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Emily Fair Oster (born February 14, 1980) is an American
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
who has served as the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
since 2019, where she has been a professor of economics since 2015. Her research interests span from
development economics Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...
and
health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to Health care efficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in dete ...
to research design and experimental methodology. Her research was brought to the attention of non-economists through the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', the book '' SuperFreakonomics'', and her 2007 TED Talk. Oster is the author of four books, ''Expecting Better'', ''The Family Firm'', ''The Unexpected'', and ''Cribsheet'', which discuss a data-driven approach to decision-making in pregnancy and parenting.


Early life

Oster was born on February 14, 1980, in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
. Her parents, Sharon Oster and Ray Fair, were both professors of economics at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. When she was two years old, Oster's parents noticed that she talked to herself in her crib after they left her room. They placed a tape recorder in her room in order to find out what she was saying and passed the tapes on to a linguist and psychologist with whom they were friends. Analysis of Oster's speech showed that her language was much more complex when she was alone than when interacting with adults. This led to her being the subject of a series of academic papers which were collectively published as a compendium in 1989 titled ''Narratives from the Crib''. After graduating from
Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...
in 1998, Oster studied economics at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, graduating in 2002 with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
. She then did doctoral studies in economics at Harvard under
Michael Kremer Michael Robert Kremer (born November 12, 1964) is an American Development economics, development economist currently serving as university professor in economics at the University of Chicago and director of the Development Innovation Lab at th ...
. She received a Ph.D. in 2006 with a
thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
titled "The Economics of Infectious Disease".


Career

From 2006 to 2007, Oster was a Becker Fellow at the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, where she was an
assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...
at the Department of Economics from 2007 to 2009, an assistant professor at the
Booth School of Business The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (branded as Chicago Booth) is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of the University of Chicago, a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in ...
from 2009 to 2011, and an
associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
from 2011 to 2014. She became a
tenured Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
associate professor of economics at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
in 2015, where she has been a
full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...
of economics since 2016 and the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence since 2019. She is also the CEO o
ParentData
which she founded in 2020. Oster has been a research associate at the NBER since 2015, where she was a faculty research fellow from 2006 to 2015, and has been an associate editor of the ''
Quarterly Journal of Economics ''The Quarterly Journal of Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press for the Harvard University Department of Economics. Its current editors-in-chief are Robert J. Barro, Lawrence F. Katz, Nathan ...
'' since 2014. Oster's research focuses generally on development economics and health. In 2005, Oster published a dissertation for her economics Ph.D. from Harvard University, which suggested that the unusually high ratio of men to women in China was partially due to the effects of the
hepatitis B virus Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a partially double-stranded DNA virus, a species of the genus '' Orthohepadnavirus'' and a member of the '' Hepadnaviridae'' family of viruses. This virus causes the disease hepatitis B. Classification Hepatitis B ...
. "Hepatitis B and the Case of the Missing Women," pointed to findings that suggested areas with high
hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...
rates tended to have higher male-to female birth ratios. Oster argued that the fact that hepatitis B can cause a woman to conceive male children more often than female, accounted for a bulk of the "missing women" in
Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions ...
's 1990 essay, "More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing." Oster noted that the use of hepatitis B vaccine in 1982 led to a sharp decline in the male-to-female birth ratio. Sen's essay had attributed the "missing women" to societal discrimination against girls and women in the form of the allocation of health, educational, and food resources. In April 2008, Oster released a working paper "Hepatitis B Does Not Explain Male-Biased Sex Ratios in China" in which she evaluated new data, which showed that her original research was incorrect. '' Freakonomics'' author Steven Levitt saw this as a sign of integrity. In a 2007 TED Talk, Oster discussed the spread of HIV in Africa, applying a cost-benefit analysis to the question of why African men have been slow to change their sexual behavior. Oster's work on television and female empowerment in India was featured in Steve Levitt's second book, '' SuperFreakonomics''.


Books

In her book, ''Expecting Better'', published in 2013, Oster criticizes conventional pregnancy customs, taboos and
mores Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...
. She discusses the data behind common pregnancy practices and argues that many of them are misleading. As of March 2019, the book has sold over 100,000 copies. A revised and updated version of the book was published in 2021. In the book, Oster argues against the general
rule of thumb In English language, English, the phrase ''rule of thumb'' refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associat ...
to avoid alcohol consumption while pregnant, contends that there is no evidence that (low) levels of alcohol consumption by pregnant women adversely affect their children. This claim, however, has drawn criticism from the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and others. Her second book, ''Cribsheet,'' was published in April 2019 and was a ''New York Times'' best seller. It evaluates and reviews the research on a variety of parenting topics relating to infants and toddlers, including breastfeeding, safe sleep guidelines, sleep training, and potty training. The week of April 28, 2019, ''Cribsheet'' was also the best selling book in
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
according to the ''Post''. Her third book, ''The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years,'' applies to school age children. A review discusses the relationship of her parenting approach to more permissive parenting ideas dating back to the pre-Reagan era. Oster suggests that parents run their families like firms in order to maximize their children's' advantage over others.


COVID-19 and schools

Oster was an advocate for opening schools during the
coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
epidemic, spearheading a project to collect data on the spread of coronavirus in schools, and appearing frequently in media discussing why schools should open. In early October 2020, she wrote an influential and much cited article in ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' entitled "Schools Aren't Super-Spreaders" which inspired numerous articles. Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021 ...
and the
CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
cited Oster's work as a reason to open schools during the pandemic. In August 2020, Oster launched a dashboard compiling information on the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Critics of Oster's dashboard said it had methodological problems that they believe undermine its usefulness. On May 18, 2021, Oster published another piece in ''The Atlantic'' titled "Your Unvaccinated Kid Is Like a Vaccinated Grandma", which generated much heated response. The controversy surrounds Oster use of vaccination as an individualistic risk-reward proposition, insinuating that unvaccinated kids are still relatively safe from COVID, and the lack of mention of kids being spreaders of the infections themselves. Critics pointed out such rhetoric may lead the lay audience to wrongly believe there is no urgent need to vaccinate. In September 2021, Oster launched the COVID-19 School Data Hub which includes information on virtual and in person status of schools across 31 states. According to ''The New York Times'', the data hub is "one of the most comprehensive efforts yet to document how schools operated during the pandemic." On October 31, 2022, ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' published an opinion piece written by Oster in which she called for "amnesty" following the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, citing the "tremendous uncertainty" surrounding topics such as the
virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...
, face masks,
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
, school closures and
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
s.


Personal life

Emily is the daughter of Sharon Oster and Ray Fair, both professors of economics at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. She married Jesse Shapiro, also an economist, in June 2006, and they have two children.


References


External links


Oster's research home page (Brown)

Emily Oster: What do we really know about the spread of AIDS?
TED, March 2007
The Future of Economics Isn't So Dismal
New York Times, January 10, 2007
Preventing HIV in Africa: Understanding Sexual Behavior Change
Video Interview
Interview with Emily Oster
External Medicine Podcast Interview 2021
Bad Moms with Emily Oster
Honestly with Bari Weiss Podcast 2023 {{DEFAULTSORT:Oster, Emily American women economists American health economists 1980 births Living people Harvard University alumni University of Chicago faculty Brown University faculty Place of birth missing (living people) American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American economists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers