معرفی
Naci Mocan serves as Professor and Ourso Distinguished Chair in Economics at Louisiana State University's E.J. Ourso College of Business. He maintains significant external affiliations as a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), while contributing to academic discourse through editorial board membership for the Journal of Labor Research.
His educational foundation includes a PhD in Economics from the City University of New York (1989) and a BA in Economics from Bogazici University (1984). This training enabled his distinctive interdisciplinary approach spanning multiple economic subfields.
Professor Mocan's research program integrates Labor Economics, Health Economics, and Cultural Economics with groundbreaking work in Law and Economics. His investigations into judicial bias mechanisms—examining racial preferences in court decisions and using NBA referees as experimental analogs—demonstrate innovative methodology. Parallel streams explore refugee-crime dynamics, political economy of deterrence, and cultural determinants of economic prosperity, with his forthcoming MIT Press book representing a major theoretical contribution. This work consistently bridges micro-level behavioral insights with macro-level policy implications.
His publication trajectory shows sustained productivity in top journals, with 2023-2025 output focusing on cultural economics foundations and judicial behavior. The concentration of recent work in Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and Review of Economics and Statistics underscores disciplinary influence.
His primary recognition is the prestigious Ourso Distinguished Chair at LSU, reflecting institutional esteem for his scholarly impact. External validation comes through continued NBER and IZA appointments, which represent selective recognition within the economics profession.
As an active committee member in LSU's business college governance and editorial contributor to field-specific journals, Professor Mocan shapes academic discourse beyond his publications. His media engagements with NPR and The Economist demonstrate public impact, particularly regarding cultural influences on economic outcomes.
Though not leading a named laboratory, his research operates through departmental infrastructure at LSU combined with NBER/IZA networks. This collaborative model facilitates international data access and methodological exchange, particularly evident in cross-national studies of prejudice and crime dynamics.
