Nathan Nunn

Nathan Nunn
Name	Nathan Nunn
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Economist, Professor, Researcher
Alma mater	Queen's University at Kingston, London School of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science
Institutions	Harvard University, London School of Economics, Brown University, Princeton University
Known for	Research on historical development, slavery, trade, institutions

Nathan Nunn is a Canadian-born economist known for empirical work on the long-run effects of historical events on contemporary development. He holds academic positions in leading universities and has published influential papers on topics including the trans-Atlantic slave trade, technology diffusion, and cultural persistence. His research combines historical archives, econometric techniques, and cross-country datasets to address questions in development and economic history.

Early life and education

Nunn completed undergraduate studies at Queen's University at Kingston and pursued graduate training at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the London School of Economics, earning a Ph.D. emphasizing development and economic history. During his formative years he engaged with scholars connected to Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago networks, and benefited from interactions with economists associated with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. His doctoral research drew on archival sources from institutions such as the British Library, the National Archives (United Kingdom), and repositories in Portugal, Spain, and Brazil.

Academic career and positions

He has held faculty appointments at Harvard University, Brown University, and visiting positions at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. Nunn has served as a professor in departments and centers connected to Development Studies programs and affiliated with research organizations like the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Centre for Economic Policy Research, and collaborative projects with the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations University. He has taught courses that intersect with curricula at Massachusetts Institute of Technology-linked initiatives and contributed to seminars at the Yale University, Stanford University, and Columbia University economic faculties.

Research contributions and themes

Nunn's work addresses the historical determinants of contemporary outcomes, exploring channels through which events such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonial conquest, and precolonial institutions shaped long-term development. He has analyzed trade patterns involving ports and empires like the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, and the Dutch East India Company to trace technology diffusion and market integration. His papers use cross-sectional and panel approaches informed by methods popularized at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Centre for Economic Policy Research.

A central theme is the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on demographic, political, and economic trajectories in regions of West Africa, Central Africa, and the Americas, engaging archival datasets from Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, and Suriname. He has examined cultural persistence and the role of institutions drawing on comparative cases from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Ethiopia. Nunn has also investigated the diffusion of innovations connected to historical actors such as Christopher Columbus-era voyages, the Columbian Exchange, and networks associated with the Atlantic slave trade.

Methodologically, his contributions synthesize techniques from empirical economics used by scholars at Stanford University, Princeton University, and Harvard University, incorporating instrumental variables, natural experiments, and spatial econometrics. He collaborates with researchers linked to the American Economic Association and publishes in outlets frequented by academics from University of Chicago and Yale University departments.

Awards and honors

Nunn's scholarship has been recognized by grants and fellowships from institutions including the National Science Foundation, the British Academy, and the Social Science Research Council. He has received prizes and invited lectureships from bodies such as the American Economic Association, the Economic History Association, and the Royal Economic Society. His work has been cited in policy discussions at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and within panels convened by the United Nations.

Selected publications

- Nunn, with collaborators, on the long-term effects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade examining demographic and economic outcomes across Africa and the Americas. - Studies on historical trade routes and technology diffusion involving archival materials from the Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, and Dutch East India Company. - Papers on cultural transmission and persistence comparing cases in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali. - Empirical methods articles applying instrumental variables and natural experiment strategies developed in collaboration with scholars at Harvard University and Princeton University.

Category:Living people Category:Canadian economists Category:Economic historians