Professor Emeritus Gordon Anderson has won the Kendrick Prize. The prize, awarded by the IARIW Council and Editorial Board, recognizes the best paper published in The Review of Income and Wealth the previous calendar year. Professor Anderson’s paper, “Has Canada’s 21st Century Grand Gender Convergence Stalled? Male and Female Income and Human Resource Stock Distributions Viewed Through an Equal Opportunity Lens,” examines appearances of a stall in Canada of what Claudia Goldin called the “Grand Gender Convergence.”
“In essence the paper reveals the fact that, while male and female incomes appear to be moving closer together over time (i.e. converging), their respective human resource stocks (the human capital i.e. education and cumulated experience) are moving further apart (i.e. diverging) so that at every income strata, females will have on average more education and experience than the corresponding males in that strata and that gap is increasing over time,” Anderson explained in an email.
Anderson retired from the University of Toronto in 2018 having spent 30 years teaching at both the St. George and UTM campuses with Professor Varouj Aivazian calculating that Anderson had taught over 30,000 students of statistics, econometrics and empirical welfare economics during his career. Anderson’s research, however, has not stalled.
“The prize means a great deal to me because gender differences are a particular focus of my recent and ongoing research on economic wellbeing, health and human resources,” he said. “Through the course of three marriages, I’ve ended up with 5 children and stepchildren of whom 4 are female, those in turn have provided me with nine grandchildren of whom seven are female. You can bet your bottom bippy I’ve got to attend to equality of opportunity from a female perspective!”
When asked if he had any advice for those in the early stages of their academic careers, Anderson drew on his breadth of experience.
“If I were to be so presumptuous as to give advice to junior faculty and PhD students regarding longevity in research, I would tell them, in the longer run, to work on things that they really care about rather than things that they think would simply get them publications,” Anderson said. “Of course, in the early-stage career path it is publications that matter pure and simple, but it always helps if you have a real concern and passion for the issue at hand.”
Economics faculty at both UTM and St. George were delighted to hear of Anderson’s Kendrick Prize.
“Gordon Anderson is a remarkable example to young economists. He stays current and engaged with his field and continues to publish meaningful work while enjoying his children and grandchildren,” said Professor Ettore Damiano, Chair of the Department of Economics. “I am very pleased to see the IARIW recognize his work and award him this honour.”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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