Prof. Avi Simhon
Macroeconomics, Technological changes, Growth and development economics, Natural resource and water economics.
Currently head of National Economic Council, a coordinating body for the Prime Minister on topics which require comprehensive and methodological economic thinking, assists in decision-making processes and is involved in projects on the Prime Minister's agenda and that of the government in general.
Curriculum Vitae
Higher Education:
B.Sc., Mathematics and Economics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1984.
M.A., Economics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1986.
Ph.D., Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, 1992.
Post-doctoral fellowship at Hebrew University, Dept. Of Economics, 1992-1994.
Academic Appointments
2003 – currently Senior Lecturer, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
1998-2003 Lecturer, Department of Environmental Economics and Management.
1994-1997 Lecturer, Department of Economics, Haifa University.
Other Activity:
chief economic advisor to the Finance minister of Israel in 2010-2012
Research Fellow, Melchior Minerva Research Center For Macroeconomics and Growth.
Council member of The Israeli Economic Association.
Management member of “The Economic Quarterly.”
Research Grants:
2005 -2006: The Center for Agricultural Economic Research, “Assessing Technological Progress in Israeli Agriculture”.
2005-2006: Israel Science Foundation, "The Effect of Parents' Longevity and Socio-Economic Variables on Offsprings' Life Expectancy”.
2005 – present: Falk Institute, “Advertising and Counter Cyclical Mark-Ups,” David Genesove.
2003 – present: Falk Institute, “The Effect of Parents' Longevity and Socio-Economic Variables on Offsprings' Life Expectancy,” Shaul Lach.
2003 - present: Chonbrynn fund, “The Effect of Parents' Longevity and Socio-Economic Variables on Offsprings' Life Expectancy,” Shaul Lach 2002 – 2005: Chonbrynn fund, “Comparing Cross Country Productivity Across Countries,” Ziv Bar-Shira and Israel Finkelshtain.
2002: Melchior Minerva Research Center For Macroeconomics and Growth, "Corruption and Openness".
2001 - 2004: The Center for Agricultural Economic Research, “Water Price Determination.”
2001 – 2005: Falk Institute, “Economic Evaluation of Reforms in the Water Economy in Israel Agriculture,” Ziv Bar-Shira and Israel Finkelshtain. .
2000 - 2003: Chonbrynn fund, “Analysis of Labor Markets in a General Equilibrium Model”
Courses Taught
“Macroeconomic Theory” – Graduate course; “Theories of Economic Growth and Developments” – Graduate course; “Public Economics” – Graduate course;
“Macroeconomics A” – Bachelor’s course; “Macroeconomics B” – Bachelor’s course; “Industrial Organization” – Bachelor’s course.
Reviewer for:
American Economic Review; American Journal of Agricultural Economics; European Economic Review; International Economic Review; Journal of Economic Growth; Journal of Labor Economic; Macroeconomic Dynamics, Review of Economic Studies; Journal of Development Economics; The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy ; Journal of economic behavior & Organization.
List of Publications
Published Articles:
Gould Eric, Avi Simhon and Bruce Weinberg. “ Does Parental Quality Matter? Evidence on the Transmission of Human Capital Using Variation in Parental Influence from Death, Divorce, and Family Size .” forthcoming Journal of Labor Economics,.
Fishman, Arthur & Finkelstein, Israel & Simhon, Avi & Yacouel, Nira, "Collective brands," International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2018, 59(C), pages 316-339.
Genesove David and Avi Simhon “Seasonality and the Effect of Advertising on Price”, Journal of Industrial Economics, 2015,63:1, 199-222.
Ebenstein Avraham, Moshe Hazan and Avi Simhon, "Changing the Cost of Children and Fertility: Evidence from the Israeli Kibbutz" Economic Journal 2016, 126, 2038-2063.
Gould, Eric, Omer Moav and Avi Simhon. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Polygynous in Cote d'Ivoire." forthcoming Economics Letters. June 2012, Pages 404–407
Ebenstein Avraham, Moshe Hazan and Avi Simhon, (2011) "The price of Children and Fertility Response: Evidence from the Israeli Kibbutz." VoxEu.org 10(2). (not in ISI).
Fishman, Arthur and Avi Simhon, "The Effects of Income Inequality in a Search Economy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 11(1) (Contributions), Article 8.
Ne’eman, Zvika; Paserman, M. Daniele; and Simhon, Avi (2008). "Corruption and Openness," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy: Vol. 8: Iss.1 (Contributions), Article 50.
Gould, Eric, Omer Moav and Avi Simhon, “The Mystery of Monogamy," American Economic Review, 2008, 98:1,333-357..
Bar-Shira, Ziv, Israel Finkelshtain and Avi Simhon, (2006) "Competitive Equilibrium of an Industry with Labor Demand Firms and Price Risk,” (2006) Journal of Rural cooperation. 34(1): 19-42.
Bar-Shira, Ziv, Israel Finkelshtain and Avi Simhon, (2006) “Regulating Irrigation via Block-Rate Pricing: An Econometric Analysis,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 88(4): 986-999.
Fishman, Arthur and Avi Simhon, (2005) “Can Small Menu Costs Explain Sticky Prices?” Economics Letters 87 (2): 227-230.
Feinerman, Eli, Aliza Fleischer and Avi Simhon, (2004). “Distributional Welfare Impacts of Public Spending: The Case of Urban vs. National Parks,” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 29 (2): 370-386.
Bar-Shira, Ziv, Israel Finkelshtain and Avi Simhon. (2003). “Cross-Country Productivity Comparisons: The Revealed Superiority Approach,” Journal of Economic Growth 8 (3): 301-323.
Fershtman, Chaim, Arthur, Fishman and Avi Simhon. (2003). “Repeat Sales, Inflation and Price Variability,” International Economic Review, 44 (1): 205-222.
Fishman, Arthur and Avi Simhon. (2002). “The Division of Labor, Inequality and Growth,” Journal of Economic Growth, 7 (2): 117-136.
Kandel, Eugene and Avi Simhon. (2002). “Between Search and Walras,” Journal of Labor Economics, 20(1): 59-85.
Simhon, Avi and Ziv Bar-Shira. (2001). “On the Variance of Future Prices and Output,” Review of International Economics, 9 (2): 329-335.
Fishman, Arthur and Avi Simhon, (2000). “Investment in Quality Under Asymmetric Information with Endogenously Informed Consumers,” Economics Letters, 68 (3): 327-332.
Books and Chapters:
The Israeli economy: From the managing hand to the invisible hand (in Hebrew), Modan publishers, Ben-Shemen, Israel, 2011.
אבי שמחון, ”מושגי יסוד בכלכלה“ מתוך הגישה הכלכלית למשפט בעריכת אוריאל פרוקצ'יה הוצאת מאגנס, התקבל לפרסום
Research Papers and Work in Progress:
Uhlig Harald and Avi Simhon, “Revisiting the Welfare Costs of Business Cycles.”
Fishman, Arthur, Genesove David and Avi Simhon, “Advertising and Counter Cyclical Mark-Ups.”
Lach, Saul, Ya’acov Ritov and Avi Simhon, “Mortality across Generations: What is the Relationship?”
Fishman, Arthur and Avi Simhon, “The Effects of Income Inequality in a Search Economy.”
Simhon, Avi, “Wage and Price Rigidities and the Non-Neutrality of Money.”
Bar-Shira, Ziv, Israel Finkelshtain and Avi Simhon, “On the Effectiveness of Water Pricing Programs.
Research
Participation in Scientific Conferences, and Lectures:
2005. Society of Economic Dynamics, Annual Meeting, Budapest, Hungary, “The Mystery of Monogamy,” lecture.
2005. Hebrew University, Departmental seminar, Economics department, “The Effect of Parents' Longevity and Socio-Economic Variables on Offspring’s' Life Expectancy,” lecture.
2004. NBER Summer institute, 2004, U.S., “The Mystery of Monogamy,” lecture.
2004. Conference on ‘Economic Growth and Distribution’, Lucca, Italy, 2004, “Corruption and Openness,” lecture.
2003. Brown University, U.S., Economics department, “Corruption and Openness,” lecture.
2003. Boston University, U.S., Economics department “Corruption and Openness,” lecture.
2003. Hebrew University, Economics department, Departmental seminar, “ Corruption and Openness,” lecture.
2003. Annual Meeting of the Israeli Economic Association, “The Mystery of Monogamy,” lecture.
2003. Conference on ‘From Stagnation to Growth, Rorschach, Switzerland, “ The Mystery of Monogamy,” lecture.
2003. American Economic Association, Annual Meetings, Washington D.C., U.S., “The Mystery of Monogamy,” lecture and discussant.