Professor
Business & Public Policy | Economic Analysis & Policy
Renowned economist and former dean of the Haas School of Business
About
Professor Ann E. Harrison is a renowned economist and one of the most highly cited scholars on foreign investment and multinational firms. She served as the 15th dean of the Haas School of Business and was the second woman to lead the school since its founding in 1898. She has dedicated her career to creating inclusive and sustainable policies in development economics, international trade, global labor markets, and higher education.
Under Harrison’s leadership, Haas increased fundraising commitments by 50 percent. Over her first term, total fundraising exceeded all previous records for the business school. She also significantly expanded faculty size through both generous gifts from alumni and revenue expansion. This allowed her to create a more diverse group of superb faculty and increase female faculty representation by 50 percent. Under Harrison’s leadership, Haas also secured the largest single gift in the school’s history—$30 million from alumnus Warren “Ned” Spieker, BS 66—to transform the number-two ranked undergraduate program into a four-year program.
Harrison also launched the first Flex MBA cohort at any top 10 business school, which lets students take courses remotely with the option to come to campus for electives. Virtual classrooms make the Evening and Weekend MBA—ranked number one nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2023—available to students who prefer flexible schedules, including students based abroad and working parents. Partnerships with the rest of UC Berkeley allowed Harrison to offer exciting programs with the School of Law, the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Berkeley Engineering, the Graduate School of Journalism, and the Rausser College of Natural Resources.
During Harrison’s time as dean, Haas became one of the first leading business schools to appoint a chief officer for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her focus on DEI was instrumental in the enrollment of the most diverse full-time MBA class of any top ten business school in the country, with 49 percent of the class representing students of color; and underrepresented minorities accounting for 23 percent of enrolled U.S. students.
In parallel, Harrison launched two new successful programs for expanding, diversifying, and strengthening access to Haas. The first program, Accelerated Access, allows students to pre-commit to business school while acquiring important work experience to apply to Haas in their senior year of college and gain conditional acceptance. The second program, Cal Advantage, offers a streamlined application process to talented University of California undergraduates.
Harrison brought the same intense focus to sustainability. In addition to an MBA certificate—and a summer minor—in sustainable business, Haas retooled all of its MBA core courses at the end of 2023 to incorporate thinking about climate change and other sustainability challenges throughout various business disciplines.
Entrepreneurship and innovation were also major focuses of Harrison’s deanship. In 2022, Haas began construction on its Entrepreneurship Hub (“eHub”), an incubator for faculty and students with exciting ideas across the Berkeley campus. The eHub will open in fall 2024.
Harrison came to Haas from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where she was the William H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management and a professor of business economics and public policy. Before joining Wharton in 2012, she was the director of development policy at the World Bank, where she co-managed a team of 300 researchers and staff. As director of development policy at the World Bank, Harrison reformed its process for allocating research funds and oversaw the institution’s flagship publications. She convinced the World Bank’s president to release all historical records on project loans, a milestone in increasing its transparency.
Harrison earned her PhD in economics from Princeton University. She also holds a DEUG (diplôme d’études universitaires générales) from the University of Paris. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley with a double major in economics and history. She also served as a professor of Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics from 2001 to 2011.
Expertise and Research Interests
- Multinational Firms
- Foreign Direct Investment
- International Trade and Global Strategy
- Emerging Markets
- India
- China
Books
Videos







- Ana Cecília Fieler, Ann E. Harrison, Escaping Import Competition in China. Journal of International Economics. 2023.
- Emma Aisbett, Ann E. Harrison, David I. Levine, Jason Scorse and Jed Silver. Do Multinational Corporations Exploit Foreign Workers?. Global Goliaths Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century Economy.
Chapter 7
Brookings Institution Press
April 2021 - Jing Cai and Ann Harrison. Industrial Policy in China: Some Intended or Unintended Consequences?. Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 163-198, January 2021 - Ann Harrison, Marshall Meyer, Peichun Wang, Linda Zhao, and Minyuan Zhao. Can a Tiger Change Its Stripes? Reform of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in the Penumbra of the State, NBER Working Papers.
2019 - Ann Harrison. International Trade or Technology: Who is Left Behind and What to do about it. Journal of Globalization and Development.
De Gruyter, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, December 2018 - Ana Cecília Fieler and Ann Harrison. Escaping Import Competition and Downstream Tariffs. NBER Working Papers.
2018 - Ann Harrison, Leslie A. Martin, and Shanthi Nataraj. Green Industrial Policy in Emerging Markets. Annual Review of Resource Economics.
Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 253-274, October 2017 - Leslie A. Martin, Shanthi Nataraj, and Ann E. Harrison. In with the Big, Out with the Small: Removing Small-Scale Reservations in India. American Economic Review.
American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 354-386, February 2017 - Ann Harrison. Review of “Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind,” by Jeffrey Williamson. Journal of Economic History.
2015 - Philippe Aghion, Jing Cai, Mathias Dewatripont, Luosha Du, Ann Harrison, and Patrick Legros. Industrial Policy and Competition. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics.
October 2015 - Luosha Du, Ann Harrison, and Gary Jefferson. FDI Spillovers and Industrial Policy: The Role of Tariffs and Tax Holidays. World Development.
2014 - Ann Harrison, Justin Yifu Lin, and L. Colin Xu. Explaining Africa’s (Dis) advantage. World Development.
2014 - Avraham Ebenstein, Ann Harrison, Margaret McMillan and Shannon Phillips. Estimating the Impact of Trade and Offshoring on American Workers Using the Current Population Surveys. The Review of Economics and Statistics.
2014 - Ann Harrison, Leslie Martin, and Shanthi Nataraj. Learning versus Stealing: How Important are Market-Share Reallocations to India’s Productivity Growth?. World Bank Economic Review.
2013 - Ann Harrison, Benjamin Hyman, Leslie Martin, and Shanthi Nataraj. When do Firms Go Green? Comparing Price Incentives with Command and Control Regulations in India. NBER Working Papers.
2015 - Avraham Ebenstein, Ann Harrison, and Margaret McMillan,. Why are American Workers getting Poorer? China, Trade and Offshoring. NBER Working Papers.
2015 - Chad Bown, Michele Denevers, and Ann Harrison. Why Fracking Won’t Bring Back the Factories (Yet). MPRA Paper.
2013 - Mona Haddad, Ann Harrison, and Catherine Hausman. An Anatomy of Trade in the 2008-09 Crisis. MPRA Paper.
2012 - Ann Harrison. Review of “Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation”. MPRA Paper.
2012 - Luosha Du, Ann Harrison, and Gary Jefferson,. Do Institutions Matter for FDI Spillovers? The Implications of China’s “Special Characteristics”. Working Papers.
2011 - Ann Harrison, John McLaren, and Margaret McMillan,. Recent Perspectives on Trade and Inequality. Annual Review of Economics.
2011 - Jing Cai and Ann Harrison. The value-added tax reform puzzle. Policy Research Working Paper Series.
2011 - Ann Harrison and Claudia Sepulveda. Learning from developing country experience : growth and economic thought before and after the 2008-09 crisis. Policy Research Working Paper Series.
2011 - Mona Haddad, Ann Harrison, and Catherine Hausman. Decomposing the Great Trade Collapse: Products, Prices, and Quantities in the 2008-2009 Crisis. NBER Working Papers.
2010 - Ann Harrison, John McLaren, and Margaret S. McMillan. Recent Findings on Trade and Inequality. NBER Working Papers.
2010 - Alan Gelb, Ann Harrison, and Martin Ravallion. Research for development a World Bank perspective on future directions for research. MPRA Paper.
2010 - Ann Harrison and Margaret McMillan. Offshoring Jobs? Multinationals and U.S. Manufacturing Employment. The Review of Economics and Statistics.
2011 - Ann E. Harrison and Andres Rodriguez-Clare. Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy. MPRA Paper.
2009 - Anne Harrison and Andrés Rodríguez-Clare. Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy for Developing Countries. Handbook of Development Economics.
2010 - Ann E. Harrison and Jason Scorse. Do foreign-owned firms pay more?. MPRA Paper.
2008 - Ann Harrison, Margaret S. McMillan, and Clair Null. US multinational activity abroad and US jobs: substitutes or complements?. MPRA Paper.
2006 - Ann Harrison. Globalization and Poverty. NBER Books.
2007 - Emma Aisbett, Ann Harrison, and Alix Zwane. Globalization and poverty: what is the evidence?. MPRA Paper.
2006 - Ann E. Harrison and Margaret S. McMillan. Outsourcing Jobs? Multinationals and US Employment. NBER Working Papers.
2006 - Ann E. Harrison and Margaret S. McMillan. Dispelling Some Myths About Offshoring. MPRA Paper.
2006 - Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse. Do foreign-owned firms pay more? : evidence from the Indonesian manufacturing sector 1990-99. ILO Working Papers.
2005 - Ann Harrison. Has Globalization Eroded Labor’s Share? Some Cross-Country Evidence. MPRA Paper.
2005 - Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse. Improving the conditions of workers? Minimum wage legilsation and anit-sweatshop activism. MPRA Paper.
2005 - Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse. Moving Up or Moving Out? Anti-Sweatshop Activists and Labor Market Outcomes. NBER Working Papers.
2004 - Ann Harrison and Helena Tang. Liberalization of trade: why so much controversy?. MPRA Paper.
2004 - Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse. Globalization’s impact on compliance with labor standards. MPRA Paper.
2003 - Gunnar S. Eskeland and Ann E. Harrison. Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis. Journal of Development Economics.
2003 - Ann E. Harrison, Inessa Love, and Margaret S. McMillan. Global capital flows and financing constraints. Journal of Development Economics.
2004 - Ann E. Harrison and Margaret S. McMillan. Does Direct Foreign Investment Affect Domestic Firms’ Credit Constraints?. NBER Working Papers.
2001 - Ann P. Bartel and Ann E. Harrison. Ownership Versus Environment: Disentangling the Sources of Public-Sector Inefficiency. he Review of Economics and Statistics.
2005 - Ann P. Bartel and Ann E. Harrison. Ownership versus Environment: Why are Public Sector Firms Inefficient?. NBER Working Papers.
1999 - Ann Harrison and Gordon Hanson. Who gains from trade reform? Some remaining puzzles. Journal of Development Economics.
1999 - Ann Harrison and Ana Revenga. Labor markets, foregin investment and trade policy reform. MPRA Paper.
1997 - Ann Harrison. Determinants and effects of direct foreign investment in Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, and Venezuela. MPRA Paper.
1995 - Ann Harrison. Openness and growth: A time-series, cross-country analysis for developing countries. Journal of Development Economics.
1996 - G.H. Hanson and A. Harrison. Trade, Technology and Wage Inequality. Papers.
1995 - Brian Aitken, Ann Harrison, and Robert E. Lipsey,. Wages and foreign ownership A comparative study of Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Journal of International Economics.
1996 - Ann Harrison and Ana Revenga. The Effects of Trade Policy Reform: What Do We Really Know?. NBER Working Papers.
1995 - Brian Aitken, Gordon H. Hanson, and Ann E. Harrison. Spillovers, foreign investment, and export behavior. Journal of International Economics.
1997 - J. Michael Finger and Ann Harrison. The MFA Paradox: More Protection and More Trade?. NBER Chapters.
1996 - Brian Aitken, Ann Harrison, and DEC. Do domestic firms benefit from foreign direct investment? Evidence from panel data. Policy Research Working Paper Series.
1994 - Ann Harrison. Multinationals in economic development: the benefits of FDI. MPRA Paper.
1994 - Ann Harrison and Mona Haddad. Are there dynamic externalities from direct foreign investment? Evidence for Morocco. MPRA Paper.
1993 - Ann Harrison. The new trade protection : price effects of antidumping and countervailing measures in the United States. Policy Research Working Paper Series.
1991 - Ann E. Harrison. Productivity, imperfect competition, and trade liberalization in Cote d’Ivoire. Policy Research Working Paper Series.
1990 - Ann E. Harrison. The Changing Landscape of International Trade: Protectionism, Bashing China and the American Worker. In Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ed., Fostering a Dynamic Global Economy: Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
pp. 137-152
2017
At Haas since 2019
2019 – present, Professor, Haas School of Business
2019 – 2024, Dean and Bank of America Chair, Haas School of Business
2017 – present, Research Fellow, The Center for Economic and Policy Research
2012 – 2016, Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Wharton School of Business
2010 – 2011, Director of Development Policy, The World Bank
2009 – 2010, Trade Team Manager, The World Bank
2007 – 2008, Visiting Professor, The Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST), Paris
2001 – present, Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
2001, 2007 – 2008, Visiting Professor, University of Paris
2001 – 2011, Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
1998 – 2001, Associate Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School
1994 – 2001, Faculty Research Fellow, National Bureau of Economic Research
1994 – 1998, Assistant Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School
1991 – 1992, Visiting Faculty, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
1989 – 1994, Economist, Young Professionals Program, The World Bank
1982 – 1984, Health Economist, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
- Academic Advisory Council, Peking University, 2018 – present
- Board Member, United Nations WIDER, Helsinki, 2019 – present
- President, International Atlantic Economic Society, 2017 – 2018
- Vice President, International Atlantic Economic Society, 2016 – 2017
- Member, Committee on Development Policy, United Nations, 2013 – 2018
- Expert Group Member, The E15 Initiative, 2014 – present
- Graduate School Leadership Council, Princeton University, 2011- 2017
- Green Growth Knowledge Platform Advisory Committee, The World Bank, 2011-present
- Editorial Board, The Journal of Economic Literature (current)
- Editorial Board, The Journal of Asian Economics (current)
- Editorial Board, The World Bank Research Observer (2009 – 2018)
- Affiliate, International Growth Centre, London (current)
- Board Member, Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (2010 – 2013)
- Member, Knowledge Advisory Commission, The World Bank (previous)
- Editorial Board, The World Bank Economic Review (2010 – 2011)
- Board Member, Global Development Network, New Delhi (previous)
- Board Member, Economic Research Forum (previous)
- Steering Committee, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California (previous)
- Committee Z on the Economic Status of the Profession, American Association of University Professors (previous)
- National Science Foundation Economics Panel (previous)
- Associate Editor, The Journal of International Economics (previous)
Paul Streeten Lecture, Boston University
2021
Sun Yefang Prize (Best Economic Research on China)
2017
William H. Wurster Chair, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
2016-2018
China Research and Engagement Fund, University of Pennsylvania
2016-2018
National Science Foundation Grants
2009-2013, 2004-2007
World Bank Research Grants
2010-2012
UC Berkeley Committee on Research Grants
2008, 2004-2006, 2001
Giannini Foundation Grants
2001-2004
Eugene Lang Junior Faculty Research Fellowship
1999
Chazen Institute Research Grants
1998, 1995-1996
World Bank Research Grants
1993-1995
Princeton University Teaching Award
1987
Sloan Foundation Fellowship
1987
Princeton University Fellowship
1983-1988
- Trump’s Trade and Tax Policies Start to Stall U.S. Battery Boom, New York Times, 06/16/2025
- Trump’s trade war risks weakening the US’s role globally – and strengthening China, Politiken, 04/24/2025
- Trump tariffs: Who pays, who collects and how are they enforced?, KTVU 2, 04/04/2025
- Trump’s tariffs: another disaster for the families who’ve lost everything, Mother Jones, 02/01/2025
- President Trump proposes tariffs on China, Mexico, & Canada, KTVU, 02/01/2025
- President Trump proposes tariffs on China, Mexico & Canada, KTVU, 01/24/2025
- Trump’s Day 1 trade tradeoff, Axios, 01/13/2025
- MBA programs with a focus on sustainability and social impact, Find MBA, 08/13/2024
- Berkeley Haas dean Ann Harrison to step down, Best Colleges, 05/24/2024
- Berkeley Haas dean stepping down a year into her second term, Poets & Quants, 05/24/2024
- Increasing diversity in business school leadership signals progress towards gender parity, Women We Admire, 05/15/2024
- The business school entrepreneurs tackling sustainable development, Forbes, 04/22/2024
- Questions women should ask when applying to MBA programs, U.S. News & World Report, 04/19/2024
- These MBA students are pledging to combat climate change, Best Colleges, 04/18/2024
- Is the boom-and-bust business cycle dead?, The New York Times, 04/11/2024