George Washington University’s Barry Chiswick Awarded Prestigious 2011 IZA Prize in Labor Economics
Jul 21, 2011
WASHINGTON – Barry R. Chiswick, chair of GW’s Department of Economics in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the 2011 IZA Prize in Labor Economics for his fundamental contributions to the economic analysis of migration. The IZA Prize honors the work of two exceptional scholars who have greatly advanced our understanding of some of the most important questions in modern labor market research.
With his groundbreaking work, Dr. Chiswick set the stage for assessing migration flows and immigrant assimilation, as well as the consequences of immigration for the labor markets and welfare systems of host countries. His work provided researchers and policy-makers with the necessary instruments to study some of the most pressing questions in public policy. Dr. Chiswick pioneered the economic analysis of immigration with his seminal 1978 paper in the Journal of Political Economy, “The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-Born Men”. Putting human capital in the center of the measurement of immigrant earnings, the paper provided the framework for much of the subsequent research on immigrant adjustment.
Dr. Chiswick has also written extensively on language proficiency and its effects on migrant assimilation. He developed a theoretical framework in which the acquisition of language can be analyzed, and has subsequently tested the model using data from labor markets in numerous countries. He has addressed a wide range of essential questions regarding the determinants of language proficiency, and the impact of language ability on migrants’ labor market success. Dr. Chiswick’s 2007 book “The Economics of Language” (co-authored by Paul W. Miller) provides an encompassing overview of the most important results from their research. The book has contributed to a better understanding of the theory, conditions and consequences of language acquisition and the processes of migrant integration as a whole.
A sound understanding of problems in labor economics has proven ever more important in light of the adjustment processes that are currently taking place in the international labor markets. In order to account for this trend, the Institute for the Study of Labor - with generous support from the Deutsche Post Foundation - has created the IZA Prize in Labor Economics. This annual prize is awarded for outstanding academic achievement in the field of labor economics. It is meant to stimulate research that tries to find answers to the important labor market policy questions of our time.
In the heart of the nation's capital with additional programs in Virginia, the George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. The university offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 130 countries.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jill Sankey - 202-994-6466 - jpsankey@gwu.edu
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