道，当时他注意到，带着孩子的母亲比其他顾客更有可能为卡片支付高价，通常是因为她们不愿意拖着孩子与交易商讨价还价。
他认识到，此类决定为研究范围更广的美国经济提供了思路。
李斯特说：“我利用这个机会把在大学学到的经济学知识运用到实际生活中去。”
从他有关消费者行为的最早发现开始，李斯特一直在运用具有创造性而又极严谨的方法测试经济学理论，由此成为该领域的领军人物。他的研究还包括慈善捐赠的动机、妇女工资低于男性的原因以及歧视的根源。
李斯特作为创新者的名声吸引了众多的学生来到芝加哥大学，其中包括来自中国的博士生徐阳（Yang
Xu）（音译）。美国国务院（U.S. Department of
State）通过电子邮件在10月25日采访了徐和其他两位学生。
徐说，他选择芝大的经济学研究生专业，“是因为该专业在全世界是最好的经济学博士项目之一。”另外，他补充说：“我最欣赏的教授之一，李斯特教授，就在芝加哥大学。”
徐说：“李斯特教授总是为他的学生提供很大帮助。他对我如何提高第二年的研究文章给出非常好的建议。”而且，芝大的核心课程及实地课程“为我在实验经济学及相关领域进行研究提供了有力的工具。”
来自瑞典的博士生丹尼尔•海德布洛姆（Daniel
Hedblom）出于与徐同样的原因来到芝大经济系。他说：“我原来真的不怎么了解实验经济学。”
在这张照片中，芝加哥大学经济系主任、实验经济学领域的领军人物约翰•李斯特教授正在访问一所芝加哥高中。
他解释道，实验经济学“强迫你以不同的方式进行思考”，因为“你实质上在制造你自己的数据”，这与依赖现有数据的传统经济学不同。“在所有经济学研究中，你都得有创造性，但是在实验经济学中，你需要略有不同的创造性。”
就在不久前，海德布洛姆进行了一项实验，测试人们是否更愿意拿走别人通过金融工作而不是通过体力劳动挣的钱。他说：“非正式的观察表明，人们愿意支持对金融行业的富人收取更高的税。这是不是因为人们觉得［金融］有一点不道德？还是因为这些富人的收入被看成主要是运气的结果？看起来，人们愿意接受某些不公平现象，而不愿意接受另一些不公平现象。”
来自马来西亚的博士候选人阿努希丽•萨布拉马尼亚姆（Anushree
Subramaniam）说她选择芝加哥大学是因为其经济系拥有“无与伦比的教师专业水平”。
萨布拉马尼亚姆在2011年选修了李斯特的实验经济学课程。她说，李斯特通过解释实验背后的思考方式“把你训练成更好的研究人员。实验经济学真是一个非常有趣的领域，这个领域展示了人类行为有的时候是怎样与我们所预期的情况截然不同。”
这三位学生都说他们愿意向别人推荐芝大的经济学专业。萨布拉马尼亚姆说：“这里的博士项目非常严格，你得做好准备，要非常勤奋。但你将获得难以想象的学习机会。”
她说，“很多教师都是非常有名、享有盛誉的经济学家，”但是“学生依然可以随时得到他们的指导”。
在攻读学位的同时，芝大学生们还可以体验芝加哥的文化氛围和体育传统。海德布洛姆说：“我是冰球迷，所以我真的很高兴有机会去看[芝加哥]黑鹰（Blackhawks）队比赛。”
而萨布拉马尼亚姆则把芝加哥描述成“一个充满活力的城市”，这个城市具有“众多伟大的建筑、博物馆、音乐会、戏剧俱乐部和商店。”
海德布洛姆补充说：“经济学研究生院就像耐力测试。你需要选择一个你非常喜欢的系，或者选择一个你非常喜欢的城市。而这里实际上两者兼有。”
国际教育研究所的网站上提供有关来美国留学的更多信息。
Read more:
http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2012/10/20121031138079.html#ixzz2AwHR1M4g
University of Chicago Has Top Graduate Program in
Economics
By Lauren Monsen | Staff Writer | 27 October
2012
Rosenwald
Hall houses the University of Chicago's Department of Economics,
which offers one of the world's most highly regarded postgraduate
economics programs.
Washington — The University of Chicago, consistently ranked as one
of the best American institutions of higher learning by the
magazine
U.S. News & World Report, is a magnet for
gifted students from around the globe. Today, international
students comprise almost 19 percent of the school’s student
body.
UChicago, as it is popularly known, also boasts the number one U.S.
graduate program in economics, according to the 2012
U.S.
News rankings. The university’s economics department is
chaired by John List, a pioneering figure in experimental
economics. Experimental economists conduct field or classroom
experiments to analyze and explain economic activity.
In a recent
UChicago News interview, List revealed that
his career path began to take shape when he started buying and
selling sports cards to help finance his undergraduate studies. At
the time, he recalled, he noticed that mothers accompanied by young
children were more likely than other customers to offer high prices
for cards, typically because they were reluctant to barter with
dealers when they had their children in tow.
Such decisions, he realized, offered a window into the nation’s
larger economic picture.
“It was a chance to apply what I was learning in college about
economics to a real-life situation,” List said.
Ever since his earliest discoveries about consumer behavior, List
has been testing economic theories using a creative and rigorous
approach that has put him at the forefront of his field. Among
other things, he has studied motivations behind charitable giving,
the reasons why women are paid less in the workplace than men, and
the origins of discrimination.
List’s reputation as an innovator has attracted many students to
the University of Chicago, including Yang Xu, a doctoral student
from China. Xu and two other students were interviewed October 25
via email by the U.S. Department of State.
Xu said he enrolled in UChicago’s graduate program in economics
“because it was ranked one of the best economics Ph.D. programs in
the world,” and besides, “Professor List, one of my favorite
professors, was at the University of Chicago.”
“Professor List has always been quite helpful to his students,” Xu
said. “He gave me great suggestions on how to improve my
second-year research paper.” Also, UChicago’s core and field
courses “have provided me with powerful tools to conduct research
in experimental economics and related fields.”
Daniel Hedblom, a doctoral student from Sweden, was drawn to the
UChicago economics program for the same reason as Xu. At first,
though, “I actually did not know that much about experimental
economics,” he said.
Professor John List, seen
here visiting a Chicago high school, chairs the University of
Chicago's economics department and is a leader in the field of
experimental economics.
Experimental economics “forces you to think differently” because
“you are essentially creating your own data,” unlike traditional
economics, which relies on existing data, he explained. “You need
creativity in all kinds of economic research, but the creativity
you need for experimental economics is of a slightly different
flavor.” Not long ago, Hedblom conducted an experiment that
examined whether people are more willing to take away money that
others earn through financial work rather than through manual
labor. “Casual observation suggests that people are willing to
support higher taxes for rich individuals working in finance,” he
said. “Is this because people believe there is something immoral
[about finance]? Or is it because their income is perceived as
mostly a result of luck? People seem to approve some inequalities,
but not others.”
Doctoral candidate Anushree Subramaniam, of Malaysia, said she came
to the University of Chicago because of the “unparalleled faculty
expertise” of its economics department.
Subramaniam took List’s experimental economics class in 2011. By
explaining the thought process behind experiments, List “trains you
to be a better researcher,” she said. “Experimental economics is a
really fun field and demonstrates how humans sometimes behave quite
differently from what we would expect.”
All three students said they would recommend UChicago’s economics
program. “The Ph.D. program here is very rigorous and you need to
be prepared to work very hard,” Subramaniam said. “However, the
learning opportunities are incredible.”
“Many faculty members are famous, high-profile economists,” but
“they remain accessible to students,” she said.
While pursuing degrees, UChicago students can also experience
Chicago’s cultural amenities and sporting traditions. “I am a
hockey fan, so I really appreciate the [opportunity] to go and see
the [Chicago] Blackhawks play once in a while,” Hedblom said.
For her part, Subramaniam described Chicago as “a very vibrant
city” with “lots of great architecture, museums, live concerts,
comedy clubs [and] shopping.”
“Graduate school in economics is like an endurance test,” Hedblom
added. “You either need to be in a department that you really like
or in a city that you really like. Here, I actually have
both.”
More information on international education opportunities is
available on the website of the
Institute of International Education.
Read more:
http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/10/20121026138000.html#ixzz2AwHVLOs9
