About
Economist Avner Greif is the Bowman family endowed professor in humanities and sciences and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies – both at Stanford University.
His research interests include the historical development of economic institutions, their interrelations with political, social and cultural factors and their impact on economic growth. Greif’s research relies extensively on the method known as historical and comparative institutional analysis, which he has applied to the study of Europe, the Middle East and China.
Awards
- University of Utrecht Honorary Doctorate, 2013
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2004
- MacArthur Foundation Fellow, 1998–2003
- Fellow of the Econometrics Society, 1997
Relevant Publications
Greif, A., and L. Kiesline, eds. Institutions, Innovation, and Industrialization: Essays in Economic History and Development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015.
Greif, A., and S. Tadelis. “A Theory of Moral Persistence: Crypto-morality and Political Legitimacy.” J. Comp. Econ. 38 (2010): 229–44.
Greif, A. Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy: Lessons from Medieval Trade. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Greif, A., and D. Laitin. “A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change.” Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 98 (2004): 14–48.
Bates, R. et al. Analytic Narratives. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.