Emily Oster
Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence and Professor of Economics
Emily Oster is a professor of economics. Prior to coming to Brown she was an associate professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research. She earned her BA and her PhD from Harvard, in 2002 and 2006, respectively.
Emily Oster’s research focuses on health and development economics. Her past work has covered issues of HIV and gender equality in health and survival. Her current work focuses on how individuals seek out, and react to, health information. She has several recent papers on Huntington Disease, a degenerative neurological disorder. In this context she explores health information-seeking and asks why individuals in the at-risk population seem resistant to informative genetic information about this disease. She uses a similar population to test whether knowledge of limited life expectancy affects incentives to invest in education and job training.
Oster’s current work covers infant mortality – exploring why the US has very high infant mortality rates relative to other developed countries – and diet behavior among diabetics.
"Weighting for External Validity" (with Isaiah Andrews). The National Bureau of Economic Research. (September 2017). doi: 10.3386/w23826
“Approaches and Costs for Sharing Clinical Research Data” (with Erin Wilhelm and Ira Shoulson). JAMA (Viewpoint, Feb 20, 2014).
“Limited Life Expectancy, Human Capital and Health Investments” (with E. Ray Dorsey and Ira Shoulson). American Economic Review, 103 (5): p. 1977-2002 (August 2013).
“Optimal Expectations and Limited Medical Testing: Evidence from Huntington's Disease” (with E. Ray Dorsey and Ira Shoulson). American Economic Review, 103 (2): p. 804-830 (April 2013).
“Do IT Service Centers Promote School Enrollment? Evidence from India” (with Bryce Millett). Journal of Development Economics, 104: 123-135 (September 2013).
“Knowledge of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act among individuals affected by Huntington disease” (with E. Ray Dorsey et al.). Clinical Genetics, 84: p. 251-257 (September 2013).
“Determinants of Technology Adoption: Private Value and Peer Effects in Menstrual Cup Take-Up” (with Rebecca Thornton). Journal of the European Economic Association, 10(6): p.1263-1293 (December, 2012).
“Routes of Infection: Exports and HIV Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10(5): p. 1025–1058 (October 2012).
MPA 2460 Economics for Public Policy
Econ 018D
Econ 2360
February 23, 2021 The Atlantic
Emily Oster predicts future months of the pandemic in this article stating, "People will slowly expand the social world that they engage in, building [their] pod back up..."
February 22, 2021 The McMorrow Reports
This article cites Emily Oster's national K-12 COVID-19 database.
February 19, 2021 Reason
Emily Oster in Reason, "Education officials should be working toward making it a reality as soon as possible, not lashing out at parents who have come rely on a service they pay for."
February 17, 2021 Fox News
Emily Oster is cited in this article for a statement made about the CDC's requirements to reopen in-person schools: "Currently, few places in the United States meet the agency’s criteria."
February 16, 2021 MSNBC
Emily Oster appears in this interview to discuss the factors that make a school safe for reopening, including proper ventilation.
February 15, 2021 Washington Post
Emily Oster provides feedback on the 35-page strategy guide for the safe operating of schools and an 11-page review of the science released by the CDC.
February 15, 2021 New York Times
Emily Oster penned this article on how a combination of science-based guidelines from the CDC and other preventative measures could allow for in-person K-12 school this fall.
1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Watch on Watson's YouTube channel.
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Watch the conversation on Watson's YouTube channel.