Examine individual changes

'{{short description|American economist}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Emily Oster | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|02|14}} | birth_place =[[New Haven, Connecticut]] | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | nationality = American | other_names = | occupation = Professor <br> Author | period = | known_for = | title = | boards = | spouse = [[Jesse Shapiro]] | partner = | children = 2 | parents = [[Sharon Oster]] and [[Ray Fair]] | relatives = | awards = | website = | education = [[Harvard University]] | alma_mater = | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = | era = | discipline = | sub_discipline = | workplaces = [[University of Chicago]]<br>[[Brown University]] | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | notable_works = ''Expecting Better'', ''Cribsheet'', ''The Family Firm'' | notable_ideas = | influenced = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Emily Fair Oster''' (born February 14, 1980)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LmphDgAAQBAJ&pg=RA3-PA257|title=Economics: The Definitive Encyclopedia from Theory to Practice [4 volumes]|last=Dieterle|first=David A.|date=2017-03-27|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313397080|language=en|page=257}}</ref> is an American economist and bestselling author.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/expecting-better-author-emily-oster-on-new-book-cribsheet-early-parenting.html|title=Is This the Millennial Parent Book?|last=Green|first=Jaime|date=2019-04-23|website=The Cut|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> After receiving a B.A. and Ph.D. from [[Harvard University|Harvard]] in 2002 and 2006 respectively, Oster taught at the [[University of Chicago Booth School of Business]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/oster|title=Emily Oster {{!}} Watson Institute|website=Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> She later moved to [[Brown University]], where she is Professor of Economics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/economics/news/2015-01/friedman-oster-and-shapiro-join-brown-economics-department|title=Friedman, Oster and Shapiro join Brown Economics Department {{!}} Economics Department at Brown University|website=www.brown.edu|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Dana|date=2021-06-22|title=She Fought to Reopen Schools, Becoming a Hero and a Villain|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/us/emily-oster-school-reopening.html|access-date=2021-06-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her research interests span from [[development economics]] and [[health economics]] to research design and experimental methodology. Her research has received exposure among non-economists through ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', the ''[[SuperFreakonomics]]'' [[bestseller]] book, and her 2007 [[TED Talk]], among other media sources. She is the author of three books, ''Expecting Better, The Family Firm''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Get Your Family Running More Smoothly With Tricks From Running Small Businesses : Life Kit|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/08/06/1025447008/emily-oster-the-family-firm-decision-making-parenting|access-date=2021-09-03|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref>'','' and ''Cribsheet'', which discuss a data-driven approach to decision-making in pregnancy and parenting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/19/pregnant-and-disputing-the-doctor/|title=Pregnant, and Disputing the Doctor|last=Louis|first=Catherine Saint|date=2013-08-19|website=Well|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> ==Early life== Oster is the daughter of two economists, [[Sharon Oster]] and [[Ray Fair]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/10244879/Drop-the-baby-talk.html|title=Drop the baby talk|last=Hoby|first=Hermione|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2013-08-20|access-date=2019-04-05|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> When she was two years old, Oster's parents noticed that she talked to herself in her crib after they left her room. They placed a tape recorder in her room in order to find out what she was saying, and passed the tapes on to a linguist and psychologist they were friends with. Analysis of Oster's speech showed that her language was much more complex when she was alone than when interacting with adults. This led to her being the subject of a series of academic papers which were collectively published as a compendium in 1989 titled ''[[Narratives from the Crib]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674023635|title=Narratives from the Crib — Katherine Nelson {{!}} Harvard University Press|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> The book was reprinted in 2006, with a foreword by Oster.<ref name="women">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2119402/|title=The Search for 100 Million Missing Women|last1=Dubner|first1=Stephen J.|last2=Levitt|first2=Steven D.|year=2005|publisher=Slate|access-date=2006-10-15}}</ref> ==Career== Oster's research focuses generally on development economics and health. In 2005, Oster published a dissertation for her economics Ph.D. from Harvard University, which suggested that the unusually high ratio of men to women in China was partially due to the effects of the hepatitis B virus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121138448983510857|title=Economist Scraps Hepatitis Theory On China's 'Missing Women'|last=Lahart|first=Justin|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-04}}</ref> "[[Hepatitis B]] and the Case of the Missing Women,"<ref name="phd">{{cite web | title=Oster's Ph.D dissertation on 'Missing Women' | year=2005 | publisher=Journal of Political Economy | url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~eoster/hepb.pdf | access-date=2007-08-01 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703224905/http://home.uchicago.edu/~eoster/hepb.pdf | archive-date=2007-07-03 }}</ref><ref name="women"/> pointed to findings that suggested areas with high Hep B rates tended to have higher male-to female birth ratios. Oster argued that the fact that Hep B can cause a woman to conceive male children more often than female, accounted for a bulk of the "missing women" in [[Amartya Sen]]'s 1990 essay, "[[More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing]]."<ref>Sen, Amartya, "More Than 100 Million Womer Are Missing, The New York Review of Books, Vol.37 No. 20 {{cite web |url=http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/Sen100M.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504072819/http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/Sen100M.html |archive-date=2013-05-04 }}</ref> Oster noted that the use of Hep B vaccine in 1982 led to a sharp decline in the male-to-female birth ratio.<ref name="women" /> Sen's essay had attributed the "missing women" to societal discrimination against girls and women in the form of the allocation of health, educational, and food resources.<ref name="women" /> In April 2008, Oster released a working paper "Hepatitis B Does Not Explain Male-Biased Sex Ratios in China" in which she evaluated new data, which showed that her original research was incorrect.<ref name="revision">{{cite web | title=Hepatitis B Does Not Explain Male-Biased Sex Ratios in China | year=2008 | url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~eoster/hbvnotecon.pdf | access-date=2008-05-21 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118130724/http://home.uchicago.edu/~eoster/hbvnotecon.pdf | archive-date=2010-01-18 }}</ref> [[Freakonomics]] author [[Steven Levitt]] saw this as a sign of integrity.<ref>{{cite web |first=Steven D. |last=Levitt |url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/an-academic-does-the-right-thing/ |title=An Academic Does the Right Thing |work=Freakonomics: The hidden side of everything |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=26 November 2012}}</ref> In a 2007 [[TED (conference)|TED Talk]], Oster discussed the spread of HIV in Africa, applying a cost-benefit analysis to the question of why African men have been slow to change their sexual behavior.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2009/07/got_a_riddle_ask_economist_emi.html|title=Got A Riddle? Ask Economist Emily Oster|last=Conway|first=Laura|date=July 28, 2009|work=Planet Money: The economy explained|publisher=npr|access-date=26 November 2012}}</ref> Oster's work on television and female empowerment in India was featured in [[Steven Levitt|Steve Levitt]]'s second book, "[[SuperFreakonomics]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/11/17/superfreakonomics-steven-levitt-stephen-dubner-opinions-book-review-richard-robb.html#44e3556930e1|title=Extreme Economics|last=Robb|first=Richard|date=18 November 2009|access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref> ==Books== In her book, ''[[Expecting Better]]'', Oster discusses the data behind common pregnancy "rules" and argues many of them are misleading.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://freakonomics.com/2013/09/03/emily-oster-answers-your-pregnancy-questions/|title=Emily Oster Answers Your Pregnancy Questions|last=Levitt|first=Steven D.|date=2013-09-03|website=Freakonomics|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> On the guideline of avoiding alcohol consumption during pregnancy, she argues that there is no evidence that (low) levels of alcohol consumption by pregnant women adversely affect their children.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://time.com/4081343/no-alcohol-during-pregnancy/ | title='No Alcohol' During Pregnancy Is Just Another Shame Battle in the Mommy Wars | work=Time | date=21 October 2015 | access-date=14 March 2016 | author=Oster, Emily}}</ref> This claim, however, has drawn criticism from the [[National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nofas.org/emily_oster/|title=Emily Oster's Alcohol and Pregnancy Advice is Deeply Flawed and Harmful|date=16 August 2013|work=NOFAS|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315204840/https://www.nofas.org/2013/08/16/emily_oster/|archive-date=15 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://depts.washington.edu/fasdpn/pdfs/astley-oster.pdf|title=The Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Right—Do NOT Drink while Pregnant|work=University of Washington|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> As of March 2019, the book has sold over 100,000 copies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BuzOH5QgBKD/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/profemilyoster/1996001175022867075 |archive-date=2021-12-25 |url-access=registration|title=Emily Oster on Instagram: "Guess what? #ExpectingBetter has officially sold over 100,00 copies! 🎉 I'm so grateful and excited for the new journey to come with…"|website=Instagram|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Her second book, ''Cribsheet,'' was published in April 2019 and was a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|New York Times bestseller]]''.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/79052-the-science-of-parenting-pw-talks-with-emily-oster.html|title=The Science of Parenting: PW Talks with Emily Oster|last=Boretz|first=Adam|date=18 January 2019|access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/232809/emily-oster|title=Emily Oster {{!}} Penguin Random House|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> It evaluates and reviews the research on a variety of parenting topics relating to infants and toddlers, including breastfeeding, safe sleep guidelines, sleep training, and potty training.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a27206033/potty-training-age-cribsheet-emily-oster/ |title=The Data Driven Parenting Book You Need|last=LaScala|first=Marisa|date=23 April 2019|access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2019-04-23/cribsheet|title=In 'Cribsheet,' a Brown economist debunks long-held parenting myths|last=Kimball|first=Jill|date=2019-04-23|website=Brown University|language=en|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> The week of April 28, 2019, ''Cribsheet'' was also the best selling book in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC]] according to the [[The Washington Post|''Post'']].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/best-sellers/washington-dc-hardcover-nonfiction/|title=Washington bestsellers: Hardcover nonfiction|date=2019-04-28|work=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-05-04}}</ref> ==Personal life== Emily is the daughter of [[Sharon Oster]] and [[Ray Fair]] both professors of economics at [[Yale University]]. She married [[Jesse Shapiro]], also an economist,<ref name="Shapiro">{{cite web | title=Jesse Shapiro | year=2006 | publisher=University of Chicago | url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~jmshapir/ | access-date=2006-10-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105030913/http://home.uchicago.edu/~jmshapir/ | archive-date=2006-11-05 | url-status=dead }}</ref> in June 2006.<ref name="married">{{cite news | title=Emily Oster and Jesse Shapiro | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/fashion/weddings/18oste.html?pagewanted=all/ | access-date=2007-12-31 | date=2006-06-18}}</ref> == COVID-19 and schools == Oster has been an advocate for opening schools during the [[COVID-19 pandemic|coronavirus]] epidemic, spearheading a project to collect data on the spread of coronavirus in schools,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brown University Professor Emily Oster and Qualtrics Partner with School Superintendents and Principals Associations to Launch the National COVID-19 School Response Dashboard|url=https://www.qualtrics.com/news/national-covid-education-dashboard/|access-date=2021-02-02|website=Qualtrics|language=en}}</ref> and appearing frequently in media discussing why schools should open. In early October 2020 she wrote an influential and much cited article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' entitled "Schools Aren't Super-Spreaders" which inspired numerous articles.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Oster|first=Emily|date=2020-10-09|title=Schools Aren't Super-Spreaders|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/|access-date=2021-02-02|website=The Atlantic|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=McGowan|first=Dan McGowan|date=|title=Meet the Brown University economist who argues that K-12 schools aren't super-spreaders of the coronavirus - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/13/metro/meet-brown-university-economist-who-argues-that-k-12-schools-arent-super-spreaders-coronavirus/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-02|website=BostonGlobe.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Oster|first=Emily|date=2020-09-28|title=Opinion {{!}} What Parents Need to Know About School Coronavirus Case Data|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/opinion/schools-coronavirus.html|access-date=2021-02-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Secretary of Education [[Betsy DeVos]] and the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] cited Oster's work as a reason to open schools during the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web|last=DeVos|first=Betsy|date=|title="It's now October. We are starting to get an evidence-based picture of how school reopenings and remote learning are going… the evidence is pointing in one direction. Schools do not, in fact, appear to be major spreaders of COVID-19." @ProfEmilyOster https://theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/|url=https://twitter.com/betsydevosed/status/1321913545697710082?lang=es|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=@BetsyDeVosED}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=CDC director cites this website to back in-school learning. Its designer calls that 'bananas'. (interview with Emily Oster) {{!}} Watson Institute|url=https://watson.brown.edu/news/2020/cdc-director-cites-website-back-school-learning-its-designer-calls-bananas-interview-emily|access-date=2021-02-02|website=Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs|language=en}}</ref> In August 2020, Oster launched a dashboard compiling information on the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Critics of Oster's dashboard have said it has methodological problems that they believe undermine its usefulness.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Rachel M.|date=2020-10-28|title=Why Reopening Schools Has Become the Most Fraught Debate of the Pandemic|url=https://prospect.org/enwiki/api/content/89b4aab8-18a4-11eb-b096-1244d5f7c7c6/|access-date=2021-02-02|website=The American Prospect|language=en-us}}</ref> In September 2021, Oster launched the Covid-19 School Data Hub which includes information on virtual and in person status of schools across 31 states. According to ''The New York Times'', the data hub "one of the most comprehensive efforts yet to document how schools operated during the pandemic."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Dana|date=2021-09-15|title=Emily Oster, the Brown economist, is launching a new data hub on schools and the pandemic.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/education/emily-oster-covid-data-schools.html|access-date=2021-09-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.brown.edu/research/projects/oster/ Oster's research home page (Brown)] *[http://www.ted.com/talks/emily_oster_flips_our_thinking_on_aids_in_africa Emily Oster: What do we really know about the spread of AIDS?] [[TED (conference)|TED]], March 2007 *[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/business/10leonhardt.html?ex=157680000&en=fa3881ee19f13f8c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink The Future of Economics Isn't So Dismal] New York Times, January 10, 2007 *[http://research.uchicago.edu/highlights/item.php?id=211 Preventing HIV in Africa: Understanding Sexual Behavior Change] Video Interview *{{worldcat id|lccn-no2007-2103}} *[https://externalmedicinepodcast.com/emily-oster/ Interview with Emily Oster] External Medicine Podcast Interview 2021 {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Oster, Emily}} [[Category:American women economists]] [[Category:1980 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:University of Chicago faculty]] [[Category:Brown University faculty]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:American women non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American economists]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American women writers]]'