Innovation and Development - Lazonick

ECON.4010: Special Topics in Economics: Researching Economies, Industries and Companies

Spring semester, 2017, Professor William Lazonick will teach Econ 4010-201. This class is indispensable for scholars who want to raise their research skills to the highest level. In the internet age the concept of research is undergoing radical revision, and Professor Lazonick brings his breadth of experience to the design of the course.

The Internet revolution has created easy access to vast amounts of information on the operation and performance of national economies, industrial sectors, and business enterprises. Some of this information is publicly available, using a search engine such as Google. Much more information can be found in UMass Lowell Library e-resources, which includes subscriptions to a large array of academic journals, e-books, digital archives, and news sources. This information makes it possible to do cutting-edge research on economies, industries, and companies that would have been extremely, and in some cases prohibitively, costly only twenty years ago. And the digitized sources of information are always increasing.
Researchers in Economics, Business, History and Entrepreneurship have much to gain from learning about the world beyond Google.

Professor Lazonick is a seasoned researcher. Former RESD students have been working with him, learning how to use e-resources for various projects.  Here is a recent project on executive pay, using the ExecuComp database that has somewhat astonishing findings:https://www.ineteconomics.org/research/research-papers/the-mismeasure-of-mammon-uses-and-abuses-of-executive-pay-data.  Matt Hopkins is a RESD graduate. He and Professor Lazonick published a summary of their findings in an article in The Atlantic in September:http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/09/executives-making-way-more-than-reported/499850/

William Lazonick is the 2014 HBR McKinsey Award winner for his September article “Profits Without Prosperity.” The HBR McKinsey Awards, judged by an independent panel of business and academic leaders, commend outstanding articles published each year in Harvard Business Review. The awards were established in 1959 to recognize practical and groundbreaking management thinking.