Jamal Ibrahim Haidar is an assistant professor of economics and the Chair of the Department of Economics at the Lebanese American University.  He joined the Lebanese American University after being an assistant professor of economics at the American University in Cairo. He was a faculty affiliate at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard University.  He completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard University in the United States and his doctoral studies in economics at the Paris School of Economics, University of Paris-1 Pantheon Sorbonne in France.  He also holds a master’s degree in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States as well as a master’s degree in international finance from Cass Business School, City University London in the United Kingdom.  Previously, he worked at the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, International Monetary Fund, and the Institute of International Finance in Washington DC.  His fields of specialization are international economics and development economics. 

His economics research work investigated how exporters behave after sanctions; how business regulatory reforms affect economic growth; how job creation can be improved; how firms can learn from each other in international markets; how investor protections can affect investment and economic growth, among other topics with evidence-based policy implications.  His research work has been featured in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, La Tribune, Le Monde, Project Syndicate, and other media outlets.  In addition, Dr. Jamal Ibrahim Haidar has been awarded the 2022 Abdul Hameed Shoman Arab Researchers Award in the Economics and Administration Sciences field. 

• International Economics
• Economic Development
• Political Economy
• Macroeconomics

Research Interests

• International Economics
• Economic Development
• Political Economy
• Macroeconomics

Selected Publications

• Estephane, P. F., & Haidar, J. I. (2025). Legal origins, labor regulations, and labor market outcomes. Labor History, Forthcoming.
• Ganguli, I., Haidar, J. I., Khwaja, A. I., Stemper, S., & Zafar, B. (2024). Economic Shocks and Skill Acquisition: Evidence from a National Online Learning Platform at the Onset of COVID-19. Labour Economics, 90, 102575.
• Haidar, J. I. (2022). Internalization of Externalities in International Trade. Empirical Economics, 63(1), 469-497.
• Diwan, I., & Haidar, J. I. (2021). Political Connections Reduce Job Creation: Firm-level Evidence from Lebanon. The Journal of Development Studies, 57(8), 1373-1396.
• Haidar, J. I. (2021). How Did Egypt Soften the Impact of Covid-19?, in Shaping Africa’s Post-Covid Recovery (edited by Rabah Arezki, Simeon Djankov, and Ugo Panizza), Centre for Economic Policy Research (C.E.P.R.)
• Haidar, J. I. (2020). Late-Movers Outperform First-Movers in Export Markets. Economics Letters, 196, 109565.
• Haidar, J., & Diwan, I. (2019). Clientelism, Cronyism, and Job Creation in Lebanon. in Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics from Liberalization to the Arab Spring (edited by Ishac Diwan, Izak Atiyas, and Adeel Malik), Oxford University Press. 
• Haidar, J. I. (2017). Sanctions and Export Deflection: Evidence from Iran. Economic Policy, 32(90), 319-355.
• Haidar, J. I., & Hoshi, T. (2015). Implementing Structural Reforms in Abenomics: How to Reduce the Cost of Doing Business in Japan (No. w21507). National Bureau of Economic Research.
• Haidar, J. I. (2015). Can the Euro Survive?. The World Economy, 38(3), 553-567.
• Amin, M., & Haidar, J. I. (2014). Trade Facilitation and Country Size. Empirical Economics, 47(4), 1441-1466.
• Haidar, J. I. (2012). The Impact of Business Regulatory Reforms on Economic Growth. Journal of the Japanese and international economies, 26(3), 285-307.
• Haidar, J. I. (2012). Trade and Productivity: Self-Selection or Learning-by-Exporting in India. Economic Modelling, 29(5), 1766-1773.
• Amin, M., & Haidar, J. I. (2012). The Cost of Registering Property: Does Legal Origin Matter?. Empirical Economics, 42(3), 1035-1050.
• Haidar, J. I. (2012). Currency Crisis Transmission through International Trade. Economic Modelling, 29(2), 151-157.
• Haidar, J. I. (2009). Investor Protections and Economic Growth. Economics letters, 103(1), 1-4.

Policy Publications

• Lebanon’s Political Economy: Dismantling the Structure, not Describing the Collapse (in Arabic)”, Annahar, (January 2026) 

• Rebuilding South Lebanon without Public Funds or Foreign Loans, The Policy Initiative, September 2025.

• Can Lebanon Export Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes? (with Salem Darwich and Hussein Zeaiter), The Policy Initiative, September 2023.
• On the Economic Potential of Cannabis Cultivation in Lebanon, (with Salem Darwich and Hussein Zeaiter), The Policy Initiative, May 2023.
• How Can Fiscal Policy Untap Lebanon’s Manufacturing Potential?(with Adeel Malik), The Policy Initiative, March 2023.
• How Foreign Powers Could Break Lebanon’s Gridlock, (with Adeel Malik), Project Syndicate, June 2022.
• Why Can’t Lebanon’s Leaders Fix its Economic Crisis?, (with Adeel Malik), Washington Post, October 2021.
• Access to Finance for Egypt’s Private Sector during the Pandemic, The Forum (ERF), May 2021.
• Late-Movers Outperform First-Movers in Export Markets, VoxEu-CEPR, September 2020.
• Why Do Foreign Donors Face a Tough Choice in Dealing with Lebanon’s Economic Crisis? (with Adeel Malik), Washington Post, July 2020.
• Public Resource Allocation in Lebanon: How Uncompetitive is CDR’s Procurement Process?  (with Sami Atallah, Ishac Diwan, and Wassim Maktabi), Lebanese Center for Policy Studies Policy Brief, July 2020.
• More Money is Not the Answer to Lebanon’s Troubles (with Adeel Malik), Al Jazeera English, July 2020. 
• Cronyism Reduces Job Creation in Lebanon, (with Ishac Diwan), VoxEu-CEPR, January 2020.
• Creating Jobs Through Pro-Market Rather Than Pro-Business Policies, (with Ishac Diwan), Lebanese Center for Policy Studies Policy Brief, February 2017.
• Sanctions and Export Deflection, The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, September 2016.
• Going Beyond Doing Business to Foster Job Creation in Arab Countries, (with Hedi Larbi), Economic Research Forum Policy Brief, April 2016.
• Using the World Bank Doing Business Ranking to Inform Economic Reforms in Japan, (with Takeo Hoshi), VoxEu-CEPR, October 2015.
• Business Regulations in Lebanon: Where Are We? Where Do We Go Now?, The World Bank Blog, January 2013.
• Do Business Regulatory Reforms Impact Growth?, The World Bank Blog, May 2012.
• Arab Exporters: Are They Different?, VoxEu-CEPR, February 2012.
• Doing Business 2012, (Team member), The World Bank and  International Finance Corporation, October 2011.
• Doing Business 2009, (Team member), The World Bank and  International Finance Corporation, October 2008.
• Competitiveness from Innovation, not Inheritance, (with Karim Belayachi), in Celebrating Reform 2008 (edited by Simeon Djankov), The World Bank and International Finance Corporation, July 2008.
• How to Raise Revenues by Lowering Fees, in Celebrating Reform 2008 (edited by Simeon Djankov), The World Bank and International Finance Corporation, July 2008.
• Doing Business in the Philippines 2008, The World Bank and International Finance Corporation, May 2008, Co-author.
• Doing Business in Egypt 2008, The World Bank and International Finance Corporation, January 2008, Co-author.
• How Efficiently is Capital Created? Evidence from Property Registration Reform in Egypt, in Smart Lessons in Advisory Services, International Finance Corporation, November 2007.