James P. Smith
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Education
Overview
Biography
James P. Smith holds the Distinguished Chair in Labor Markets and Demographic Studies at the RAND Corporation. He is currently principal investigator for the New Immigrant Survey, a cost-effective survey that yields adequate sample size of the foreign-born, has known sampling properties, permits longitudinal analyses, and can answer policy questions of particular relevance to immigration. He has been an invited speaker before the President's Initiative on Race in Phoenix, the Federal Reserve Board of Los Angeles, and the Prime Minister and members of Parliament of New Zealand, among many others. Smith has twice received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Merit Award, the most distinguished honor NIH grants to a researcher. In 2009, Smith received the Ulysses Medal from University College Dublin. Smith received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.
Research Focus
Recent Projects
- Childhood health histories
- Work disability
- Immigrants and the labor market
- Immigrants and the cost of medical care
- Household saving and retirement
Selected Publications
James P. Smith, "The Impact of Childhood Health on Adult Labor Market Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(3):478-489, 2009
James P. Smith, "Nature and Causes of Trends in Male Diabetes Prevalence, Undiagnosed Diabetes, and the Socioeconomic Status Health Gradient," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(33):13225-1323, 2007
James P. Smith, "The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Health over the Life-Course," Journal of Human Resources, 42(4):739-764, 2007
James P. Smith, A. Kapteyn and A. vanSoest, "Vignettes and Self-Reported Work Disability in the US and The Netherlands," American Economic Review, 97(1):461-473, 2007
James P. Smith, "Disease and Disadvantage in the United States and in England," Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 295(17):2037-2045, 2006
James P. Smith, "Immigrants and the Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, 24(2):203-233, 2006
James P. Smith and F.T. Juster, "The Decline in Household Saving and the Wealth Effect," The Review of Economics and Statistics, 88(1):20-27, 2006
James P. Smith and D. Goldman, "Socioeconomic Differences in the Adoption of New Medical Technologies," American Economic Review, 95(3):234-237, 2005
James P. Smith, "Assimilation Across the Latino Generations," American Economic Review, 93(2):315-319, 2003
James P. Smith and Guillermina Jasso, "The New Immigrant Pilot Survey (NIS-P): Overview and New Findings About U.S. Immigrants at Admission," Demography, 37(1):127-138, 2000
Honors & Awards
- Merit Award, 2005-2015, National Institutes of Health
- Fellow, Society of Labor Economists
- Ulysses Medal, University College Dublin
Economics
Biography
James P. Smith holds the Distinguished Chair in Labor Markets and Demographic Studies at the RAND Corporation. He has studied immigration, the economics of aging, black-white wages and employment, the effects of economic development on labor markets, wealth accumulation and savings behavior, the interrelation of health and economic status, and the effects of attrition and nonresponse in the National Institute on Aging's Health and Retirement Study (HRS). He is principal investigator for the New Immigrant Survey, which yields adequate sample size of the foreign-born, has known sampling properties, permits longitudinal analyses, and can answer policy questions of relevance to immigration. Smith chaired the Panel on Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration (1995–1997), the Committee on Population, and the Committee on National Statistics, National Academy of Sciences. Pertinent papers within the past ten years include “Enhancing the Quality of Data on Income: Recent Innovations from the HRS” in the Journal of Human Resources and “Measurement of Late-Life Income and Wealth” in the Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics. He has been an invited speaker before the President's Initiative on Race in Phoenix, the Federal Reserve Board of Los Angeles, and the Prime Minister and members of Parliament of New Zealand, among many others. Smith has twice received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Merit Award, the most distinguished honor NIH grants to a researcher. In 2009, Smith received the Ulysses Medal from University College Dublin. Smith received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.
Recent Projects
- Principal Investigator for The New Immigrant Survey, a cost-effective survey that yields adequate sample size of the foreign-born, has known sampling properties, permits longitudinal analyses, and can answer policy questions of particular relevance to imm
- Intergenerational financial transfers; health and economic status
- Housing price risk
- Home ownership and wealth
- Comparisons between the United States and other countries
Selected Publications
James P. Smith, "The Impact of Social Economic Status on Health over the Life-Course," Journal of Human Resources, 42(4):739-764, 2007
Arie Kapteyn, James P. Smith, and Arthur van Soest, "Vignettes and Self-Reported Work Disability in the US and The Netherlands," American Economic Review, 97(1):461-473, 2007
James Banks, Michael Marmot, Zoe Oldfield, James P. Smith, "Disease and Disadvantage in the United States and in England," JAMA (also response to letters from readers, JAMA), 295(16):1-9, 2006
James P. Smith, "Immigrants and the Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, 24(2):203-233, 2006
Dana Goldman and James P. Smith, "Socioeconomic Differences in the Adoption of New Medical Technologies," American Economic Review, 95(2):234-237, 2005
Honors & Awards
- Merit Award, 2005-2015, National Institutes of Health
- Fellow, Society of Labor Economists
- Ulysses Medal, University College Dublin
Commentary
One More Embrace, Then Slam the Door — May 1, 2005
Publications
Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States - 2011
Health Outcomes and Socio-Economic Status Among the Elderly in China: Evidence from the CHARLS Pilot - 2010
Comparing Life Satisfaction - 2009
Introduction to the JHR's Special Issue on Cross-National Comparative Research Using Panel Surveys - 2003
Understanding Differences in Household Financial Wealth between the United States and Great Britain - 2003
The Changing Skill of New Immigrants to the United States: Recent Trends and Their Determinants - 2000
Inheritances and Bequests - 1997
Aviation Accident Litigation - 1989
Narrowing the Wage Gap Between Blacks and Whites... A Look at Forty Years of Economic Progress... - 1986
Who Gets Ahead? A Review - 1981
A Critique of Tax Based Cost - 1975
Assets and Labor Supply - 1975
Multimedia
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Immigration Reform Gathers Steam
Jan 11, 2013
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Immigration Needs a Hybrid Fix — Oct 31, 2012