Previous articleNext article FreeSOLE Prize for Contributions to Data and MeasurementPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreKatharine Abraham is the inaugural recipient of the Society of Labor Economists’ prize for contributions to data and measurement. Katharine is a professor of economics, a professor of survey methodology, and the director of the Maryland Center for Economics and Policy, all at the University of Maryland. Katharine is also a fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, a fellow of the American Statistical Association, and president-elect of the Society of Labor Economists.Katharine was commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 1993 to 2001. She was instrumental in initiating several new BLS surveys: the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), the National Longitudinal Survey 1997 cohort (NLSY97), and the Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) to the Current Population Survey (CPS). In addition to developing these new surveys during Katharine’s time as BLS commissioner, the BLS also developed the Business Employment Dynamics (BED) by longitudinally linking existing administrative micro data.Katharine oversaw many changes to the consumer price index (CPI) during her tenure as commissioner of the BLS, and she testified before Congress many times regarding BLS efforts to improve the accuracy of the CPI. Katharine has already been recognized for her contributions to measurement; she is the 2002 recipient of the Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics and the 2010 recipient of the Roger Herriot Award for Innovation in Federal Statistics.Katharine is a role model regarding service to the economic measurement community. She was chair of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, and she currently serves as chair of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, as coordinator of the Institute of Labor Economics’ program in labor statistics, and as a member of the advisory committees for the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.Katharine has been a leader in methodological innovations to both employment and price statistics, and she continues this with her research on topics such as understanding the relationship between unemployment and vacancies and measuring nonstandard employment arrangements. Katharine has utilized a wide range of data in her research, including data she collected herself.Katharine Abraham is a natural choice for the first-ever Society of Labor Economists’ prize for contributions to data and measurement.2019 SOLE Prize Nominating Committee:Joseph Altonji (ex officio)Sandra BlackSteven DavisDavid JohnsonChinhui JuhnJames Smith (chair)James Spletzer Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Labor Economics Volume 37, Number 3July 2019 Published for the Society of Labor Economists, Economics Research Center/ NORC Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/703863 © 2019 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article