Journal of Labor Economics
Suresh Naidu
Professor of International and Public Affairs and the Jack Wang and Echo Ren Professor of Economics
Personal Details
On Leave for the Fall 2024 Semester
Focus areas: Economic effects of political transitions, economic history of slavery and labor institutions, international migration, economic applications of natural language processing
Suresh Naidu teaches economics, political economy and development.
Naidu previously served as a Harvard Academy Junior Scholar at Harvard University, and as an instructor in economics and political economy at the University of California, Berkeley.
Naidu holds a BMath from University of Waterloo, an MA in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Publications:
- “Recruitment Restrictions and Labor Markets: Evidence from the Post-Bellum U.S. South,” Journal of Labor Economics.
- “Intergenerational Wealth Transmission and the Dynamics of Inequality in Small-Scale Societies” with Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Samuel Bowles, Tom Hertz, Adrian Bell, Jan Beise, Greg Clark, Ila Fazzio, Michael Gurven, Kim , Paul L. Hooper, William Irons, Hillard Kaplan, Donna Leonetti, Bobbi Low, Frank Marlowe, Richard McElreath, Suresh Naidu, David Nolin, Patrizio Piraino, Rob Quinlan, Eric Schniter, Rebecca Sear, Mary Shenk, Eric Alden Smith, Christopher von Rueden, and Polly Wiessner. Science Vol. 326. No. 5953 (October 30, 2009.) pp 682-688.
- “Occupational Choices: The Economic Determinants of Land Invasions” with Danny Hidalgo, Simeon Nichter, and Neal Richardson, Review of Economics and Statistics.
- “The Economic Impacts of a Citywide Minimum Wage” with Arin Dube and Michael Reich. Industrial and Labor Relations Review Vol. 60, No. 4 (July 2007), pp. 522-543.
Education
- PhD in Economics, University of California, Berkeley
- MA in Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- BMath, University of Waterloo
Research And Publications
Review of Economics and Statistics
Industrial and Labor Relations Review
Working Paper Series, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley
In The Media
Suresh Naidu and co-authors point to a shift in the Democratic Party’s economic policy, from predistribution to redistribution, as one of the reasons why it has lost less-educated voters.
Suresh Naidu wrote: Most American employers are still staunchly anti-union, and labor’s recent gains may be just “drops in the bucket of the overall American labor market.”
Suresh Naidu discusses a new working paper that examines the impact of changing Democratic policies.
Professor Suresh Naidu comments on how the increased publicity about labor unions is helping their success.
Professor Suresh Naidu and coauthors find evidence that unions played a critical role in boosting wages for American workers and reducing income inequality in the early- to mid-20th century.