Meet her husband, marriage, spouse, partner – Janet Yellen, a distinguished economist, was born on August 13, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States.
She is recognized for her contributions to macroeconomics and labor economics, focusing on topics such as unemployment, monetary and fiscal policies, and international trade. Yellen’s impressive academic and professional journey has left an indelible mark on the field of economics.
Janet Yellen Biography
Janet Yellen completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University, earning an AB degree. She went on to pursue graduate studies at Yale University, where she obtained an MA and a PhD. Under the guidance of James Tobin, she successfully completed her doctoral studies, with Joseph Stiglitz also serving as one of her academic advisors.
Career
Yellen embarked on her academic career as an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University, teaching from 1971 to 1976. During her time at Harvard, she formed a close friendship with Rachel McCulloch, the other female faculty member in the economics department.
The pair collaborated on several academic papers. In 1977, Yellen joined the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors as a staff economist. Her appointment came after she did not secure tenure at Harvard.
Assigned to research international monetary reform, she made significant contributions to the field during her tenure at the Federal Reserve. While working at the Federal Reserve, Yellen met her future husband, economist George Akerlof.
They married in 1978, and Yellen accompanied Akerlof to the London School of Economics, where he had accepted a teaching position. After spending two years in the United Kingdom, they returned to the United States.
In 1980, Yellen joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, teaching at the Haas School of Business for over two decades. During her time at Berkeley, she received the Haas School’s outstanding teaching award twice and earned tenure in 1982.
In 1992, she was appointed the Bernard T. Rocca, Jr. Professor of International Business and Trade. Yellen briefly took a leave of absence from Berkeley to serve in public service from 1994 to 1999.
She returned to academia and continued her teaching assignment at Haas while also holding a joint appointment with Berkeley’s Department of Economics. In 1999, she became the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Economics.
Contributions to Economics
Throughout her career, Janet Yellen has made significant contributions to the field of economics. Her research has focused on areas such as efficiency wage models and the analysis of out-of-wedlock childbearing in the United States.
Efficiency Wage Models
Yellen and her husband, George Akerlof, have conducted extensive research on efficiency wage theory. Their influential 1990 paper, “The Fair-Wage Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment,” introduced the concept of the fair wage effort hypothesis.
This hypothesis suggests that paying workers more than the market wage can increase their productivity. Yellen and Akerlof also introduced the gift-exchange game, which explores the relationship between wages and worker effort.
Reproductive Technology Shock
In collaboration with Akerlof and Michael Katz, Yellen published a paper in 1996 titled “An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States.”
The research put forth the theory of “reproductive technology shock” to explain the rise in out-of-wedlock births in the United States.
They argued that increased access to abortion and contraception, coupled with changing social norms, led to a decline in the stigma surrounding unwed motherhood.
Government Service
In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Janet Yellen to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She became the first Democratic appointee to the Board since 1980. Yellen played a crucial role in shaping the Federal Reserve’s policies during her tenure.
In 1997, Yellen accepted the position of Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers within the Clinton administration. She brought her expertise and analytical approach to economic issues, making valuable contributions to economic policy formulation.
Janet Yellen Husband
Janet Yellen’s husband, George Akerlof is an American economist and professor at Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley. He was born on June 17, 1940, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Carl W. Akerlof and Virginia Akerlof.
Akerlof received his bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1962 and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz for their research on analyzing markets with uneven information.
Akerlof is married to Janet Yellen, an economist who formerly chaired the Federal Reserve System and currently serves as the United States Secretary of the Treasury. A financial filing released prior to Yellen’s term as Treasury Secretary indicated that she and Akerlof possess assets valued between $8 and $20 million.
