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SIPA Faculty
W. Bentley MacLeod
International Affairs Building, Room 1427A
Sami Mnaymneh Professor of Economics, and Professor of International and Public Affairs; Affiliated Faculty, Columbia Law School
Phone: 310-571-5083
bentley.macLeod@sipa.columbia.edu
Biography:
MacLeod is a specialist in law and labor economics, with a focus on how incentives should be designed to take into account the complex interplay between reputation effects, market competition, and social norms. Current projects include incentives and school choice, the economics of contract and tort law, and the economics of performance pay.
At Columbia University, he serves as Sami Mnaymneh Professor of Economics, International and Public Affairs and Law (by affiliation), a Director of the American Law and Economics Association, Co-Editor of the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
MacLeod's recent publications include "Optimal Contracting in the Shadow of the Law," Rand Journal of Economics, 2009 (with S. Chakravarty); "Performance Pay and Wage Inequality", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2009 (joint with T. Lemieux and D. Parent); "First Do Not Harm: Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes", Quarterly Journal of Economics (2008) (with J. Currie); "Reputations, Relationships and Contract Enforcement", Journal of Economics Literature (2007); and "Optimal Contracting with Subjective Evaluation," American Economic Review (2003).
MacLeod received the 2002 H. Gregg Lewis prize awarded by the Society of Labor Economists for his article "Worker Cooperation and the Ratchet" with H. Lorne Carmichael. He has been a fellow of the Econometric Society since 2005 and a fellow of the Society of Labor Economists since 2012.
MacLeod's teaching career began by teaching mathematics and physics at Okundi Secondary School in Nigeria, at experience that led to his interest in economics to understand the large variations national economic performance. After completing his PhD in economics, he taught at Queen's University, Canada, Université de Montréal, Boston College, University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, and Princeton University.
MacLeod holds a BA (with distinction) and an Msc in mathematics from Queen's University, Canada and a PhD in economics from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
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