Gérard Roland (born 1954) is a Belgian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, and a professor of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

since 2001. He graduated from the Free University of Brussels in 1988 where he taught from 1991 to 2001. His early work was on the

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. After 1990, he became one of the world's most renowned and influential scholars in transition economics. He published various articles in the top 5 economics journals. He wrote the leading graduate textbook ''Transition and Economics'' published in 2000 at MIT Press and translated in various languages, including Chinese and Russian. He co-organized with Olivier Blanchard a Nobel symposium on the transition economics in 1999. Since he came to UC Berkeley, he broadened his research to development economics, economics of institutions and in particular economics of culture. In recent years, he extended his research to comparative economic history in his quest to understand the origins of different cultures in today's world. He has received many honors including an honorary professorship from the Renmin University of China in Beijing in 2002 and the medal “''De Scientia et humanitate optime meritis''” by the Czech Academy of Sciences, November 15, 2018. The Association for Comparative Economic Studies created an annual dissertation fellowship in his name to recognize his contributions to the field. He is a member o
the Executive and Supervisory Committee (ESC)
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 Economic R ...

. As a convinced supporter of the European Union, he contributed to various reports and studies on the European Union and wrote many articles and a book on the European Parliament, all with Simon Hix (now at EUI) and Abdul Noury (now at NYU Abu Dhabi(.

Selected works

* "The Design of Reform Packages under Uncertainty", (with M. Dewatripont), ''

American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal first published by the American Economic Association in 1911. The current editor-in-chief is Erzo FP Luttmer, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College. The journal is ...

'', 1995, 83 (5): 107–1223. * "Federalism and the soft budget constraint" (with Y. Qian), ''

'', 1998, 88(5): 1143-1162. * "Separation of powers and political accountability" (with T. Persson and G. Tabellini)
Quarterly Journal of Economics
1997 112(4): 1163-1202. * "Understanding the soft budget constraint" (with J. Kornai and E. Maski
Journal of Economic Literature
(41) 4: 1095-1136. * "The breakup of nations: a political economy analysis" (with P. Bolton
Quarterly Journal of Economics
1997 112(4): 1057-1090. * "Comparative Politics and Public Finance" (with T. Persson and G. Tabellini)
Journal of Political Economy
2000 108:1121-1141. * "Reform without losers: An interpretation of China's dual-track approach to transition" (with Y. Qian and L. Lau
Journal of Political Economy
2000 108 (1): 120-143. * "Understanding institutional change: Fast-moving and slow-moving institutions
Studies in Comparative International Development
2003 38, 109-131. * "Coordination and Experimentation in M-form and U-form organisations" (with Y. Qian and C. Xu)
Journal of Political Economy
2007 114(2): 366-402. * "Culture, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations" (with Y. Gorodnichenko
Review of Economics and Statistics
2017 99(3):402:416. * BOOKS: * ''Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets and Firms''. MIT Press 2000. * ''Democratic Politics in the European parliament'' (with S. Hix and A. Noury), Cambridge University Press 2007. * ''Development Economics,'' Pearson 2013.

External links

Roland's webpage in Berkeley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roland, Gerard 1954 births Living people Belgian economists University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Université libre de Bruxelles alumni