Susan Athey Econ 490 Fall 2019

Organizations are involved in cooperation. Cooperation skills are among the most respected accomplishments attempted by employers. In the 1990s, there was a revival of interest in cooperation, and the benefit has been increasing since. Knowledge, communication, technology, and the way that it has enabled changes in the world of a business causes this revival in involvement in the prevalence of teamwork in a business. An environment that utilized teamwork went dormant in the 1970s and the 1980s. This revival in professional involvement in teams facilitated by changes in technology and the world of business too renewed interest in teams and cooperation by academics. These rewards and disadvantages of teams are easily demonstrated. Teamwork skills are vital to business decision-making. Some advantages of working in a team include the ability to collaborate with others and the opportunity to learn from each other, to develop new ideas and skills, to be more creative and innovative, and hav...

I’ve been planning my future since I was a little girl. Somethings that I decided was that I wanted to be an anesthesiologist, have an extravagant wedding, live in a big house, and travel the world. I would spend most of my time planning all the small details such as where I wanted to go to school, what hospital I wanted to work at, what style wedding ring I wanted, etc., but as I got older, I was presented opportunities that altered the original plan for better and for worse.  There are different ways that opportunism arises in the workplace. One example is investing in yourself and something you believe will become an asset. This can mean many things, but specifically improving human capital and cospecialized assets. Improving human capital can be demonstrated by going to college to learn a new subject or furthering your education at the graduate level. If you are not interested in attending a school, there are workshops that act as a crash course to tech you many skills in im...

When I started high school my freshman year, I was a 3 sport Athlete (Volleyball, Basketball, and Volleyball) as well as played softball in the summer. My sophomore year I decided to stop playing basketball in order to play travel volleyball that was in the winter months. Since I didn't have to go to practice right after school, I was able to join some clubs and work after school. During the summer I continued working during the week and playing in softball tournaments on the weekends. When junior year rolled around, I was still active in clubs, working more, and played softball. During that summer I was offered scholarships to play softball for a few D2 universities in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. This is when I started to think about school and what I wanted to do moving forward. My parents wanted me to accept the scholarships and play because I would have no student debt, but also encouraged me to attend any school I wanted (the only rule was it had to be somewhat close to...

Susan Athey started her successful career by receiving a BA in Economics, Computer Science, and Mathematics at Duke University. She then received her PhD in Economics from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Athey is an economist focusing on industrial organization, microeconomics theory, and applied econometrics while teaching Economics of Technology at Stanford as well as a consultant for Microsoft. During her undergraduate years, Athey was a well rounded student who participated in sports and Greek life. "There have been periods of time when I have pushed my life out of balance... ideally, I'd like to develop a personal style that isn't just a stodgy academic. Stodgy scares me." It wasn't until graduate school where she started working hard on her studies. Athey's first position was an assistant, associate professor at MIT, which she then became a professor at Harvard before returning to Stanford.  Athey's dissertation was based on a mathematica...

This is the test post for ECON 490.. -MB