Skip to Content
Purdue Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business logo
Purdue Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business logo
Directory
Victoria Prowse

Victoria Prowse

Professor of Economics
Marge Magner Chair
Economics

Education

Ph.D., Economics, Oxford University
M.Phil, Economics, Oxford University
B.A. Economics and Management, Oxford University

Victoria Prowse is an empirical microeconomist with a focus on labor, public, and experimental economics. Her research is centered on the exploration of how cognitive skills and individual preferences influence effort provision, learning, human capital investments, and consequential life outcomes, such as educational attainment, labor supply, retirement, and inequality. She also conducts studies investigating the impact of interventions and public policies on these significant life outcomes.

Currently holding the Marge Magner Chair, Victoria Prowse serves as a Professor of Economics at Purdue University. She is also a faculty affiliate of multiple research institutes, including the Purdue Integrative Data Science Initiative, the Purdue Policy Research Institute,  the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).

You can find Victoria's C.V. and publications here.

Google Scholar | IZA | Ideas | SSRN

Journal Articles

  • Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2023). "Strategic complexity and the value of thinking." Economic Journal | Related Website |
  • Peter Haan; Victoria Prowse (2023). "The Heterogeneous Effects of Social Assistance and Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Life-Cycle Model of Family Labor Supply and Savings." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, accepted
  • David Gill, Victoria Prowse (2023). "The Creativity Premium: Exploring the Link Between Childhood Creativity and Life Outcomes." Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, accepted
  • Fe, E. & Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2022). "Cognitive skills, strategic sophistication, and life outcomes." Journal of Political Economy | Related Website |
  • Clark, D., Gill, D., Prowse, V., Rush, M. (2020). "Using Goals to Motivate College Students: Theory and Evidence from Field Experiments." Review of Economics and Statistics vol. 102 (4), 459 - 954. | Download |
  • Gill, D., Prowse, V. (2019). "Measuring Costly Effort Using the Slider Task." Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance vol. 21 1-9. | Download |
  • Gill, D., Kissova, Z., Lee, J., Prowse, V. (2019). "First-place Loving and Last-place Loathing: How Rank in the Distribution of Performance Affects Effort Provision." Management Science vol. 65 (2), | Download |
  • Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2016). "Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-k Analysis." Journal of Political Economy vol. 124 (6), 619-1676. | Download |
  • Haan, P. & Prowse, V. (2014). "Longevity, Life-cycle Behavior and Pension Reform." Journal of Econometrics vol. 173 (3), 582-601. | Download |
  • Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2014). "Gender Differences and Dynamics in Competition: The Role of Luck." Quantitative Economics vol. 5 (2), 351-376. | Download |
  • Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2013). "Cheating in the Workplace: An Experimental Study of the Impact of Bonuses and Productivity." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization vol. 96 120-134. | Download |
  • Gill, D. & Prowse, V. (2012). "A Structural Analysis of Disappointment Aversion in a Real Effort Competition." American Economic Review vol. 102 (1), 469-503. | Download |
  • Prowse, V. (2012). "Modeling Employment Dynamics with State Dependence and Unobserved Heterogeneity." Journal of Business and Economic Statistics vol. 30 (2), 411-431. | Download |
  • Haan, P. & Prowse, V. (2010). "A Structural Approach to Estimating the Effect of Taxation on the Labor Market Dynamics of Older Workers." Econometrics Journal (13), 3. | Download |
  • Prowse, V. (2009). "Estimating Labour Supply Elasticities Under Rationing: A Structural Model of Time Allocation Behaviour." Canadian Journal of Economics vol. 41 (1), 90-112. | Download |
  • Theory of Mind research

    New Framework Shows How Theory-Of-Mind Ability in Childhood Affects Adult Outcomes

    Understanding the relationship between childhood cognitive skills and adult outcomes has important implications for policymakers, educators, and even parents who strive to get their kids through school well-prepared to launch a successful career, professors Victoria Prowse and David Gill show.

    Full story: New Framework Shows How Theory-Of-Mind Ability in Childhood Affects Adult Outcomes

  • creativity

    Research Examines How Creativity Pays Off

    Victoria Prowse and David Gill examine a study that has followed almost every individual born in the UK in March 1958 throughout their life and shows that their creativity as children predicts their success later in life.

    Full story: Research Examines How Creativity Pays Off

  • children being creative

    The Long-Lasting Benefits of Childhood Creativity

    New research from Victoria Prowse finds that individuals who are more creative at age 7 tend to have higher career earnings and land in better-quality jobs. Childhood creativity also boosts education attainment.

    Full story: The Long-Lasting Benefits of Childhood Creativity

  • Econ 360 (Spring 2022)
  • Econ 490 (Spring 2022)
  • ECON 360 (Spring 2017)
  • ECON 360 (Spring 2018)
  • ECON 360 (Spring 2019)
  • ECON 360 (Spring 2020)
  • ECON 360 (Spring 2021)
  • ECON 690 (Spring 2017)
  • ECON 690 (Spring 2019)
  • ECON 690 (Spring 2020)
  • ECON 690 (Spring 2021)

Contact

vprowse@purdue.edu
Office: RAWL 4072

Quick links

Personal website
Google Scholar
IZA
SSRN

Area(s) of Expertise

Behavioral Economics, Data Analytics, Labor, Public Policy, Quantitative Analysis