Richard B. Freeman (1943–)

For over five decades, Richard B. Freeman has been one of the world’s most influential, innovative and prolific labour economists. He has made important contributions to our understanding of a very wide range of labour market issues, including racial earnings gaps in the US, the effects of trade unionism, the determinants of rising inequality here and abroad, evolving labour market institutions, modes of labour market compensation (including profit sharing), comparative labour market performance across countries and the international market for scientists and engineers. His work reflects creative use of a wide range of data sources, shows appreciation of the importance of both market forces and institutions, and demonstrates great openness to the evidence—plus a repeated willingness to challenge the conventional wisdom among economists.