Clifford Bekar

Academic Credentials

PhD Econ (1999), MA Econ (1992), BA Econ (Hons, 1990) — Simon Fraser University

Teaching

Econ 100: principles of economics
Econ 215: game theory
Econ 255: technology, institutions, and economic growth
Econ 256: economic history, industrial revolution to modern times
Econ 433: senior seminar
Econ 492: advanced microeconomics

Research

Publications

• “Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines” by Vaclav Smill, Book Review for Economic History Review, Vol. 65 No. 2 (May 2012).
• “Teaching Economic Principles Through the Novel: Richard Powers Gain,” (with James Grant), Perspectives in Economic Education Vol. 6, No. 1 (2010).
• “Information Technology and the New University,” (with Richard Lipsey) Academic Matters: Journal of Higher Education (Winter, 2006).
• “Science, Institutions, and the Industrial Revolution,” (with Richard Lipsey) Journal of European Economic History. Vol. 33, No. 3 (2004): 709-753.
• “Open Fields, Risk, and Land Divisibility,” (with Clyde Reed) Explorations in Economic History. Vol. 40, No. 3 (2003): 308-325.
• “Religious Prohibitions Against Usury,” (with Clyde Reed) Explorations in Economic History. Vol. 40, No. 4 (2003): 347-368.
• “Clusters and Economic Policy,” (with Richard Lipsey) ISUMA: Journal of Canadian Public Policy (2002).
• “Scattering as Insurance: A Robust Explanation of Open Fields?” Research in Economic History, Vol. 20 (2001): 173-221. 

Books, Book Chapters, Conference Collections:

• “Signaling Risk Tolerance: Nuclear Arsenals and Alliance Formation in the Cold War,” (with Greg Dow, Clyde Reed, and Josh Stine), Industrial Organization, Trade, and Social
• Interaction: Essays in Honour of B. Curtis Eaton: University of Toronto Press (2010).
• Economic Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth, (with
• Richard Lipsey and Kenneth Carlaw). Oxford: Oxford University Press (2005).
• “Income Sharing Amongst Medieval Peasants,” International Institute of Economics and Trade, Conference Proceedings (2000).
• “General Purpose Technologies: What Requires Explanation?”(with Richard Lipsey and Kenneth Carlaw) in General Purpose Technologies, edited by Helpman, E.. MIT Press: Cambridge (1998).
• “The Consequences of Changes in GPTs,” (with Richard Lipsey and Kenneth Carlaw) in General Purpose Technologies, edited by Helpman, E.. MIT Press: Cambridge (1998).
• “A Structuralist View of Technical Change and Economic Growth.” (with Richard Lipsey) Reprinted in Microeconomics, Growth and Political Economy: The Selected Essays of Richard Lipsey Vol. One. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK (1997).
• “A Structuralist View of Technical Change and Economic Growth,” (with Richard Lipsey) Bell Canada Papers on Economic and Public Policy, Vol. 3; Technology, Information and Public Policy. John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy; Queens University (1995).

Working Papers, In Progress

• “Risk, Asset Markets and Inequality: Evidence from Medieval England,” (with Clyde Reed) Oxford University, Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, No. 79 (October 2009)
• “Fair is Fair: The 50-50 Rule in Sharecropping Contracts,” with Tamma Carleton.

Professional Experience

Professional Positions

Associate Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College (June 2004 to present)
Assistant Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College (Sept. 1998 to June 2004)
Research Associate, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (1995 to 1998)

Academic Awards

• Mellon Senior Fellowship Prize (2012)
• Schumpeter Prize for best work on Innovation and Economic Growth (for Economic
• Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth, 2006).
• Distinguished Dissertation award given by Canadian Association of Graduate Studies for the best dissertation in Canada in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Fine Arts (2000).
• Faculty-Student research grants, Lewis & Clark College (2012, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2005).