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American Economic Review Vol. 95 No. 2 2005

Does Teaching Enhance Research in Economics?

William E. Becker1; Peter E. Kennedy2

1 Department of Economics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-5301. · 2 Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6.

Abstract

Can you think of an instance in which your teaching enhanced your research? We have had several such experiences and wondered if it was a common phenomenon among economists. We asked several eminent economists if they could cite a specific study that emanated directly from their teaching. The original goal was to report some examples of how teaching could play a positive role in research. We expanded our goal, however, when we were swamped with examples. We found that (i) teaching plays a far more important role in enhancing research than the existing literature suggests, (ii) this influence is recognized by a large fraction of active researchers, and (iii) this positive effect of teaching on research occurs through a wide variety of channels.

DOI
10.1257/000282805774669790
Volume
95
Issue
2
Pages
172-176
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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