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
- Poets&Quants’ Dean Of The Year: Ann Harrison Of UC-Berkeley’s Haas School Of Business, Poets&Quants, 10/4/2023
- Confidence without attitude is critical for today’s leaders, McKinsey Quarterly, 2/24/2023
- In the fourth episode of The Quarterly Interview: Provocations to Ponder, Dean Ann Harrison, talks about what it takes to develop leaders for the modern era, and what makes for a great business education today. “We have always had this dual focus on educational rigor and important social obligation,” she said. “That’s part of our mission as a public school: to promote social mobility, sustainability, inclusion.”
- Schools build consensus for focus on social purpose, Financial Times, 1/15/23
- Dean Ann Harrison is using grant funding to “infuse sustainability” into the school’s compulsory core curriculum. She is also developing a broader range of elective courses and planning to launch a master’s degree in climate solutions. “California is at the heart of climate change with fires, water shortages, and the move to electric vehicles,” she said.
- Warnings from history for a new era of industrial policy, The Economist, 1/11/23
- The $52 billion CHIPS Act, aimed at reshoring semiconductor manufacturing, is ushering in a new era of U.S. industrial policy. In examining the repercussions, The Economist cites research by Ann Harrison and Andrés Rodríguez-Clare which found that “soft” collaborations between government and business can be more effective than “hard” policy interventions that distort market prices.
- The Crystal Ball: B-School Leaders Offer Predictions—And More Than A Dash Of Hope—For 2023, Poets&Quants, 1/3/2023
- Dean Ann Harrison predicted a surge in demand for expertise in sustainability in 2022, continuing into the new year. “We are seeing this unfold with major policy shifts that set the stage for a surge of action and innovation to combat climate change. In the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest package of climate investments in U.S. history. And at COP27, the UN Conference on Climate Change in November, we saw support for reshaping how some of the world’s biggest financial institutions respond to the devastation of climate-change-driven storms, floods, and droughts around the globe.” Jennifer Chatman, professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the Haas School, emphasized the importance of diversity in 2023, particularly among those who stand at the head of the classroom. “I predict that faculty diversity will increasingly reflect the diversity of the MBA student body, and that cases and course materials will increasingly reflect a diverse set of business leaders.”
- Berkeley Haas Dean Ann Harrison on her days as a globetrotting development economist and her new book, Berkeley Haas News, 11/23/2022
- Talking leadership 49: Ann Harrison on transforming business education, Times Higher Education, 11/08/2022
- When she took on the job of Berkeley Haas dean in 2019, Ann Harrison turned her attention to efforts to improve the school’s diversity and sustainability agenda. Business schools must change to stay relevant, Harrison says in this extended profile. Given the top-ranking school’s reputation for creating the next generation of business leaders, she knew she could have real impact. She said she wants to “not just tinker with business education but transform it.”
- Do more MBAs mean lower wages?, The Business Journals, 10/07/2022
- A study published earlier this year suggests that CEOS with MBAs reduce the wages of their employees. But Professor Ann Harrison, Bank of America Dean of Berkeley Haas, called the findings into question, saying “there’s been this enormous shift towards … an economy that’s replacing low-skilled workers with machines, and companies have struggled. And as they’ve struggled, they’ve made changes to their leadership, which is trying to avoid making things worse. More and more are business-school-trained CEOs.”
- Influential women 2022: Ann Harrison of the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, San Francisco Business Times, 10/07/2022
- Professor Ann Harrison, Bank of America Dean of Berkeley Haas, was named as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.” She said her biggest accomplishment at the school was leading through the pandemic and the upheaval it caused in business education. And the most valuable advice she’s received? “To be more assertive, speak up and make my voice and viewpoint heard,” she said.
- Are MBAs to blame for wage stagnation?, Freaknomics, 10/05/2022
- A recent research paper examined higher levels of professional management — such as MBAs — and the connection to wage stagnation. Professor Ann Harrison, Bank of America Dean of Berkeley Haas, took issue with some of the conclusions. “There’s been this enormous shift towards a more global economy, towards an economy that’s replacing low-skilled workers with machines, and companies have struggled,” she said. “And as they’ve struggled, they’ve made changes to their leadership, which is trying to avoid making things worse. More and more are business-school-trained CEOs — that’s happening exactly when globalization is really becoming big. So, I think the focus should be on finding ways to address the losers from globalization and the losers from technological change, rather than focusing on who the CEOs of the companies are.”
- Sustainability at Haas: Reshaping How Business Schools Teach Sustainability with Dean Ann Harrison and Michele de Nevers, OneHaas Podcast, 10/01/2022
- News From 2022 AIGAC Conference: What Is Top of Mind For Admissions Directors, Beat the GMAT, 05/31/2022
- Why business schools need more women at every level, University World News, 04/09/2022
- Berkeley Haas Dean Ann Harrison named to AACSB board, Berkeley Haas News, 02/15/2022
- The Crystal Ball: B-Schools Acknowledge Challenges, Put Positive Shine On 2022, Poets & Quants, 01/03/2022
- UC-Berkeley Haas Shakes Up MBA Core Curriculum, Poets & Quants, 08/03/2021
- In honorary lecture, Dean Harrison argues for policies that increase competition, Berkeley Haas News, 03/08/2021
- Industrial policy: If China does it, why can’t we?, Marketplace, 03/01/2021
- Do You Need to Get an M.B.A.?, The Wall Street Journal, 01/03/2021
- B-Schools (Try To) Predict What 2021 Will Look Like, Poets & Quants, 12/23/2020
- Students return to reimagined courses and major technology upgrades, Berkeley Haas News, 08/06/2020
- Message from Dean Harrison: Condemning racial violence and hate, Berkeley Haas News, 06/01/2020
- What Business Schools Will Look Like After The Pandemic, Poets & Quants, 04/22/2020
- Business schools grapple with a high turnover of deans, Financial Times, 03/02/2020
- FT Global MBA ranking 2020: analysis, Financial Times, 01/26/2020
- Business schools work towards a better world, Financial Times, 10/20/2019
- Dean Harrison signs national diversity & inclusion pledge, Berkeley Haas News, 08/01/2019
- Choreographing Haas’ Future: New Dean Ann Harrison outlines her plans to advance Haas, BerkeleyHaas Magazine, 04/08/2019
- The ‘Flight To Quality’ In The MBA Market, Forbes, 02/17/2019
- New Dean: Berkeley Haas ‘Doesn’t Look Like The Rest Of California’, Poets & Quants, 02/09/2019
- Running a b-school in the age of Trump, Bloomberg Business, 12/11/2018
- A Berkeley homecoming: Q&A with incoming Dean Ann Harrison, Berkeley Haas News, 11/06/2018
- Renowned economist and Berkeley alumna Ann Harrison named new Haas dean, Berkeley Haas News, 08/22/2018