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Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Economics of Demographic Change

Qualified applicants are sought for a post-doctoral fellowship in the Economics of Demographic Change. The successful post-doctoral fellow will continue his/her training through a two-year fellowship in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging. The post-doctoral fellow will work directly on projects with Professors David E. Bloom and David Canning. Examples of current projects are:

• The macroeconomic effects of demographic change
• The effect of social security on savings and retirement behavior
• The effect of expected longevity on life cycle behavior
• The effect of health on labor productivity

Fellows will also be expected to develop their own research in this area and may be permitted to undertake a small amount of teaching.

Eligibility: Applicants should have a recent Ph.D. in economics (or expect to receive a Ph.D. by September 2007), and have a strong background in a relevant field (e.g. macroeconomics, economic growth, labor economics, public economics, health economics or development economics) together with expertise in applied econometrics. Fellows will be selected on the basis of their academic achievement and promise, regardless of nationality. Qualified women and minority candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Amount: Minimum $45,000. In addition to the annual salary, Fellows will have access to a full range of university resources including benefits.

Applications: Interested applicants should submit complete applications:

• a curriculum vita
• graduate and undergraduate transcripts (course work grades)
• a sample of published or unpublished work (journal length article)
• the names of three referees as well as their contact phone numbers and email addresses

Please send complete documents via email to: pgda_high@harvard.edu and include

“Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Economics of Demographic Change” in the subject line of your email. Incomplete applications will be disregarded.

If you are unable to send us your materials via email, you may send them to the following address:

M. Séverin
PGDA/HIGH
104 Mount Auburn Street, 3rd Floor
Cambridge , MA 02138 USA

Further Information : Applicants seeking further information about the Fellowship should contact Professor David Canning at dcanning@hsph.harvard.edu

Post-Doctoral Fellow in Demographic Change and Economic Growth in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging

Günther Fink and Jocelyn Finlay were chosen out of a pool of over 50 candidates to
the position of Post-Doctoral Fellow to conduct research partially funded by PGDA and a grant from the Hewlett Foundation. During their two-year fellowship, Fink and Finlay will work closely with David Canning and David Bloom to research the impact of reproductive health and population dynamics on economic development and on research related to the demographic and economic impact of HIV/AIDS.

Günther Fink has recently completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Bocconi University in Milan. He has worked on a wide range of policy issues, and dedicated his dissertation to explaining the cross-national differences in government expenditure on social security and public education. The main focus of his current research lies in determining the relationship between family background and both fertility and educational choices on one side, and aggregate human capital and economic growth on the other.

Jocelyn Finlay was awarded a PhD in Economics from the Australian National University in 2006. In her PhD thesis she focused on the theoretical relationship between life expectancy and economic growth, and in doing so explored the dynamic interplay between health and education investment decisions. Jocelyn’s research interest in demography and economic development continues and in her current empirical work she is analyzing the role of population health in economic development.

Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging (Round I)
PGDA is pleased to welcome Kirsten P. Smith as the first Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging.  Selected from a highly competitive pool, Ms. Smith joined PGDA in September 2005.  During her one-year fellowship, Ms. Smith will learn about relevant social science, public health, and medical literatures relating to the global demography of aging by attending courses throughout Harvard. She will work directly with PGDA executive committee member, Professor Nicholas Christakis of the Harvard Medical School. 

Kirsten Smith received her Ph.D. in sociology and demography in 2005 from the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary field of interest is health disparities. Her dissertation explores explanations for high sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates in the United States, incorporating both within-country and between-country analysis.
Consistent with her interest in STIs, she also has published papers on social aspects of HIV/AIDS in Malawi, a subject that she will continue to investigate as a Global Aging Scholar. As a Global Aging Scholar, she also will continue to explore another research interest, socioeconomic differentials in mortality, which she has studied in both a domestic and cross-national perspective. In addition, a new project will be the use of data from the Framingham Heart Study to analyze network effects on obesity-related health behaviors.