Dany Bahar
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development
Associate Professor of Practice of International and Public Affairs - Brown University
Dany Bahar is a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution and an associate professor of practice of international and public affairs at Brown University's Watson Institute. He was previously a Senior Fellow and David M. Rubenstein Fellow at Brookings. An Israeli and Venezuelan economist, he is also an associate at the Harvard Center for International Development (Growth Lab), and a research affiliate at both CESifo Group Munich and IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
His research sits at the intersection of international economics and economic development. In particular, his academic research focuses on the diffusion of technology and knowledge within and across borders, as measured by productivity, structural transformation, exports, entrepreneurship and innovation, among other factors. Lately, his research has focused on migrants and refugees as drivers of this process and, more broadly, on the benefits that migrants and refugees bring to both their countries of origin and destination. His academic work has been published in top economic journals, and he often contributes to leading media outlets in the United States and around the globe.
His expertise on policy issues includes structural transformation policies, trade policies, integration of immigrants and refugees in local economies, productivity dynamics, and issues related to globalization more generally. He also analyzes and follows closely political and economic trends in Latin America and the Middle East (particularly, Israel and its neighbors). He has worked and consulted for multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. In 2019, he participated in a task force of independent experts convened by the secretary general of the Organization of American States to recommend regional actions on the Venezuelan migration and refugee crisis. He is also the host of “Economists On Zoom Getting Coffee.”
Bahar holds a B.A. in systems engineering from Universidad Metropolitana (Caracas, Venezuela), an M.A. in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an M.P.A. in international development from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.
See more research from Dany Bahar on his website.
Dany Bahar is a nonresident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution and an associate professor of practice of international and public affairs at Brown University’s Watson Institute. He was previously a Senior Fellow and David M. Rubenstein Fellow at Brookings. An Israeli and Venezuelan economist, he is also an associate at the Harvard Center for International Development (Growth Lab), and a research affiliate at both CESifo Group Munich and IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
His research sits at the intersection of international economics and economic development. In particular, his academic research focuses on the diffusion of technology and knowledge within and across borders, as measured by productivity, structural transformation, exports, entrepreneurship and innovation, among other factors. Lately, his research has focused on migrants and refugees as drivers of this process and, more broadly, on the benefits that migrants and refugees bring to both their countries of origin and destination. His academic work has been published in top economic journals, and he often contributes to leading media outlets in the United States and around the globe.
His expertise on policy issues includes structural transformation policies, trade policies, integration of immigrants and refugees in local economies, productivity dynamics, and issues related to globalization more generally. He also analyzes and follows closely political and economic trends in Latin America and the Middle East (particularly, Israel and its neighbors). He has worked and consulted for multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. In 2019, he participated in a task force of independent experts convened by the secretary general of the Organization of American States to recommend regional actions on the Venezuelan migration and refugee crisis. He is also the host of “Economists On Zoom Getting Coffee.”
Bahar holds a B.A. in systems engineering from Universidad Metropolitana (Caracas, Venezuela), an M.A. in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an M.P.A. in international development from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.
See more research from Dany Bahar on his website.
There is vast literature in economics showing how migrants are entrepreneurs at a much higher rate than locals. The act of migrating itself is an act of risk taking, and that’s the kind of profile of an entrepreneur.
"Instead of stopping trade, modernize the trade agreements, but also provide safety nets for workers. Because these things are going to keep happening, not only because of trade but because of modernization."
That old argument is that people come from abroad and take a limited number of jobs, but that is too simplifying and false...Due to their very nature, immigrants are entrepreneurial: Moving to a new country is an entrepreneurial act that’s filled with risks.
