Industrial relations podcast releases its 50th episode
Princeton University’s legacy in the industrial relations field began over 100 years ago when John D. Rockefeller provided the initial funding for what is now the Industrial Relations Section (IRS). The Section serves as a hub for the most innovative research in the field. And its unique library of data and information on labor issues–gathered from businesses, unions, and other sources–aids in this research.
In December of 2022, as the Section celebrated its 100th year, Orley Ashenfelter, IRS Director and the Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics emeritus at Princeton University, began recording an oral history of modern labor economics and industrial relations by interviewing giants within the field. “The Work Goes On” podcast has released Ashenfelter’s conversations with Nobel Prize winners, like Claudia Goldin and James Heckman, JFK’s Economic Advisor (and Nobel Prize winner) Bob Solow, and US Labor Secretary Ray Marshall, to name a few.
Over his 50+ years at Princeton, Ashenfelter has been central to shaping the direction of the Industrial Relations Section in the Department of Economics. He is known for his seminal research in labor economics, econometrics, and law and economics.
Celebrating 50 episodes of “The Work Goes On”
Since Ashenfelter began the industrial relations podcast, he has interviewed over 50 of the most influential economists of the modern era. This milestone symbolizes both the interest of its listeners and the volume of important history to record.
In the beginning, Ashenfelter focused on the older generation of economists to ensure their stories could be recorded. “The podcasts are designed to capture the large range of topics covered by a host of people working in the same field before those same scholars are gone,” he shared. “Hearing from the earliest scholars while they can still speak to us was the real motivation for the podcasts.”
“I like to think that hearing their voices and back stories helps to inform younger scholars and give context to the work so many have done.” Ashenfelter continued, “I’m constantly surprised by the details of the backgrounds we learn about, from Solow leaving Harvard to join the army in WW2 to Truman Bewley, a renowned mathematical economist, having started as a French literature major!” Solow passed less than a year after his conversation with Ashenfelter.
When asked who his dream interviewees would be, he shared, “The guests I would love to have on are those, like my teachers Al Rees and Bill Bowen, or my friend George Johnson, who are no longer with us.” Yet the work goes on.
With over 50 stories released so far, all of which are essential to the oral history of industrial relations and labor economics, Ashenfelter hopes to continue the podcast by interviewing the many pioneers who are still early in their careers. An exciting episode to look forward to: Janet Yellen plans to join the podcast for a conversation next year!
If you’re a student of history, a labor economist, or anyone interested in how research gets made, we hope you’ll tune in, catch up, and follow along! New episodes are released every two weeks, and you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
The 50th episode: Duke’s V. Joseph Hotz
In the 50th episode, Ashenfelter talks to V. Joseph Hotz, Research Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Economics and Public Policy Emeritus at Duke University, on women’s labor supply and balancing data privacy and use.
In this episode, Hotz and Ashenfelter discuss:
- Hotz’s early years growing up in Illinois and his fascination with the Mississippi River. “…I had a small-town upbringing… it was a great time.. [going] up and down the river and finding out about the history and traditions.”
- His undergraduate years at Notre Dame and his early interest in the humanities. “The economics department was not all that strong… so, I spent most of my time surveying… classics, some political philosophers who I found really extremely interesting. And that’s what I thought I wanted to do when I went to graduate school.”
- How Hotz ended up taking a “gap” year before attending graduate school and working as a research assistant with the Gary Income Maintenance Experiment in Gary, Indiana. “It was an interesting project because it was looking at consumption…I learned a lot about [getting the data] cleaned, and it was my first lesson in what you can screw up with a bad set of questionnaire design.”
- His dissertation at the University of Wisconsin. “I… ended up doing a dissertation on a life cycle model and estimation of women’s labor supply and fertility…You [factor] in fertility and that plays [an important] role in affecting … the timing of entering the labor force.”
- Hotz’s research on disclosure, confidentiality, and privacy protection as it relates to federal statistical data. “There’s a real problem here of protecting people’s confidentiality… We’re still very much in that process, in an early stage in that process, but we’re making some progress.”
- His research on the impact of the child tax credit on child poverty. “We estimate that it cut child poverty in half… We concluded that it had a big impact on child poverty.”
If you have feedback, questions, or comments about the podcast, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out at theworkgoesonpodcast@gmail.com.