Political economist Konstantin Sonin to join Chicago Harris faculty

Konstantin Sonin, a prominent Russian scholar whose research interests include development economics, economic theory and political economy, will join the faculty of the Harris School of Public Policy this fall. Sonin served as a professor and vice rector at the prestigious Higher School of Economics in Moscow until December 2014. In recent years Sonin has focused on applying behavioral microeconomic concepts to an array of social and political phenomena, including corruption, dictatorship and the inequitable distribution of property. His research has earned him three medals from the Global Development Network, as well as consecutive best economist awards from the Russian Academy of Science in 2002 and 2003. In 2008, he received the Ovsievich Memorial Prize in Mathematical Economics, given annually to a distinguished Russian scholar under 40. In addition to his academic work, Sonin writes a blog on Russian political and economic issues and contributes regularly to the Russian-language newspaper Vedomosti and the English-language Moscow Times . He is frequently cited in the Western press as an expert on the Russian economy.