Steven Durlauf


Steven Neil Durlauf is an American social scientist and economist. He is currently Steans Professor of Educational Policy at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Durlauf was previously the William F. Vilas Research Professor and Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Durlauf's research has spanned topics from economic theory to econometrics to empirical analyses to philosophy. His research in economic theory has involved the integration of sociological ideas into economic models and the use of statistical mechanics methods to study aggregate behavior when social influences are present. His primary econometric research has focused on the determination of conditions under which the impact of social factors on individual choices can be identified from the sorts of data available to social scientists. His primary substantive research areas are poverty, inequality, and economic growth.

Education

Durlauf received his B.A. in Economics from Harvard University in 1980, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University in 1986.

Honors, awards and positions

Durlauf was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. He is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the Society for Economic Measurement, the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory and the International Association for Applied Econometrics. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Along with Nobel Prize winner James Heckman, Durlauf co-directs the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working group, an international consortium of researchers designed to further understanding of the determinants of human flourishing. Durlauf is currently Editor of the Journal of Economic Literature. He served as General Editor of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, the world’s most comprehensive compendium of economic knowledge.