Jan Švejnar (born October 2, 1952) is a United States-based, Czech-born economist. He was a candidate for the 2008 election of the President of the Czech Republic. Professor Švejnar is director of the Center on Global Economic Governance and professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University. He is also a founder and chairman of

CERGE-EI The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education – Economics Institute, known as CERGE-EI () is an academic institution in Prague, Czech Republic, specialised in economics. The institute is a partnership between the Center for Economi ...

in Prague (a joint workplace of the

Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

and Economics Institute of the

Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic The Czech Academy of Sciences (abbr. CAS, cs, Akademie věd České republiky, abbr. AV ČR) was established in 1992 by the Czech National Council as the Czech successor of the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and its tradition goes back ...

that offers an American-style Ph.D. program in economics that educates the new generation of economists for Central-

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

Europe and the Newly Independent States). He also served as the chairman of the Supervisory Board of ČSOB Bank (until November 2007) and co-editor of the ''Economics of Transition''. Since 2007, he is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE). He is also a Fellow of the

European Economic Association The European Economic Association (EEA) is a professional academic body which links European economists. It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its first annual congress was in 1986 in Vienna and its first president was Jacques Drèze. The current pres ...

and research fellow of the

Centre for Economic Policy Research The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is an independent, non‐partisan, pan‐European non‐profit organisation. Its mission is to enhance the quality of policy decisions through providing policy‐relevant research, based soundly in e ...

(London) and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn).

Life

Švejnar went into exile in 1970 and later on graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with a B.S in industrial and labor relations. At Cornell, Švejnar resided at the

Telluride House The Telluride House, formally the Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association (CBTA), and commonly referred to as just "Telluride", is a highly selective intentional community, residential community of Cornell University students and faculty. ...

. He obtained a Ph.D. in economics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. His academic interests are in the areas of economic development and transition, labor economics and behavior of the firm. His research focuses on the determinants and effects of (a) government policies on firms and labor and capital markets, (b) corporate and national governance and performance, and (c) entrepreneurship. He is the author and editor of a number of books and has published in academic, policy and practitioner-oriented journals in advanced and emerging market economies, including ''the American Economic Review,

Econometrica ''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief is ...

, Economica,

Economics of Transition A transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Transition economies undergo a set of structural transformations intended to develop market-based institutions. ...

, European Business Forum,

European Economic Review The ''European Economic Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers research in economics. The journal was established in 1969 and the five main editors are: Florin Bilbiie, (University of Lausanne); David K. Levine, (European Univers ...

, Journal of Comparative Economics,

Journal of Development Economics The ''Journal of Development Economics'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Elsevier. It was established in 1974 and is considered the top field journal in development economics. Its editor-in-chief from 1985 to 2003 was Pr ...

'', and many others. In 2012, Švejnar was honored with a Neuron Prize for lifelong achievement from the Karel Janeček Endowment for Research and Science.

Run for Czech presidency

On December 14, 2007, he announced his candidacy for the position of Czech president in the upcoming indirect presidential election. His nomination came from a proposal of 10 Senators (party affiliation –

KDU-ČSL KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; cs, Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to ('the populars') is a Christian-democrati ...

: 2,

ČSSD The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a ...

: 3, SNK-ED: 1, independent: 4). In Parliament, his support was generally based on the Deputies and Senators elected for the

Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a ...

(ČSSD) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. On February 8, 2008, Švejnar faced

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...

, at that time the incumbent Czech president, in the first round of presidential election held within the two chambers of the

Czech Parliament The Parliament of the Czech Republic ( cs, Parlament České republiky) or just Parliament ( cs, Parlament) is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, seated in Malá Strana, Prague. It consists of two chambers, both elected in direct elec ...

. In a second round on February 9, 2008, neither candidate gained the required majority of 140 votes in both chambers together.

received 139 and Jan Švejnar 113 votes out of 278 votes cast in both chambers together. In a third round on February 15, Klaus was re-elected with 141 votes out of 279 lawmakers present, one more than the required minimum, while Švejnar received 111 votes."Klaus re-elected Czech president"
Xinhua, February 15, 2008. Klaus' victory margin was supplied by 3 MPs who were elected for the ČSSD.

References

External links

Biography at the University of Michigan

Biography at SIPA, Columbia University

Biography on the website about Czech Presidential Elections
* (The Michigan Daily)
Czech president probably not chosen in election
(Czech Press Agency) {{DEFAULTSORT:Svejnar, Jan 1952 births Living people 20th-century Czech economists Czechoslovak expatriates in the United States Cornell University alumni University of Michigan faculty Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy faculty Politicians from Prague University of Pittsburgh faculty Candidates in the 2008 Czech presidential election Czech Social Democratic Party presidential candidates Mayors and Independents presidential candidates Green Party (Czech Republic) presidential candidates Czech agnostics Fellows of the European Economic Association Columbia University faculty 21st-century Czech economists