Education power. Il potere trasformativo per l'economia e la società (James Heckman)

James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. He has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic questions related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, and the formation of skills and regulation in labor markets, as well as to devising and applying economically interpretable empirical strategies for understanding and addressing these questions. His work is rooted in economics, but he actively collaborates across disciplines to get to the heart of major problems. His recent interdisciplinary research on human development and skill formation over the life cycle draws on economics, psychology, genetics, epidemiology, and neuroscience to examine the origins of inequality, the determinants of social mobility, and the links among stages of the life cycle, starting in the womb.

Heckman has a BA in Mathematics from Colorado College and an MA and PhD in Economics from Princeton University. He has been at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago since 1973. He was one of the founders of the Harris School of Public Policy, where he also has an appointment. In May 2014, he launched the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago which he directs.

In 2000, Heckman shared the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the microeconometrics of diversity and heterogeneity and for establishing a sound causal basis for public policy evaluation. 

He has published over 350 articles and 9 books. His most recent book is The Myth of Achievement Tests: The GED and the Role of Character in American Life. He is actively engaged in conducting and guiding empirical and theoretical research on skill development, inequality, and social mobility.