Ben Zou

Ben Zou is an associate professor of economics at Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business. He is an empirical economist whose research focuses on labor economics, urban economics, economic development, and the Chinese economy.

Zou is a co-editor of the Journal of Human Resources and an associate editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. He is also a research fellow at the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin and a faculty affiliate of the Purdue University Research Center in Economics.

Before joining Purdue in 2022, Zou was an assistant professor of economics at Michigan State University, where he was also affiliated with the Asian Studies Center. He has received multiple awards for teaching and research, including Purdue’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the Journal of Human Resources Excellence in Reviewing Award.

Zou earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He earned a master’s in economics and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and economics from Peking University.