另類經濟學 稀奇古怪的問題讓讀者大樂

出處：http://bbs3.nsysu.edu.tw/txtVersion/boards/sis/M.1114132358.A.html

編譯朱邦賢／路透紐約19日電

《另類經濟學；一位無賴經濟學家探究每件事不為人知的一面》中

，想出一大堆稀奇古怪的問題問讀者，看得讀者樂趣無窮。

結果這本由威廉．馬羅出版公司發行的新書上周剛上市，馬上榮登

亞馬遜網站暢銷書排行榜。

利瓦伊特的問題包括：為什麼大部分毒販都和母親一起住在家裡？三

K黨和房地產經紀人有何共同點？等等。諸如此類反傳統的問題，

都可以在利瓦伊特的新書中找到答案。

利瓦伊特說：「書中有許多具有挑戰性的問題。」利瓦伊特系在記者杜

布諾的協助下完成這本書。他說：「本書對人極盡嬉笑怒罵之能事。」

大部分毒販不得不住在家裡，原因是他們的時薪只有3.3美元，比目

前美國最低工資5.15美元都不如，不住家裡住哪裡？這些數據是專

家研究芝加哥某販毒集團後獲得的資料。該販毒集團的大哥，將大

部分販毒利潤中飽私囊。

利瓦伊特將三 K黨喻為不動產經紀人，是因為兩者運用信息的手法太

相像。利瓦伊特說，三 K黨利用密碼組織團體和威脅敵人，房地產經

紀人同樣也是利用他們的市場知識嚇唬買賣雙方，逼迫他們完成交

易。

利瓦伊特在接受訪問時表示，本書是用好玩和調皮的方式，將經濟學

運用在日常生活中。

他說：「經濟學討論許多重要問題，偏偏許多人都不感興趣。我在

書中問的問題往往是些芝麻小事，其中卻大有深意。」

37歲的利瓦伊特2003年榮獲約翰．貝茲．克拉克獎章，這是專門頒給

美國最佳40歲以下的經濟學家的獎章。從前拿過此獎的經濟學家，

包括福利曼等人，後來都更上層樓，摘下諾貝爾經濟學獎。

《娛樂周刊》書評表示：「利瓦伊特這本新書比福利曼寫的任何東西

都有趣得多。」

華爾街日報一位書評家上周表示，「如果《法櫃奇兵》的印第安納

瓊斯是位經濟學家，他一定是利瓦伊特」。

【2005/04/22 民生報】

http://www.src.uchicago.edu/users/levit/

http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/05/050227.levitt-syverson.html

Levitt receives John Bates Clark Medal

Steven Levitt, a leading micro-economist at the University of Chicago,

has received the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal from the American

Economics Association for his pioneering and influential work on natural

experiments in economics. The medal, bestowed every two years, recognizes

the nation『s most outstanding economist under 40.

Levitt, 35, the Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics and the College at

Chicago, has been a University faculty member since 1997. He studies a

wide range of topics including the economic aspects of crime, corruption

and education.

Levitt, editor of the Journal of Political Economy , is the author of

several recent articles about crime, including "Legalized Abortion as

an Explanation for the Decline in Crime" and "An Economic Analysis of

a Drug-Selling Gang『s Finances" in the Quarterly Journal of Economics,

and "Winning Isn『t Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling," in the

American Economic Review .

Levitt, who is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,

received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

from the National Science Foundation in 2000, and the University『s Quantrell

Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1998.

He also is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic

Research and at the American Bar Foundation. He is spending the 2002-2003

academic year on leave at Stanford University.

James Heckman, a Nobel-prize winning economist at the University of Chicago

and himself a recipient of the Bates Medal, said, "In a series of clever

papers, Levitt has used natural variation occurring in social systems to

answer important social questions. He has investigated the impact of police

on crime, the effect of abortions on crime and a wide range of social

phenomena using the natural experiment methodology. Social experiments

are hard to perform and justify in economics. Observational data are often

not conclusive in interpreting correlational data. Natural experiments use

the variation sometimes produced by the social system in a fortuitous way

to substitute for the social experiments that are hard to perform and

justify.

"Levitt has greatly enhanced our understanding of the causes and prevention

of crime and a number of other important problems using these methods.

He has also investigated how teachers thwart performance evaluation

systems," added Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor

in Economics.

Gary Becker, another Nobelist at Chicago and winner of the Clark Medal,

said, "Steve『s research is characterized by great imagination in

discovering interesting questions, ingenuity in finding data to test

his hypotheses, and considerable care in carrying through the empirical

discussion.

"He was responsible for the revival of an extension of economic work on

crime," added Becker, University Professor in Economics. "He applied

techniques he and others discovered to analyze crimes and punishments

to empirical analyses of the effects and abortions on the amount of crime,

to detecting corruption in schools and in athletic events, and to other

interesting problems. He very much deserves the Clark Medal."

Derek Neal, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago

said, "Steve『s work in the economics of crime as well as work on the

economics of corruption have revived interest in the profession in these

topics during the last 10 years. He has produced a lot of original,

creative work."

Levitt is the 28th winner of the Clark Prize. Previous winners at Chicago

and when they won the prize are Milton Friedman (1951), Gary Becker (1965)

at Columbia prior to joining the Chicago faculty, Zvi Griliches (1965),

James Heckman (1983), and Kevin Murphy (1997).