Sanford M. Jacoby

Sanford M. Jacoby is a Research Professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, with joint appointments in the Department of History and the Department of Public Policy at UCLA. His interdisciplinary work merges economics, history, law, and sociology to analyze employers, labor market institutions, and international political economy.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Economics (1981) from U.C. Berkeley
  • A.B. in Economics (1974) from the University of Pennsylvania

Jacoby’s research spans corporate governance, employment relations in Japan and the U.S., welfare capitalism, and financialization’s impact on labor movements. He has authored over ninety articles and several influential books, including Employing Bureaucracy (George Terry Award winner) and Modern Manors (Philip Taft Award winner). Current projects include Uber’s market entry in Japan and the study of exploitative 'black companies' in Japanese labor practices.

A native New Yorker with roots in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, Jacoby relocated to California for his studies at Berkeley and retains a deep connection to the state through his hobby of cultivating native plants. He has held visiting professorships at Doshisha University, London School of Economics, and the University of Tokyo, among others.

Scientific Awards

• George Terry Book Award (Academy of Management)
• Philip Taft Labor History Award

Jacoby is co-editor of the Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal and serves on editorial boards internationally. He is affiliated with UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies.