Benjamin F. Jones
Benjamin F Jones

MANAGEMENT & STRATEGY; HEALTH ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT; INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & MARKETS; SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Associate Professor of Management & Strategy
Faculty Director, Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI)

Print Overview

Benjamin F. Jones is an Associate Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management. Professor Jones’s research considers obstacles to growth in developing countries, with recent work considering subjects such as national leadership, higher education, and climate change. He further studies the forces that drive technological progress in advanced economies, with recent work examining collaboration in innovation and the relationship between age and creativity. His publications have appeared in leading academic journals such as the Review of Economic Studies, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Science, and have been profiled in media outlets such as CNN, the Economist, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as in popular books such as Tim Harford’s Adapt.

Professor Jones served in 2010-2011 as the senior economist for macroeconomics for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and earlier served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  In 2011, he was awarded the Stanley Reiter Best Paper Award by his peers at Kellogg for the best academic article written by a Kellogg faculty member in the prior four years.



Areas of Expertise
Development Economics
Economic Growth
Emerging Markets
Globalization
Innovation
International Business
International Economics
Technology
Print Vita
Education
PhD, 2003, Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MPhil, 1997, Economics, Oxford University
BSE, 1995, Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Summa Cum Laude

Academic Positions
Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2007-present
Associate Professor, Weinberg College of Arts of Sciences, Northwestern University, 2005-present
Faculty Affiliate, Center for International and Comparative Studies, Northwestern University, 2005-present
Faculty Research Fellow, Center for International Economics and Development, Northwestern University, 2005-present
Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005-present
Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2003-2007
Special Assistant to Deputy Secrety Lawrence H. Summers, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1997-1998
Lecturer, Kazakhstan Institute for Management and Economic Progress, 1996-1997

Grants and Awards
Stanley Reiter Best Paper Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2011
Benjamin F. Jones
Age and Great Invention.
Review of Economics and Statistics, 2010, 92(1): 1-14.
[Read the press release] [Read the Kellogg Insight article]
Finalist, L.G. Lavengood Professor of the Year Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2008
Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economic Review, 2009

Editorial Positions
Associate Editor, Journal of Development Economics, 2010-Present

 
Print Research
Research Interests
Economic growth; development economics; technology and innovation

Articles
Jones, Benjamin F. 2011. Age Dynamics in Scientific Creativity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108(47): 18855-19096.
Jones, Benjamin F and Benjamin Olken. 2010. Climate Shocks and Exports. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings. 100(2): 454-459.
Jones, Benjamin F. 2010. Age and Great Invention. Review of Economics and Statistics. 92(1): 1-14.
Jones, Benjamin F and Benjamin Olken. 2009. Hit or Miss?: The Effect of Assassinations on Institutions and War. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. 1(2): 55-87.
Jones, Benjamin F, Melissa Dell and Benjamin Olken. 2009. Temperature and Income: Reconciling New Cross-Sectional and Panel Estimates. American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings. 99(2): 198-204.
Jones, Benjamin FBrian Uzzi and Stefan Wuchty. 2008. Multi-University Research Teams: Shifting Impact, Geography and Social Stratification in Science. Science. 322: 1259-1262.
Jones, Benjamin F and Benjamin Olken. 2008. The Anatomy of Start-Stop Growth. Review of Economics and Statistics. 90(3): 582-587.
Wuchty, Stefan, Benjamin F Jones and Brian Uzzi. 2007. The Increasing Dominance of Teams in the Production of Knowledge. Science. 316(5827): 1036-1039.
Jones, Benjamin F. 2009. The Burden of Knowledge and the Death of the Renaissance Man: Is Innovation Getting Harder?. Review of Economic Studies. 76(1)
Wuchty, Stefan, Benjamin F Jones and Brian Uzzi. 2007. Why Do Team Authored Papers Get Cited More?. Science (Letters). 317(5844): 1496-1498.
Jones, Benjamin F and Benjamin Olken. 2005. Do Leaders Matter? National Leadership and Growth Since WWII. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 120(3): 835-864.
Working Papers
Jones, Benjamin F. 2011. The Human Capital Stock: A Generalized Approach.
Dell, Melissa, Benjamin F Jones and Benjamin Olken. 2008. Climate Change and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Last Half Century.
Jones, Benjamin F. 2008. The Knowledge Trap: Human Capital and Development, Reconsidered.
Book Chapters
Jones, Benjamin F. 2012. "Generality, Recombination, and Re-Use." In The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, 656-661. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jones, Benjamin F. 2010. "As Science Evolves, How Can Science Policy?." In NBER Book Series Innovation Policy and the Economy 11, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, 103-131. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jones, Benjamin F. 2009. "National Leadership and Economic Growth." In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Online Edition, edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Other
Jones, Benjamin F and Benjamin Olken. "Does Climate Change Affect Economic Growth?." Centre for Economic Policy Research.

 
Print Teaching
Teaching Interests
Business strategy in emerging markets
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
International Business Strategy in Non-Market Environments (INTL-466-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: International Business, Management & Strategy, Social Enterprise.

International markets present unique opportunities and pitfalls for business growth and development. This course outlines fundamental differences among developed and developing countries, starting briefly with broad historical differences and moving on to specific issues such as the protection of property rights, corruption and the effects of political institutions. The role of international institutions such as the IMF and World Trade Organization also are discussed. The results from cutting-edge economic research are complemented by business examples to provide the international business manager with a broad, fact-based perspective on international markets today.

Executive MBA
Strategic Challenges in Emerging Markets (INTLX-468-0)