James Heckman

Nobel laureate economist known for the Heckman correction and pioneering work in econometrics and early childhood education.

James Joseph Heckman is an American economist and Nobel laureate who serves as the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

School of thought

Chicago School of Economics

Birth name

James Joseph Heckman

Born

19 April 1944

Birthplace

Chicago, Illinois, US

Institution

University of Chicago
University of Southern California
Columbia University
Chinese University of Hong Kong

Field

Microeconomics

Alma mater

Colorado College (BA); Princeton University (PhD)

Doctoral advisors

Harry H. Kelejian; Stanley Warren Black

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He earned a B.A. in mathematics from Colorado College in 1965 and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1971.^[2] He is noted for developing the Heckman correction, a method for addressing selection bias in quantitative analysis.^[3] He showed that conscientiousness, rather than high IQ, is what leads to financial success.^[4] Inequality, human development, and early childhood education economics are the main subjects of Heckman's current research.^[4]

More than 70 doctoral students have had Heckman as their dissertation advisor; among them are Carolyn Heinrich and George Borjas.^[5] The Journal of Political Economy currently lists Heckman as a co-editor.^[6]

What the cited sources add

The University of Chicago Department of Economics profile states Heckman is also working on abduction as a tool for causal discovery.^[7] His professional biography notes he launched the Center for the Economics of Human Development in May 2014.^[2] The same source identifies him as founding director of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group.^[2] The Notable Names Database lists his religion as agnostic and his sexual orientation as straight.^[3]

That database also records his children: son Jonathan, a physicist born in 1982, and daughter Alma.^[3] His University of Chicago profile states he has received the Chinese Government Friendship Award among other honors.^[7]

References

Wikipedia, "James Heckman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Professor James Heckman"; "Prof. Heckman's University of Chicago Department of Economics Profile" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
"Professor James Heckman". facts only, no text reused. cehd.uchicago.edu
"James J. Heckman", The Notable Names Database, 2008. facts only, no text reused. nndb.com
Wikipedia, "James Heckman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Flam, "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?", Bloomberg, December 22, 2016; Flam, "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?", Bloomberg, December 22, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "James Heckman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "James J Heckman CV", jenni.uchicago.edu (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "James Heckman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "APS Member History", search.amphilsoc.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Prof. Heckman's University of Chicago Department of Economics Profile". facts only, no text reused. economics.uchicago.edu

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article James Heckman (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.