Richard Hornbeck is the V. Duane Rath Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is an economic historian and applied-micro economist whose research focuses on the historical development of the American economy, examining why some places and people have become wealthier while others have remained poorer. Hornbeck is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, affiliated with programs on the Development of the American Economy, Development Economics, and Environmental and Energy Economics. Hornbeck's research spans multiple critical areas of economic history, with particular emphasis on slavery and emancipation economics, environmental history (especially the Dust Bowl migration), gender dynamics in 19th-century manufacturing, railroad development, and agricultural economics related to the Ogallala Aquifer. His work frequently utilizes newly digitized historical data to provide fresh insights into longstanding economic questions, connecting historical events to contemporary economic issues of wealth distribution and regional disparities. His publication record shows strong trends in American economic development research, with recent work focusing on the economic impacts of emancipation, historical manufacturing patterns by gender, and urban economic development. Many of his papers have been published as lead articles in top journals including the Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, and Review of Economics and Statistics. Hornbeck has received several prestigious honors including the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2014 and selection for the 2009 Review of Economic Studies Tour. His NBER affiliations demonstrate his standing in multiple subfields of economics research. Prior to joining Chicago Booth in 2015, Hornbeck was the Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History in the Economics Department at Harvard University. He received his PhD in economics from MIT in 2009 and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago in 2004. His teaching includes courses on applied microeconomics in economic history and business in historical perspective, with course schedules extending through 2026.






