Jessica S. Bean
I came to Denison in 2010, after earning a B.A. in History from Middlebury College, an M.Phil. in Economic and Social History from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University. As an economic historian, I feel lucky to be able to regularly teach courses in my field in the setting of a top-quality liberal arts college. My main goal as a teacher is to provide students with the combination of basic analytical tools and excitement for the subject that will best inspire them to relate what they learn in an economics class to their everyday lives, the world around them, and their other courses, and to continue their educations in economics both in and out of the classroom.
Learning & Teaching
Courses normally taught: Econ. 101: Introduction to Macroeconomics, Econ. 307: Econometrics, Econ. 403: Evolution of the Western Economy. I have also taught courses in gender and economics, the evolution of social policy, and the Great Depression and 20th century economic history.
Research
My research has mainly focused on labor markets and female labor supply in early-twentieth-century Britain, with a particular interest in poverty, low-wage work and the household dynamics of labor supply, and I have published in journals including the Economic History Review and Research in Economic History. Currently I am working on projects investigating female labor supply during and after the First World War in Britain, prostitution and the female labor market in 19th century Europe, and the impact of commuting and mass transport on the labor market in interwar London.
Works
Selected publications:
- “The Trade Boards Act of 1909 and the Alleviation of Household Poverty” (with George Boyer), British Journal of Industrial Relations, 47, 2 (2009), pp. 240-264.
- ’To help keep the home going’: female labour supply in interwar London,” Economic History Review, 68, 2 (2015), pp. 441–470.
- ’Not much use in disliking it’: The Work and Wages of Female Home Workers in London, 1897-1908,” Research in Economic History, 31 (2015), pp. 193-239.
