change?
  5. Families

Theme: Skills are Important and are the Focus

II. Models to Explain Facts

  1. Skill-biased technical change and tasks
  2. Executive compensation
  3. Sluggish response of skills to skill prices
  4. Skills: definitions
  5. Models of family investment

III. Policies

  1. Schools and family policies
  2. Minimum wage/Earned Income Tax Credit
  3. Does anti-poverty policy help or hurt?


Outline: Skills and Families

Main Reading and Lecture List

  1. Facts and Claims
  2. Explanations
  3. Policies