Benjamin F. Jones is the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and a Professor of Strategy. An economist by training, Professor Jones studies the sources of economic growth in advanced economies, with an emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, and scientific progress.  He also studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations.  His research has appeared in journals such as Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the American Economic Review, and has been profiled in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and The New Yorker.

A former Rhodes Scholar, 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.   

Professor Jones is a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he co-directs the Innovation Policy Working Group, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Economic growth; development economics; technology, science, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

• PhD, 2003, Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MPhil, 1997, Economics, Oxford University
• BSE, 1995, Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Summa Cum Laude

• Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2014-present
• Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, 2019-present
• Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012-present
• Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2007-2014
• Faculty Affiliate, Center for International and Comparative Studies, Northwestern University, 2005-present
• Faculty Affiliate, Center for International Economics and Development, Northwestern University, 2005-present
• Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005-2010
• Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2003-2007
• Lecturer, Kazakhstan Institute for Management and Economic Progress, 1996-1996

• Senior Economist for Macroeconomics, White House, 2010-2011
• Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1997-1998

• AER: Insights Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economics Association
• AER: Insights Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economics Association
• Finalist, L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, 2020-2021
• Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award
• Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award
• Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economic Review
• Stanley Reiter Best Paper Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2011
• Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economic Review, 2009

• Associate Editor, Journal of Development Economics, 2010-Present

Business strategy in emerging markets (MBA).

Innovation and entrepreneurship (PhD).

Research in Economics (MECS-560-3)
This course introduces first-year PhD students to the economics research environment. With an emphasis on breadth, and minimal prerequisite knowledge at the graduate level, students are exposed to the process of forming and answering research questions. The course involves multiple faculty providing their perspective on successful approaches to research by highlighting significant recent works in their respective fields of interest.

Technology and Innovation ll (MECS-549-2)
This course establishes fundamental ways in which ideas differ from other goods, then uses these concepts to evaluate the origins of innovation, economic growth, firm dynamics, entrepreneurship, innovation clusters, and the diffusion of new technology. The course substantially reviews core empirical literature, including methods and data sets that are suited to studying ideas and innovation.

Strategic Challenges in Emerging Markets (STRT-466-0)
Globalization presents central opportunities and challenges for business growth. Whether a firm seeks new markets for its products, lower-cost production opportunities, or high-yield investment vehicles, many of the most attractive opportunities internationally lie in "emerging markets" in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere. At the same time, these business environments present special risks and challenges. Achieving competitive advantage in emerging markets depends on the firm's ability to manage the risks posed by weak legal systems, which limit the enforceability of contracts and property rights while amplifying the challenges of corruption, as well as managing through the macroeconomic, trade policy, and political regime shocks that regularly visit emerging market environments. This course provides toolkits and frameworks to successfully confront these challenges. The course will integrate numerous business examples with insights from the latest economics, business strategy, and political science research to provide the international business manager with a cutting-edge, integrated perspective on globalization and a set of strategic solutions to manage the most prevalent business risks in emerging markets.