Andrew Proctor’s dissertation is entitled, “Essays on human capital and econometric methods” and consists of four essays. The title of Andrew’s dissertation alludes to the dual focuses of his research:  one topical (the study of “human capital”), and another methodological (statistical approaches to economics research).

The main topic within economics that Andrew’s research concerns is the field of human capital studies.  In the words of Nobel laureate Gary Becker, human capital is the “resources in people,” such as their knowledge, skills, and health. Andrew’s dissertation contributes to the field of human capital research through a pair of studies which investigate the determinants of human capital investments as well as the labor market returns to cognitive ability.

The second major theme of Andrew’s research is a thoughtful consideration of statistical methods for economics research.  This emphasis can be found throughout Andrew’s dissertation, but is especially evident in the dissertation’s final two chapters, each making contributions that aim to improve estimation and inference in economics.

Andrew’s research was completed together with other researchers from across Sweden, and benefited from extensive research collaboration at both Stockholm University and Duke University.  His work was supported by generous funding from the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation as well as the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Educational Policy (IFAU).