Business Economics
From corporate finance, industrial organization, and international business, to markets, competition, and government regulation, HBS doctoral students in Business Economics delve into some of the most pressing and relevant topics in the field of economics through the practical lens of business.
Jointly administered by HBS and the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the program combines theoretical analysis with in-depth, interdisciplinary research rooted in real-world applications.
Curriculum & Coursework
As a Business Economics PhD student, you will take courses alongside your peers in the Department of Economics, studying microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, probability and statistics, econometrics, and other specialized topics. In addition, your doctoral coursework and two MBA courses at HBS deepen your theoretical knowledge and harness it toward practical applications. Your coursework culminates in a written exam administered jointly by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and HBS at the end of your second year on two special fields of study. In addition to coursework and research, doctoral students are required to complete one academic term of teaching.
Research Dissertation
HBS doctoral students are insatiably curious, and they use the tools and knowledge developed in the classroom to ask—and answer—pressing questions about the field of economics. After passing your field exams, you will work closely with faculty mentors to identify a line of inquiry that will guide your original research. In the course of your research, you will present, analyze, and evaluate unique data and reach relevant, independent conclusions that advance your field.
Areas of Specialization
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- Behavioral Economics
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- Development
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- Econometrics
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- Economic History
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- Economic Theory
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- Economics of Organization
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- Entrepreneurship
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- Finance
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- Industrial Organization
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- International Economics
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- Labor Economics
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- Macroeconomics
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- Political Economy
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- Public Economics
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- Organizational Economics
Profiles
“HBS is the ideal environment because I get to think about the world like an economist, but I have the freedom and resources to draw on methods from other disciplines as I study market design and industrial organization.”
2023 Graduate, Business Economics
“HBS is the ideal environment because I get to think about the world like an economist, but I have the freedom and resources to draw on methods from other disciplines as I study market design and industrial organization.”
2023 Graduate, Business Economics
Recent Placement
Maxim Alekseev, 2025
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Finance Department
Wilbur Townsend, 2025
University of California, Berkeley, Economics Department
Michael Blank, 2024
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Finance Academic Area
Kunal Sangani, 2024
Northwestern University, Economics Department
Spencer Yongwook Kwon, 2023
Brown University, Department of Economics
Daniel Ramos, 2023
John Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
Francesca Bastianello, 2022
The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Frank Pinter, 2022
Economist
Federal Trade Commission, Economist
Federal Trade Commission, Economist
Andreas Schaab, 2021
Post-doctoral fellow (2021-2022)
Columbia University Business School, Post-Doctoral fellow (2021-2022); Toulouse School of Economics, Assistant Professor (2022)
Columbia University Business School, Post-Doctoral fellow (2021-2022); Toulouse School of Economics, Assistant Professor (2022)
Edoardo Maria Acabbi, 2020
University Carlos III of Madrid
Michael Thaler, 2020
Postdoctoral Fellow
Princeton University, Economics Department, Post-doctoral fellow (2020-2022); University College London, Assistant Professor (2022)
Princeton University, Economics Department, Post-doctoral fellow (2020-2022); University College London, Assistant Professor (2022)
Marcela Carvalho, 2025
London Business School, Accounting Department
Advisors:
John Campbell (Chair), Katherine B. Coffman, Samuel G. Hanson, Robin Greenwood, and Tarek Hassan
Jeffrey Yang, 2025
University of California, Santa Barbara, Economics Department
Advisors:
Benjamin Enke (Chair), Tomasz Strzalecki, Joshua R. Schwartzstein, Matthew Rabin, and Joshua R. Schwartzstein
Jiafeng (Kevin) Chen, 2024
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), Post-Doctoral Fellow (2024-2025)
Stanford University, Economics Department (2025-)
Hanbin Yang, 2024
London Business School, Finance Department
Robert Minton, 2023
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Economist
Sagar Saxena, 2023
Yale University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024); University
of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Business Economics and Public Policy Department,
Assistant Professor (2024)
Talia B. Gillis, 2022
Columbia Law School, Associate Professor of Law
Ron Yang, 2022
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Postdoctoral Scholar (2022-2023);
University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business, Assistant Professor (2023-)
Gregor Schubert, 2021
University of California-Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management
Xiang Ding, 2020
Georgetown University, Walsh School of Foreign Service
Jeff Gortmaker, 2025
New York University Stern School of Business, Economics Department
Martin Aragoneses, 2024
INSEAD, Department of Finance
Angela Ma, 2024
Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Finance Department
John Conlon, 2023
Stanford University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024), Carnegie
Mellon University, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Assistant Professor
(2024)
Erica Moszkowski, 2023
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Economist
Ran Zhuo, 2023
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024);
Assistant Professor (2024)
Matthew Lilley, 2022
Australian National University
David Zhang, 2022
Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business
Karen Shen, 2021
Research Improving People’s Lives (RIPL), Economist (2021-2022); Johns Hopkins University,
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Assistant Professor (2022)
Ravi Jagadeesan, 2020
Stanford University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2020-2022); Assistant
Professor (2022-)
Advisors:
Scott Duke Kominers, Emmanuel Farhi, Jerry R. Green, Stefanie Stantcheva, and Alexander Teytelboym
Maxim Alekseev, 2025
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Finance Department
Marcela Carvalho, 2025
London Business School, Accounting Department
Advisors:
John Campbell (Chair), Katherine B. Coffman, Samuel G. Hanson, Robin Greenwood, and Tarek Hassan
Jeff Gortmaker, 2025
New York University Stern School of Business, Economics Department
Wilbur Townsend, 2025
University of California, Berkeley, Economics Department
Jeffrey Yang, 2025
University of California, Santa Barbara, Economics Department
Advisors:
Benjamin Enke (Chair), Tomasz Strzalecki, Joshua R. Schwartzstein, Matthew Rabin, and Joshua R. Schwartzstein
Martin Aragoneses, 2024
INSEAD, Department of Finance
Michael Blank, 2024
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Finance Academic Area
Jiafeng (Kevin) Chen, 2024
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), Post-Doctoral Fellow (2024-2025)
Stanford University, Economics Department (2025-)
Angela Ma, 2024
Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Finance Department
Kunal Sangani, 2024
Northwestern University, Economics Department
Hanbin Yang, 2024
London Business School, Finance Department
John Conlon, 2023
Stanford University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024), Carnegie
Mellon University, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Assistant Professor
(2024)
Spencer Yongwook Kwon, 2023
Brown University, Department of Economics
Robert Minton, 2023
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Economist
Erica Moszkowski, 2023
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Economist
Daniel Ramos, 2023
John Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
Sagar Saxena, 2023
Yale University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024); University
of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Business Economics and Public Policy Department,
Assistant Professor (2024)
Ran Zhuo, 2023
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2023-2024);
Assistant Professor (2024)
Francesca Bastianello, 2022
The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Talia B. Gillis, 2022
Columbia Law School, Associate Professor of Law
Matthew Lilley, 2022
Australian National University
Frank Pinter, 2022
Economist
Federal Trade Commission, Economist
Federal Trade Commission, Economist
Ron Yang, 2022
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, Postdoctoral Scholar (2022-2023);
University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business, Assistant Professor (2023-)
David Zhang, 2022
Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business
Andreas Schaab, 2021
Post-doctoral fellow (2021-2022)
Columbia University Business School, Post-Doctoral fellow (2021-2022); Toulouse School of Economics, Assistant Professor (2022)
Columbia University Business School, Post-Doctoral fellow (2021-2022); Toulouse School of Economics, Assistant Professor (2022)
Gregor Schubert, 2021
University of California-Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management
Karen Shen, 2021
Research Improving People’s Lives (RIPL), Economist (2021-2022); Johns Hopkins University,
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Assistant Professor (2022)
Edoardo Maria Acabbi, 2020
University Carlos III of Madrid
Xiang Ding, 2020
Georgetown University, Walsh School of Foreign Service
Ravi Jagadeesan, 2020
Stanford University, Department of Economics, Post-Doctoral Fellow (2020-2022); Assistant
Professor (2022-)
Advisors:
Scott Duke Kominers, Emmanuel Farhi, Jerry R. Green, Stefanie Stantcheva, and Alexander Teytelboym
Michael Thaler, 2020
Postdoctoral Fellow
Princeton University, Economics Department, Post-doctoral fellow (2020-2022); University College London, Assistant Professor (2022)
Princeton University, Economics Department, Post-doctoral fellow (2020-2022); University College London, Assistant Professor (2022)
Current Business Economics Students
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- Sage Belz
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- Fiona Chen
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- Cameron Cohen
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- Jorge Colmenares
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- Terry Culpepper
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- Cameron Deal
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- Jo Ellery
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- Aristotle Epanomeritakis
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- Simon Essig Aberg
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- Toren Fronsdal
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- Jay Garg
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- Shlok Goyal
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- Sage Belz
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- Fiona Chen
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- Cameron Cohen
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- Jorge Colmenares
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- Terry Culpepper
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- Cameron Deal
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- Jo Ellery
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- Aristotle Epanomeritakis
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- Simon Essig Aberg
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- Toren Fronsdal
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- Jay Garg
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- Shlok Goyal
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- Helene Hall
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- Ruru (Juan Ru) Hoong
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- Catherine Huang
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- Baiyun Jing
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- Nathan Kaplan
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- Justin Katz
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- Lev Klarnet
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- Shira Li
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- Iris Li
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- Alex Magnuson
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- Fanele Mashwama
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- Laura Nicolae
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- Saketh Prazad
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- Lauren Rice
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- Maya Roy
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- Dominic Russel
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- Leo Saenger
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- Claire Shi
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- Jennifer Walsh
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- Cashua Wang
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- Katherine Wang
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- Alex Wu
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- Jeffrey Yang
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- Jennifer Zou
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Current Harvard Economics Faculty
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- Pol Antràs
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- Robert Barro
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- Emily Breza
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- John Y. Campbell
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- Raj Chetty
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- Gabriel Chodorow-Reich
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- Richard Cooper
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- David M. Cutler
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- Melissa Dell
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- Karen Dynan
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- Benjamin Enke
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- Richard B. Freeman
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- Benjamin M. Friedman
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- Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
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- Xavier Gabaix
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- Edward Glaeser
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- Claudia Goldin
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- Pol Antràs
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- Robert Barro
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- Emily Breza
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- John Y. Campbell
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- Raj Chetty
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- Gabriel Chodorow-Reich
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- Richard Cooper
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- David M. Cutler
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- Melissa Dell
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- Karen Dynan
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- Benjamin Enke
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- Richard B. Freeman
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- Benjamin M. Friedman
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- Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
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- Xavier Gabaix
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- Edward Glaeser
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- Claudia Goldin
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- Benjamin Golub
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- Gita Gopinath
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- Oliver Hart
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- Elhanan Helpman
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- Dale Jorgenson
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- Myrto Kalouptsidi
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- Maximilian Kasy
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- Lawrence Katz
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- Gabriel Kreindler
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- David Laibson
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- Robin S. Lee
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- N. Gregory Mankiw
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- Stephen Marglin
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- Eric S. Maskin
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- Marc Melitz
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- Jeffrey Miron
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- Ariel Pakes
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- Amanda Pallais
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- Matthew Rabin
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- Gautam Rao
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- Kenneth Rogoff
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- Amartya Sen
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- Neil Shephard
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- Andrei Shleifer
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- Stefanie Stantcheva
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- Jeremy Stein
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- James Stock
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- Ludwig Straub
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- Tomasz Strzalecki
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- Lawrence H. Summers
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- Elie Tamer
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- Winnie Van Dijk
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- David Yang
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Current HBS Faculty
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- Laura Alfaro
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- Samuel B. Antill
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- Brian K. Baik
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- Malcolm P. Baker
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- John Beshears
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- Alberto F. Cavallo
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- Alex Chan
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- Katherine B. Coffman
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- Lauren H. Cohen
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- Shawn A. Cole
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- Leemore S. Dafny
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- Mihir A. Desai
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- Mark L. Egan
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- Benjamin C. Esty
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- C. Fritz Foley
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- Stuart C. Gilson
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- Paul A. Gompers
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- Jerry R. Green
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- Shane M. Greenstein
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- Laura Alfaro
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- Samuel B. Antill
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- Brian K. Baik
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- Malcolm P. Baker
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- John Beshears
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- Alberto F. Cavallo
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- Alex Chan
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- Katherine B. Coffman
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- Lauren H. Cohen
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- Shawn A. Cole
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- Leemore S. Dafny
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- Mihir A. Desai
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- Mark L. Egan
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- Benjamin C. Esty
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- C. Fritz Foley
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- Stuart C. Gilson
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- Paul A. Gompers
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- Jerry R. Green
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- Shane M. Greenstein
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- Robin Greenwood
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- Brian J. Hall
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- Samuel G. Hanson
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- Victoria Ivashina
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- Ebehi Iyoha
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- Archie L. Jones
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- Robert S. Kaplan
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- William R. Kerr
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- Tarun Khanna
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- Ray Kluender
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- Jacqueline Ng Lane
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- Josh Lerner
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- Edward McFowland III
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- David A. Moss
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- Joseph Pacelli
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- Matthew Rabin
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- Sophus A. Reinert
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- Forest L. Reinhardt
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- Meg Rithmire
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- Clayton S. Rose
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- Benjamin N. Roth
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- Raffaella Sadun
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- David S. Scharfstein
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- Joshua R. Schwartzstein
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- Arthur I Segel
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- Ishita Sen
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- Emil N. Siriwardane
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- Adi Sunderam
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- Jo Tango
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- Boris Vallee
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- Luis M. Viceira
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- Matthew C. Weinzierl
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- Dennis A. Yao
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- Yuan Zou
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