Elhanan Helpman
Program
Institutions, Organizations and Growth
Appointment
Senior Fellow; Program Director
Institution
Harvard University
Country
USA 
Elhanan Helpman is the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade at Harvard University, an Emeritus Professor in the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He was the Director of CIFAR's Economic Growth & Policy Program, which concluded in 2002, and now continues his leadership as Director of the Institutions, Organizations & Growth Program. He holds a B.A. degree in Economics and Statistics from Tel Aviv University, an M.A. degree in Economics from the same institution, and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Prof. Helpman has studied the Israeli economy and has been an active participant in Israeli policy debates. He has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Bank of Israel, the Council for National Planning, and the National Council for Research and Development. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Bank Hapoalim.
Prof. Helpman has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, served as Co-Editor of the Journal of International Economics and as Editor of the European Economic Review. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and has been a member of its Council. He has delivered major invited lectures, such as the Frank Graham Memorial Lecture at Princeton University, the Schumpeter Lecture of the European Economic Association, the Walras-Bowley Lecture of the Econometric Society, and the Ohlin Lectures at the Stockholm School of Economics. He has been awarded the Mahalanobis Memorial Medal by the Indian Econometric Society and the Bernhard-Harms Prize by the Institute for World Economics. He has also received the Rotschild Prize and the Israel Prize. Prof. Helpman is a member of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities, a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an Honorary Member of the American Economic Association. He has served as President of the Israeli Economic Association and President of the Econometric Association.
Prof. Helpman's research contributions include studies of the balance of payments, exchange rate regimes, stabilization programs and foreign debt. Most important, however, are his studies of international trade, economic growth and political economy. He is a co-founder of the "new trade theory" and the "new growth theory," which emphasize the roles of economies of scale and imperfect competition. Much of his work in trade, growth and political economy is summarized in five books: Market Structure and Foreign Trade (with Paul Krugman); Trade Policy and Market Structure (with Paul Krugman); Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy (with Gene Grossman), Special Interest Politics (with Gene Grossman), and Interest Groups and Trade Policy (with Gene Grossman). Prof. Helpman's most recent book, The Mystery of Economic Growth, published in 2004, reflects many of the insights he gained in CIFAR's Economic Growth & Policy Program.
