Steven D. Levitt

“The Rogue Economist”Woogeon Kim

H-Econ Period 4 - Gluck

Who is he? Steven D. Levitt, 42, is an influential

economist, who is most well known forhis first book Freakonomics, co-authored with Stephen J. Dubner.

Recipient of the 2004 John Bates ClarkMedal (given to the most influentialeconomist under the age of 40)

Named one of the “100 People WhoShape Our World” by Time magazine

Co-author of the New York Times“Freakonomics Blog”

Currently holds the position as theWilliam B. Ogden DistinguishedService Professor of Economics at theUniversity of Chicago

Director of the Becker Center onChicago Price Theory at the University.

http://www.portroids.com/Y3/Steven_D_Levitt.htm

http://www.cherryhillbooks.com/titles/leadership-EH.php

http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/home.html

The Questions He Tries to Answer

What motivates people and how do they get what theydesire?

In Freakonomics, Levitt does not provide a list ofeconomic principles and theories, but instead providescase studies to discuss patterns of behavior in relation tothe study of economics. Examples of case studies: relationship between abortion

rates and crime rates.

“Economics is, at root, thestudy of incentives.”

-Steven D. Levitt

http://www.globalleadersevents.com/ftp/images/cor.pro/photo-download/Steven%20Levitt.jpg

Levitt states that incentivesultimately should get people to“do more of a good thing” asopposed to “a bad thing.”

Levitt’s Case Study on Day CareCenters

The Problem: In Israel, many parents are neglecting day carepolicies and picking up their children after 4PM.

The Proposed Solution: Day care studies, participating inLevitt’s studies on behavior, instigated a system of fining tardyparents.

The Expected Result: The parents would arrive on time at 4PMto avoid being fined.

The Actual Result: The percentage of tardy parents shot upafter the installation of the fine system.

The Conclusion: There is a need to divide up incentives intothree main categories consisting of economic, social, andmoral incentives. In this case, the moral incentive outweighedthe economic.

His Most Controversial Work: “The Impact ofLegalized Abortion on Crime” by Levitt and John

Donohue

http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/mlm/paton_fig1.JPG

Impact of Legalized Abortion onCrime

Levitt’s Proposal: Data on the issue seems to confirmthat legalization of abortion results in nearly half thereduction in crime that occurs.

Sociological Implications: The paper implied that“unwanted children” are much more likely to commitcrimes as opposed to “wanted” children.

Controversy: Christopher Foote and Christopher Goetzissued in their report that many variables that affectcrime rates that cannot be translated into data wereignored in Levitt and Donohue’s paper.

In Conclusion… Levitt, continues to as important questions about the way we

as a society behave through his studies on human behavior. His next book, Superfreakonomics, will come out this October

and include new studies on terrorism, prostititution, andglobal warming.

Malcom Gladwell stated that Levitt is the only “expert” he hasmet who seems like he would be willing to alter his beliefs ifpresented with convincing evidence and research.

Because of his continued radical case studies, Steven Levitt hasoften been called a “rogue economist.”

Works Cited"Abortion, crime and econometrics." The Economist (2005). Print.This article provides a critical analysis of Levitt and Donohue's paper

on abortion in relation to crime rates.Dubner, Stephen J. "The Economist of Odd Questions Inside the Astonishingly Curious Mind of Steven D. Levitt." The New York Times

Magazine 2003. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. <http://stephenjdubner.com/journalism/economist.html>.This article is an in-depth profile ofSteven Levitt. Therefore it gives both a detailed and accessible description of Levitt's thoughts/principles while also giving adescription of his character.

Foote, Christopher L., and Christopher F. Goetz. "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime: Comment." Working Papers (2008): 1-33. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. <http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/wp/wp2005/wp0515.pdf>.

Gladwell, Malcom. "100 People Who Shape Our World: Steven Levitt." TIME. Time Inc., 30 Apr. 2006. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1186920,00.html>.This article is useful in that it provides a succinct analysison the influence of Steven Levitt in the field of economics. It provides a possible focus/controlling idea for my paper in the way itclearly outlines what Steven Levitt has achieved.

Levitt, Steven D., and Mark Duggan. "Winning Isn稚 Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling." The American Economic Review 92.5(2002): 1594-605. The University of Chicago. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.<http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DugganLevitt2002.pdf>.This article by Mark Duggan and Steven Levitt addressesbehavioral patterns (decision making) in economics. Specifically it discusses the role that corruption holds in real-worldeconomics through the case of sumo-wrestling and the prevalence of corruption throughout that field.

Levitt, Steven D. "Juvenile Crime and Punishment." The Journal of Political Economy 106.6 (1998): 1156-185. JSTOR database. Web.22 Sept. 2009. <http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittJuvenileCrimePunishment1998.pdf>.Much of Steven Levitt'sstudies concentrate on the nature of politics and crime in relation to economics and sociology. This article is one where StevenLevitt discusses juvenile crime, using the case of juvenile crime as a medium to express his thoughts on crime and sociology.Although this article does not directly address Levitt's studies as an economist, the article does illustrate how much of what Levittresearches has a societal meaning.

Simon, Scott. "'Freakonomics': Musings of a 'Rogue Economist'" Npr.org. PBS, 9 Apr. 2005. Web. 27 Sept. 2009.<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4583937>.This article discusses specific arguments Steven D. Levittmakes in his book "Freakonomics".

"Steven D. Levitt." The University of Chicago, 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. <uchicago.edu>.Brief biography on Steven D. Levitt from theUniversity of Chicago.