Ronald Ehrenberg, the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics Emeritus at Cornell University’s ILR School, joins the podcast to talk with Princeton’s Orley Ashenfelter about the twists and turns that led to his being on the faculty at Cornell–and why industrial relations economists make great university administrators.

In this episode, Ehrenberg and Ashenfelter discuss: 

• A defining moment of his childhood that led to fear of failure–and how he moved past it.

• The nicest rejection letter Ehrenberg ever got, from Princeton’s Richard Lester.

• Ehrenberg’s dissertation at Northwestern, which faculty cautioned him not to pursue but ultimately got published in the American Economic Review.

• Ehrenberg’s early research modeling church attendance, which led to the development of Economics of Religion as a subfield within the discipline.

• Why Ehrenberg didn’t shy away from administrative roles at Cornell, and his founding of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute.

Ehrenberg earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1970 and joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1975. "The Work Goes On"—a podcast produced as Princeton's Industrial Relations Section (IR Section) celebrates its 100th anniversary—is an oral history of industrial relations and labor economics hosted by Princeton's Orley Ashenfelter.

Read the transcript of this interview:	https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/002-TWGO-Ron%20Ehrenberg%20episode%20transcript.pdf

References

Azzi, Corry and Ronald Ehrenberg. 1975. Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance. Journal of Political Economy, 83(1), 27-56. https://doi.org/10.1086/260305 

Ehrenberg, Ronald. 1977. Household Allocation of Time and Religiosity: Replication and Extension. Journal of Political Economy, 85(2), 415-423. https://doi.org/10.1086/260573

Labor Economics and the Economics of Higher Education: A Conversation with Ronald Ehrenberg

Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University, joins the podcast to talk to Princeton’s Orley Ashenfelter about growing up as an “inner city kid” in the Bronx, how her famous study on the impact of blind auditions at orchestras came to be, and her life’s work on “the single most important change in the labor force” for almost every country: women’s labor force participation.

In this episode, Goldin and Ashenfelter discuss: 

• Goldin’s upbringing in the Bronx and the role of several economists–including Fred Kahn, Sam Peltzman, Les Telser, Ron Coase, Gary Becker, and Bob Fogel–on her education and career.

• Goldin’s early research on slavery in the U.S. south and the economic costs of the U.S. civil war–as well as her famous study, conducted with Princeton’s Cecilia Rouse, on blind auditions and gender discrimination in orchestras.

• The evolution of her work on female labor force participation and gender inequalities in the labor force.

• The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s labor force participation. 

• Goldin’s experience as one of few female labor economists in the 1970s.

Goldin earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1972. She joined the faculty at Harvard in 1990, becoming the first woman to be tenured in the economics department. "The Work Goes On"—a podcast produced as Princeton's Industrial Relations Section (IR Section) celebrates its 100th anniversary—is an oral history of industrial relations and labor economics hosted by Princeton's Orley Ashenfelter.

Read the transcript of this interview:	https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/004-TWGO-Claudia%20Goldin%20episode%20transcript%202.0.pdf

References

Goldin, Claudia Dale. “Career & Family: Women's Century-Long Journey Toward Equity.” 
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021.

Goldin, Claudia Dale, and Lawrence F Katz. “The Race Between Education and Technology.” Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008.

Goldin, Claudia Dale. “Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women.” New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Claudia Goldin on her journey from the Bronx to Harvard–with groundbreaking research in between

Robert McKersie, Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT's Sloan School of Management,  joins the podcast to talk to Princeton’s Orley Ashenfelter about his path from being the son of an  International Workers of the World (IWW) member in Paterson, NJ to becoming one of the leading global experts on labor negotiations.

In this episode, McKersie and Ashenfelter discuss: 

• McKersie’s early academic career at the University of Chicago, where he worked with George Shultz, Joel Seidman, Al Rees, and Gregg Lewis.

• McKersie’s perspective on the recent railway workers labor negotiations.

• McKersie’s role in helping negotiate an agreement to end the culinary workers strike at Harvard in 2016.

• The importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and how it compares to the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

• McKersie’s latest book, “A Field in Flux.”

McKersie earned an MBA and a DBA from Harvard Business School in 1959. "The Work Goes On"—a podcast produced as Princeton's Industrial Relations Section (IR Section) celebrates its 100th anniversary—is an oral history of industrial relations and labor economics hosted by Princeton's Orley Ashenfelter.

Read the transcript of this interview:	https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/robert-mckersie-2023

• McKersie, Robert B. “A Field in Flux: Sixty Years of Industrial Relations.” Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.

• McKersie, Robert B. “A Decisive Decade: An Insider's View of the Chicago Civil Rights Movement During the 1960s.” Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2013.

• Kochan, Thomas A., Adrienne E. Eaton, and Robert B. McKersie. “Healing Together: The Labor-Management Partnership at Kaiser Permanente.” Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013.

Robert McKersie on his lifelong study of labor negotiations and the state of unions today

Richard Freeman, who holds the Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University, joins the podcast to talk to Princeton’s Orley Ashenfelter about the early influences of Martin Segal and John Dunlap on his career, who pursues careers in STEM and why, and whether we can expect inequality at the bottom of the wage distribution, which shrunk during the pandemic for the first time in recent history, to continue its decline.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/006-TWGO-Richard%20Freeman%20podcast%20transcript_0.pdf

For more details about this episode visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/richard-freeman-2023

Richard Freeman on the state of unions in the U.S., why few Americans pursue STEM degrees, and more.

James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, joins the podcast to discuss graduate school at Princeton, why an often overlooked paper on the effect of civil rights laws is his favorite, and much more.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-04/010-TWGO-Heckman%20transcript.pdf

For more details about this episode, visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/james-heckman-2023

James Heckman on his early academic career and the work that makes him proud

Reuben Gronau, Professor of Economics Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, joins the podcast to talk about what inspired his interest in labor economics and his many contributions to Israeli economic policy.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-04/011-TWGO-Gronau_transcript.pdf 

For more details about this episode, visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/reuben-gronau-2023

Reuben Gronau on his many contributions to Israeli economic policy

Michael Piore, the David W. Skinner Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joins the podcast to discuss his wide-ranging expertise across different areas of labor economics, including the function of internal labor markets, the labor market implications of immigration and migration, manufacturing and product innovation, and the social forces and structures that affect economic activity.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/014-TWGO-Piore_transcript.pdf

For more details about this episode, visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/michael-piore-2023

After a summer break, we will resume in September, when Orley’s next guest is Bob Hall.

Michael Piore on internal labor markets, immigration, innovation, and more

Bob Gregory, Professor Emeritus at the Research School of Economics at Australian National University, joins the podcast to discuss how getting polio at fourteen years old affected his life trajectory, why he fell in love with economics, and his many contributions as a public servant.

Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2024-02/024-TWGO-Gregory_transcript.pdf

For more details on this episode, visit:
https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/bob-gregory-2024

Bob Gregory on how polio changed his life–and inspired him as a student

Robert Flanagan, the Matsushita Professor of International Labor Economics and Policy Analysis Emeritus at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, joins the podcast to discuss what he’s learned both studying and working for unions, how his time in a musician’s union inspired him to research financial difficulties in the performing arts, and more.

Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2024-03/025-TWGO-Flanagan_transcript-edit2.pdf

For more details on this episode, visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/robert-flanagan-2024

Robert Flanagan on boosting union membership and why orchestras struggle financially

Barry Chiswick, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University, joins the podcast to discuss his wealth of research on immigration and what he learned studying Jewish Americans in the labor market.

Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://irs100.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/2024-03/026-TWGO-Chiswick_transcript.pdf

For more details on this episode, visit: https://irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts/barry-chiswick-2024

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