Gordon Rausser

Who is Gordon Rausser?

Gordon Rausser is the Robert Gordon Sproul Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisors under President Ronald Reagan and as Chief Economist at the Agency for International Development. He also co-founded the Institute for Policy Reform in Washington, D.C., in 1989. The institute’s purpose was to enhance the foundation for economic growth in developing countries by supporting and disseminating research in the field of economic and policy reform. Rausser served as president of the IPR for 5 years. Rausser’s distinguished governmental service has been recognized with a Superior Unit Citation Award from the Agency for International Development.

Rausser has won 16 national research and teaching awards from such organizations as Harvard University, the American Agricultural Economics Association, and the Western Agricultural Economics Association. His research interests include natural resource economics, biotechnology, environmental policy, bargaining and negotiation theory, regulatory policy, futures and options markets, industrial organization, and antitrust analysis. He has published hundreds of well-regarded articles and several books. His most recent book is Political Power and Economic Policy: Theory, Analysis, and Empirical Applications, of which he is the lead author, published by Cambridge University Press. Political Power and Economic Policy analyzes the links between political economics, governance structures, and the distribution of political power in economic policy making.