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Gordon Hanson
Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Gordon Hanson is the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He is also Chair of the Social and Urban Policy Area at HKS, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is past co-editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of Development Economics. Hanson received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1992 and his BA in economics from Occidental College in 1986. Prior to joining Harvard in 2020, he held the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego, where he was founding director of the Center on Global Transformation. Hanson previously served on the economics faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. In his scholarship, Hanson studies the labor market consequences of globalization. He has published extensively in top economics journals, is widely cited for his research by scholars from across the social sciences and is frequently quoted in major media outlets. Hanson’s current research addresses the causes and consequences of regional job loss, the effectiveness of place-based policies in alleviating regional economic distress, and the labor market consequences of the energy transition. This work is part of the Reimagining the Economy project at HKS, which Hanson co-directs with Dani Rodrik.
Recent work by Gordon Hanson
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Place-based policies and development
How does place-based policy work, and what can it deliver?
Published 10.01.24
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Satellite imagery: The future of tracking urban markets
Analysing night-light intensity provides a complementary, alternative analysis of the intensity of economic activity in areas around urban markets
Published 29.10.18
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Trade and development
Gordon Hanson on what the US anti-trade stand means for developing countries.
Published 20.06.17
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US and EU immigration pressures in the long run
Trends predict a gradual decline in the US’ newly arrived immigrant population, and increases in the stock of first-generation immigrants in the EU
Published 15.11.16
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The rise of China and the future of US manufacturing
Analysis suggests the impact of China’s rise on US manufacturing has been strong, and employment in the sector is unlikely to recover
Published 28.09.14