Robert F. Flanagan : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Robert J. Flanagan, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Labor Economics and Policy Analysis, Emeritus, at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, discusses his education, academic career, and research interests. Flanagan speaks about how he became interested in labor economics, graduate study at the Institute of Industrial Relations at UC Berkeley with Lloyd Ulman, and his time on the faculty of the business schools at the University of Chicago and Stanford. He shares memories of Stanford’s business school under Dean Arjay Miller and teaching in and directing the Public Management Program. Flanagan also provides an overview his research, including work on international unemployment rates, comparative studies of incomes policies, the impact of globalization on labor conditions, and the economics of symphonies--as well as his lifelong interest in jazz.
- Summary
- Growing up in North Haven, Connecticut • Story of how learning to play the clarinet in third grade, and later the saxophone, led to a lifelong interest in jazz and improvisation • Joining the musicians’ union at age sixteen • Impact of good school and music teachers throughout childhood • Decision to attend Yale • Interest in economics sparked by an excellent graduate student instructor in an introductory course • Working as a labor economist at the Office of Manpower, Automation, and Training in the US Department of Labor • Decision to pursue graduate studies in labor economics at UC Berkeley • Institute of Industrial Relations • Job during graduate school as a business agent for a government employee union at the Oakland Naval Supply Center • Lessons learned from working with unions • Influence of economist Lloyd Ulman and labor historian Walter Galenson • Dissertation International Differences in Phillips Curves on international variations in the equilibrium rate of unemployment • Milton Friedman’s work on Phillips Curves • Hiring process for economics PhDs in the 1960s • First faculty position at University of Chicago’s business school • Increase of economics PhDs on business school faculties as schools shift from practical education to academic research • Intellectual environment at Chicago • Lack of interest at Chicago in the role of economics in public policy • Recruitment to the Stanford Graduate School of Business • Dean Arjay Miller’s business background • Miller’s rationale for starting the Public Management Program at the GSB • Teaching in the Public Management Program • Diverse interests of Public Management Program students • Teaching with Bill Gould in the Law School • Approach to teaching • Students’ increased interest in networking over time • Differences between MBA and PhD students • Public sector economics course • Role as director of the Public Management Program • Efforts to integrate public sector perspectives into the core curriculum • The addition of a political economy group to the GSB • Role as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the GSB • Joys and challenges in recruiting new faculty • Loma Prieta earthquake • GSB as a “formula school” • Serving on the Campus Benefits Committee • Declining interest in industrial relations courses with decreasing private sector unionization • Designing a core course in human resource management with an interdisciplinary group of faculty • Stanford reflections • Parallels between jazz and research • Comparative studies of incomes policies with Lloyd Ulman • Studies of microeconomic issues in the Swedish economy and labor market issues in European unemployment with from the Brookings Institution • Teaching economics at Central European University and studying the impact of changing economic systems on labor markets • Research on globalization and labor conditions • Economic challenges facing symphony orchestras • Funding for US-based orchestras vs. international orchestras • Teaching a freshman seminar on economic survival of performing arts • Thoughts on research discoveries • Sabbaticals in Australia and the Netherlands • Advantages of taking sabbaticals at other institutions • Advancements in technology and how they have changed economics research • Cultural economics • Evolution of research and its meaning • Research style and process • Change over time in the field of labor economics • Retirement: travel and jazz orchestra
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | January 17, 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Flanagan, Robert J. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Flanagan, Robert J. | |
| Interviewer | Humburg, Judee | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Flanagan, Robert J. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Graduate School of Business |
| Subject | Public administration |
| Subject | Labor economics |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Robert J. Flanagan is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Labor Economics and Policy Analysis, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale University, and MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. Professor Flanagan has published twelve books and over fifty articles on labor economics, cultural economics, and human resource management. He has also served on the editorial boards of several professional journals. His research interests include the economics of performing arts organizations, global labor markets, and the impact of collective bargaining institutions on economic performance. His most recent book analyzes the economics of symphony orchestras. A previous book examined the effects of globalization on working conditions and labor rights around the world. Professor Flanagan has taught microeconomics, macroeconomics, public sector economics, and a variety of electives on topics in human resource management in the MBA and Sloan Programs. He has served as Associate Dean of the GSB and Director of the Public Management program. |
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| Audio |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/fy047cf4586 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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