Heckman, James Joseph

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James Joseph Heckman, 1944– American economist, b. Chicago, Ill., Ph.D. Princeton, 1971. He has taught at the Univ. of Chicago since 1973. Heckman shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science with Daniel McFadden in 2000 for their work in developing theories and methods to analyze individual choice and household behavior. Heckman developed methods that correct for potential biases in selecting the individuals, households, and the like that form the statistical sample being studied. He has used his methods to study the effects of government policy in job training, early childhood education, and other areas.

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