Professor Michael Ben-Gad

Overview

Professor Ben-Gad obtained his BA in Economics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. He has worked in the Research Department of the Bank of Israel, and taught at the University of Houston and the University of Haifa.

He joined City as a Reader in 2007 and served as Head of Department between 2010 to 2013. His research focuses on Dynamic Macroeconomics with applications to taxation, public debt, the economic effects of immigration, national security as well as the emergence of multiple equilibria in models of economic growth and the incorporation of compositional data into econometric models.

Between 2014 to 2016, Professor Ben-Gad served on the US National Academy of Sciences panel on the The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.

In 2011 he completed research funded by an ESRC grant that is funded by HM Treasury and HMRC on fiscal policy and immigration.

Professor Ben-Gad has recently appeared on Al Jazeera, BBC, CNBC, GBNews, Israel's Kan Reshet Bet Radio, Sky News and published commentary in the Conversation, Financial Times, Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) Blog, Haaretz, LSE EU Politics, LSE Economics and Finance, LSE Politics, Quillette and The Marker. In 2017 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Member, Grant Assessment Panel C of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) from 2021 and member, editorial board, Economic Affairs from 2022. Ben-Gad is co-convener of the City Branch of Academics for Academic Freedom (AFAF) and is a founding member of London Universities' Council for Academic Freedom (LUCAF)

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Chicago, United States, 1996
• AM, University of Chicago, United States, 1992
• BA, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 1988

Employment

• Head of Department, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2010 - 2013
• Professor, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2009 - present
• Int. Faculty, International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University, Georgia, 2008 - present
• Deputy Head of Department, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2008 - 2010
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, 2002
• Lecturer, University of Haifa, Israel, 2001 - 2007
• Assistant Professor, University of Houston, United States, 1995 - 2001
• Economist, Bank of Israel, Israel, 1987 - 1989
• Military Service, Israel Defense Forces, 1982 - 1985

Memberships of professional organisations

• Panel member, U.S. National Academicy of Sciences panel on the Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Immigration
• Member, Academic Advisory Group, Tax Administration Research Centre (TARC), HM Revenue and Customs/HM Treasury/ESRC

Languages

Hebrew (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review)

Teaching

Interests

Macroeconomics, public finance, the economics of immigration, economic growth.

Research grants and scholarships

- HMRC/HMT/ESRC Joint Research Programme, 2011 (research grant RES 194-23-00-0020).
- Israel Science Foundation, "Distortionary Taxation, Public Debt, and Immigration" 2007-2008, (research grant no. 49/06).
- Economics and National Security, Samuel Ne'eman Foundation, Technion, 2004. (research grant no. 358, shared with Prof. Yakov Ben-Haim).
- Edelstein Foundation for Population Research, 2002.
- Advanced Research Program, Social Sciences Research Grant, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, State of Texas, 1997-99 (research grant no. 003652-836).
- Research Initiation Grant, University of Houston, 1996.
- Bradley Foundation Grant, University of Chicago, 1994-95.
- Henry Morgenthau Jr. Memorial Scholarship in Public Finance, University of Chicago, 1994.
- Century Scholarship, University of Chicago, 1989-93.

Featured publications

1. Ben-Gad, M. (2026). Compositional and Noncompositional Covariates in Multiple Linear Regression. Computational Statistics
2. Aligishiev, Z., Ben-Gad, M. and Pearlman, J. (2025). Evaluating Historical Episodes using Shock Decompositions in the DSGE Model. International Monetary Fund (IMF).
3. Ben-Gad, M., Pearlman, J. and Sabuga, I. (2022). An analysis of monetary and macroprudential policies in a DSGE model with reserve requirements and mortgage lending. Economic Modelling, 116, pp. 105966-105966. doi:10.1016/j.econmod.2022.105966

   [publisher’s website]

4. Ben‐Gad, M. (2022). Russia versus the West: Facing the long‐term challenge. Economic Affairs, 42(2), pp. 385-394. doi:10.1111/ecaf.12535

   [publisher’s website]

5. Ben-Gad, M., Ben-Haim, Y. and Peled, D. (2020). Allocating Security Expenditures under Knightian Uncertainty: An Info-Gap Approach. Defence and Peace Economics, 31(7), pp. 830-850. doi:10.1080/10242694.2019.1625518

   [publisher’s website]

6. Ben-Gad, M. (2018). On the Political Economy of Deficit Bias and Immigration. The Economic Journal, 128(614), pp. 2191-2221. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12502

   [publisher’s website]

7. Blau, F.D. and Mackie, C. (Eds.), (2017). The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration. National Academies Press. ISBN 9780309444453.
8. Ben-Gad, M. (2017). The Optimal Taxation of Asset Income when Government Consumption is Endogenous: Theory, Estimation and Welfare. Economic Inquiry, 55(4), pp. 1689-1711. doi:10.1111/ecin.12463
9. Ben-Gad, M. (2012). The two sector endogenous growth model: An atlas. Journal of Macroeconomics, 34(3), pp. 706-722. doi:10.1016/j.jmacro.2012.03.005

   [publisher’s website]

10. Ben-Gad, M. (2008). Capital-skill complementarity and the immigration surplus. Review of Economic Dynamics, 11(2), pp. 335-365. doi:10.1016/j.red.2007.08.001

    [publisher’s website]

11. Ben-Gad, M. (2006). The Impact of Immigrant Dynasties on Wage Inequality. Research in Labor Economics, 24, pp. 77-134. doi:10.1016/S0147-9121(05)24003-7
12. Ben-Gad, M. (2004). The welfare effects of the Reagan deficits: A portfolio choice approach. Economic Inquiry, 42(3), pp. 441-454. doi:10.1093/ei/cbh072

    [publisher’s website]

13. Ben-Gad, M. (2004). The Economic Effects of Immigration---a Dynamic Analysis. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 28(9), pp. 1825-1845. doi:10.1016/j.jedc.2003.04.008
14. Ben-Gad, M. (2004). Taxes, the Debt Burden, and the Economic Program. Labor, Society and Law, 10, pp. 241-256
15. Ben-Gad, M. (2003). Fiscal Policy and Indeterminacy in Models of Endogenous Growth. Journal of Economic Theory, 108(2), pp. 322-344. doi:10.1016/S0022-0531(03)00027-9

    [publisher’s website]

16. Ben-Gad, M. (2000). The Incidence of Deficit Finance with Imperfect Capital Markets. Southern Economic Journal, 66(3), pp. 649-666
17. Ben-Gad, M. (1999). Balanced-Growth-Consistent Recursive Utility and Heterogenous Agents. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 23(3), pp. 459-462. doi:10.1016/S0165-1889(98)00005-0
18. Beenstock, M. and Ben-Gad, M. (1989). The Fiscal and Monetary Dynamics of Israeli Infation: A Cointegrated Analysis 1970-1987. Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper Series, 290

Publications by category