Dora L. Costa
Date: August 2007
Citizenship: USA
ADDRESS:
Department of Economics, E52-274C
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02142
(617) 253-2989
Fax: (617) 253-1330
costa@mit.edu
EDUCATION
University of Chicago, Ph.D. (economics), 1993
University of Chicago, M.A. (economics), 1988
University of California, Berkeley, B.A. (economics and mathematics), 1986
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor, MIT (July 1993-June 1997)
Ford Career Development Associate Professor, MIT (July 1997-June 2000)
Associate Professor with tenure, MIT (July 2000-)
Professor, MIT (July 2003-)
PUBLICATIONS - BOOKS
The Evolution of Retirement: An American Economic History 1880-1990. 1998. University of Chicago Press for NBER.
PUBLICATIONS - EDITED BOOKS
Health and Labor Force Participation Over the Life Cycle: Evidence from the Past. 2003. University of Chicago Press for NBER.PUBLICATIONS - PAPERS
"The Economics and Demography of Aging." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2007. 104: 13217-13218. "Race, Infectious Disease, and Arteriosclerosis." (joint with Lorens Helmchen and Sven Wilson) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2007. 104: 13219-13224. "Surviving Andersonville: The Benefits of Social Networks in POW Camps." (joint with Matthew Kahn) Forthcoming. American Economic Review. "Deserters, Social Norms, and Migration." (joint with Matthew Kahn) Forthcoming. Journal of Law and Economics. "Forging a New Identity: The Costs and Benefits of Diversity in Civil War Combat Units for Black Slaves and Freemen." (joint with Matthew Kahn) Journal of Economic History. 2006. 66(4): 936-62. "Becoming Oldest-Old: Evidence from Historial US Data." (joint with Joanna Lahey) Genus. 2005. 61(1): 125-6. "Causes of Improving Health and Longevity at Older Ages: A Review of the Explanations." Genus. 2005. 61(1): 21-38. "Race and Pregnancy Outcomes in the Twentieth Century: A Long-Term Comparison." Journal of Economic History. December 2004. 64(4): 1056-1086. "Changes in the Value of Life, 1940-1980." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn); Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. September 2004. 29(2): 159-80."Cowards and Heroes: Group Loyalty in the American Civil War." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn); Quarterly Journal of Economics. May 2003. 118(2): 519-548.
" The Measure of Man and Older Age Mortality: Evidence from the Gould Sample." Journal of Economic History. March 2004. 64(1): 1-23.
"Civic Engagement and Community Heterogeneity: An Economist's Perspective." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn); Perspectives on Politics. March 2003. 1(1)."Understanding the American Decline in Social Capital, 1952-1998." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn); Kyklos. Fasc. 1 2003. 56(1): 17-46.
"Understanding Mid-Life and Older Age Mortality Declines: Evidence from Union Army Veterans." Journal of Econometrics. January 2003. 112(1): 175-92.
"Changing Chronic Disease Rates and Long-term Declines in Functional Limitation Among Older Men." Demography. February 2002. 39(1): 119-138. "Estimating Real Income in the US from 1888 to 1994: Correcting CPI Bias Using Engel Curves." Journal of Political Economy. December 2001. 109(6): 1288-1310. "From Mill Town to Board Room: The Rise of Women's Paid Labor." Journal of Economic Perspectives. Fall 2000. 14(4): 101-122. "Aggregation, Rank, and Some Historical Engel Curves." Economics Letters. February 2001. 70(2): 183-186. "Power Couples: Changes in the Locational Choice of the College Educated, 1940-1990." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn), Quarterly Journal of Economics. November 2000. 115(4): 1287-1315.
"Hours of Work and the Fair Labor Standards Act: A Study of Retail and Wholesale Trade, 1938-1950." Industrial and Labor Relations Review. July 2000. 53(4): 648-664.
"Understanding the Twentieth Century Decline in Chronic Conditions Among Older Men." Demography. February 2000. 37(1): 53-72.
"The Wage and the Length of the Work Day: From the 1890s to 1991." Journal of Labor Economics. January 2000. 18(1): 156-181.
"A House of Her Own: Old Age Assistance and the Living Arrangements of Older Nonmarried Women." Journal of Public Economics. April 1999. 72(1): 39-59.
"Unequal at Birth: A Long-term Comparison of Income and Birth Weight." Journal of Economic History. December 1998, 58(4): 987-1009.
"Displacing the Family: Union Army Pensions and Elderly Living Arrangements." Journal of Political Economy. December 1997, 105(6): 1269-1292.
"A Theory of Technophysio Evolution, With Some Implications for Forecasting Population, Health Care Costs, and Pension Costs." (joint with Robert W. Fogel), Demography. February 1997, 34(1): 49-66.
"Pensions and Retirement: Evidence from Union Army Veterans." Quarterly Journal of Economics. May 1995, 110(2): 297-320. "Health and Labor Force Participation of Older Men, 1900-1991." Journal of Economic History., March 1996, 56(1): 62-89. "Agricultural Decline and The Secular Trend In Retirement Rates." Explorations in Economic History. October 1995, 32(4): 540-552. "Height, Weight, Wartime Stress, and Older Age Mortality: Evidence from the Union Army Records." Explorations in Economic History. October 1993, 30: 424-449. "Height, Wealth, and Disease Among the Native Born in the Rural, Antebellum North." Social Science History. Fall 1993, 17(3): 355-384.
PUBLICATIONS IN EDITED VOLUMES
"Why Were Older Men in the Past in Such Poor Health?" In David Cutler and David Wise, (Eds.), Health in Older Age: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability Among the Elderly. University of Chicago Press for NBER, Forthcoming. "Public Health and Mortality: What Can We Learn from the Past?" (joint with Matthew Kahn), In Alan J. Auerbach, David Card, and John M. Quigley (Eds), Poverty, the Distribution of Income, and Public Policy. Russell Sage Foundation, 2006."Long-Term trends in Health, Welfare, and Economics Growth in the United States." (joint with Richard H. Steckel), In R. Floud and R.H. Steckel (Eds), Health and Welfare During Industrialization.University of Chicago Press for NBER, 1997.
PUBLICATIONS - PROCEEDINGS
"Predicting Older Age Mortality Trends." (joint with Joanna Lahey) Journal of the European Economic Association. April-May 2005, 3(2-3). "The Rising Price of Nonmarket Goods." (joint with Matthew E. Kahn) American Economic Review. May 2003. "The Evolution of Retirement: Summary of a Research Project." American Economic Review. May 1998, 88(2): 232-236. "The Unequal Work Day: A Long-term View." American Economic Review. May 1998, 88(2): 330-334.
WORKING PAPERS
"Race and Older Age Mortality: Evidence from Union Army Veterans." NBER Working Paper No. 10902
WORK IN PROGRESS
Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War. joint with Matthew Kahn. "Do Social Networks Reduce the Negative Effects of Stress?" joint with Matthew Kahn.
ABANDONED WORKING PAPERS
"American Living Standards: Evidence from Recreational Expenditures." NBER Working Paper No. 7148. "Less of a Luxury: The Rise of Recreation Since 1888." NBER. Working Paper No. 6054. "The Changing Dynamics of Unemployment: Evidence from Civil War Pension Records." NBER/DAE Working Paper No. 51. "The Political Economy of State Provided Health Insurance in the Progressive Era: Evidence from California." NBER Working Paper No. 5328.
GRANTS
Principal Investigator, Environmental Stress, Social Networks, and Older Age Health and Mortality. NIH grant R01AG027960, Sept 1, 2007-Aug 31, 2012. Principal Investigator, Economic Causes and Consequences of Population Aging. NIH Conference Grant R13AG029059, 2006. Principal Investigator, Race and Health Across the Twentieth Century. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2003-2006.Principal Investigator, Older Age Health and Longevity: A Long-Term View. NIH grant R01 AG19637, 2002-2007.
Project Leader and Senior Investigator, Early Indicators of Later Work Levels, Disease, and Death, II. NIH grant AG10120, 2002-2007.
Principal Investigator, Health of Young Adults: Evidence, Causes, and Outcomes. NIH grant AG12658, 1995-2002.
Senior Investigator, Early Indicators of Later Work Levels, Disease, and Death, II. NIH grant AG10120, 1995-2001.
BOOK REVIEWS
Review of Mark Rosenzweig and Oded Stark (Eds), Handbook of Population and Family Economics for Journal of Economic History . March 1999. 59(1): 204-6.
Review of Patrick J. Kelly’s Creating A National Home: Building the Veterans’ Welfare State for EH.Net.
Review of Steven Sass’s The Promise of Private Pensions: The First Hundred Years for Journal of Economic History. June 1998, 58(2): 610-12.
Review of Richard Easterlin’s Growth Triumphant: The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective for EH.Net.
Review of John Komlos’s Stature, Living Standards, and Economics Development: Essays in Anthropometric History for Journal of Economics Literature. March 1996, 34(1): 173-174.
Review of George Emery’s Facts of Life: The Social Construction of Vital Statistics, Ontario 1869-1952 for Journal of Economic History. March 1995, 55(1): 201-203.
FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS
Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 2003-2004.
Economic History Association's Alice Hanson Jones Book Prize, 2000 for The Evolution of Retirement: An American Economic History, 1888-1998.
Visiting Scholar, Russell Sage Foundation, 1999-2000.
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, September 16, 1999-September 15, 2001.
TIAA-CREF's 1998 Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security for The Evolution of Retirement: An American Economic History, 1880-1990 .
NBER Aging Fellow, 1995-1996.
Economic History Association’s Allen Nevins Prize for outstanding dissertation in U.S. economic history, 1994.