mathematics

Marianne Bertrand

Marianne Bertrand is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Marianne Bertrand rather than just read about it. In short: Marianne Bertrand (born c. 1970) is a Belgian economist who currently works as Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Willard Graham Faculty Scholar at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Key takeaways

Marianne Bertrand belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Marianne Bertrand to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Marianne Bertrand from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Marianne Bertrand (born c. 1970) is a Belgian economist who currently works as Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Willard Graham Faculty Scholar at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Bertrand belongs to the world's most prominent labour economists in terms of research, and has been awarded the 2004 Elaine Bennett Research Prize and the 2012 Sherwin Rosen Prize for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Labor Economics. She is a research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the IZA Institute of Labor Economics.

Early life and education Bertrand earned a B.A. in economics and a M.Sc. in econometrics from the Free University of Brussels in 1991 and 1992. Thereafter, she did a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University.

Career After her graduation in 1998, Bertrand became an assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs but left for the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in 2000. There, she was promoted to full professor in 2003, followed by the positions of Fred G. Steingraber/A. T. Kearney Professor of Economics and Chris. P. Dialynas Professor Economics. In addition to her academic position, Bertrand maintains affiliations with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, where she is a member of the Board of Directors and currently co-chairs J-PAL's Labor Markets sector, the Russell Sage Foundation, IZA, NBER, and CEPR. At Chicago, she is involved as Faculty Director in the Inclusive Economy Lab of the university's Urban Labs as well as the Booth Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, Booth's social impact hub. She also has performed editorial duties for the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Economic Journal, and the Journal of the European Economic Association.

Research Bertrand's research interests include econometric methodology, labour economics, corporate governance and development economics. Her most-cited article is her 2004 article with Esther Duflo and Sendil Mullainathan, "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?" In most of her research she uses economic experiments, often in collaboration with her frequent co-author Sendhil Mullainathan. According to IDEAS/RePEc, Bertrand ranked in September 2018 157th in terms of research among 54,233 registered economists (i.e., among the top 0.3%) and 5th among 10,406 female economists (among the top 0.05%) As of August 2024 her rank increased to 83rd overall.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marianne Bertrand

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marianne Bertrand claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Marianne Bertrand before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Marianne Bertrand ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Marianne Bertrand

In research: Marianne Bertrand appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Marianne Bertrand in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Marianne Bertrand is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970s births, 20th-century Belgian economists, 21st-century Belgian economists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marianne Bertrand outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Marianne Bertrand” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Marianne Bertrand in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Marianne Bertrand means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Marianne Bertrand out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Marianne Bertrand in simple terms?

Why does Marianne Bertrand matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Marianne Bertrand?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Marianne Bertrand.