Our core faculty of 70 Senior Fellows draws from across Stanford’s campus. Professors from economics, political science, business, medicine, law, education, and engineering collaborate at SIEPR to address economic challenges in the United States and abroad. Many of our Senior Fellows, Faculty Fellows, and Researchers have worked in government agencies or advised policymakers. They teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students while conducting research that informs and influences economic policy.
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Pete Klenow on closing the performance gap with better living
The standard way of measuring a country’s economic success is to look at per capita gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services divided by population. The more cars and computers produced and the more doctor visits and restaurant meals per person, the better the economy is thought to be doing. By that yardstick, the U.S. performs best among the world’s large, diverse economies.
But is per capita GDP really the best way of gauging how good a job an economy is doing at taking care of people? Pete Klenow, Ralph Landau Professor in Economic Policy and Gordon Moore Senior Fellow at SIEPR, proposes a more comprehensive measure of economic welfare.
Petra Persson looks at what an A can really be worth
Grade inflation is a hot topic in education circles. An A was once a mark of distinction. Now, at many schools, it’s the new normal. What’s not clear though is what the effects of this practice might be. Is it a harmless boost to student self-esteem or does it unfairly tilt the education and employment playing fields to the advantage of those whose grades get inflated?
Petra Persson, an assistant professor of economics and a faculty fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, is using tools of economic analysis to examine this question in her home country of Sweden. Her research finds that inflating grades when students were 16 had big effects in later life.