John A. List

Who is John A. List?

John August List is The Homer J. Livingston Professor in Economics and the Chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 1996. List had his first teaching position at the University of Central Florida, and he then moved to the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he still holds an adjunct position, before moving to Chicago. List also spends time at Tilburg University, where he is a distinguished visiting scholar and Resources for the Future, where he is a University Distinguished Scholar. From May 2002 to July 2003 he served as Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisors for Environmental and Resource Economics, where he worked on multi-national market institutions to address climate change, the Clear Skies Act, the OMB benefit cost guidelines, and the Canada–United States softwood lumber dispute.

Within academia, List is known particularly for his innovative use of field experiments in economics, a research approach that List links to Swedish Economist Peter Bohm. For his work using field experiments, List was included as one of the Top 7 economists in the world according to a 2010 Forbes publication. In 2012, List was selected to receive the Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture Series prize, given by the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation. The award, given every 2 years by the Finnish Foundation, recognized List's achievements to society from pioneering the use of field experiments. Ten of the previous Nineteen recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in economics.