John A. List

John A. List

John August List (born September 25, 1968) is The Homer J. Livingston Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 1996. List had his first teaching position at the University of Central Florida, and he then moved to the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he still holds an adjunct position, before moving to Chicago. List also spends time at Tilburg University, where he is a distinguished visiting scholar and Resources for the Future, where he is a University Distinguished Scholar. From May 2002 to July 2003 he served as Senior Economist, President’s Council of Economic Advisors for Environmental and Resource Economics, where he worked on multi-national market institutions to address climate change, the Clear Skies Act, the OMB benefit cost guidelines, and the Canada–United States softwood lumber dispute.

Within academia, List is known particularly for his innovative use of field experiments in economics, a research approach that List links to Swedish Economist Peter Bohm. For his work using field experiments, List was included as one of the Top 7 economists in the world according to a 2010 Forbes publication.. In 2012, List was selected to receive the Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture Series prize, given by the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation. The award, given every 2 years by the Finnish Foundation, recognized List's achievements to society from pioneering the use of field experiments. Ten of the previous Nineteen recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in economics.

List uses field experiments to offer new insights in various areas of economics research, such as education, private provision of public goods, social preferences, prospect theory, environmental economics, marketplace effects on corporate and government policy decisions, and multi-unit auctions. Some of his more recent field experimental work in the area of education was discussed in Bloomberg Magazine. In the article, Nobel Laureate Gary Becker tabs List as a strong candidate for a future Nobel Prize for his work on field experiments. His work on charitable fundraising was highlighted in New York Times Magazine on March 9, 2008., where List is credited as being an early pioneer of field experiments. In a recent Crain's Chicago Business article, List is referred to as a "rock star" in the area of philanthropy. Many of these seminal studies were produced while List was a faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Arizona.

List has received numerous awards. In 2004, List received the 1st Place Competitive Paper Award for his field experiment titled “Informational Cascades: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Market Professionals.” The paper was picked as the top research study in 2004 within finance by the FMA, which considered hundreds of studies. List received the prestigious 2008 Arrow Senior Prize for his field experimental work in the area of testing economic theory from the BE Press. In July 2010, List was awarded the highest honor by the AAEA, the John Kenneth Galbraith prize. The award was given for recognition of List's "breakthrough discoveries in economics and outstanding contributions to humanity through leadership, research, and service. In particular, List's pathbreaking work using field experiments in economics." Finally, List was selected to deliver the Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture in October of 2012.

Marginal Revolution, a blog written by economist and author Tyler Cowen calls List "one of the most important young economists". Greg Mankiw also tabs List as a top mind on his blog. The University of Chicago economist and author of Freakonomics, Steven Levitt, has referred to List as the young economist most likely to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. It has also been heavily speculated that List was the Clark medal runner-up in 2007. In 2011 List was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.