Sami Miaari

Sami Miaari is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Labor Studies at Tel Aviv University and a research fellow in the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. He received his B.A in Economics and Mathematics (2000), his MA with honors in Economics (2003) and his doctorate (2008) at the Hebrew University. In his doctoral thesis he investigated the economic costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From 2008-2009 he conducted he did post-doctoral research at the European University Institute. From 2010-2012 he studied in the Economics faculty at Haifa University and in 2011 he joined the German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin, Germany, as a senior research fellow, where he worked on a study examining the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on schoolchildren’s learning achievements. In 2011 he joined the University of California, San Diego as a research fellow. His fields of research are labour economics, political economy and the economic costs of political conflict, inequality, economic migration, discrimination against minority groups and applied economics. Dr. Miaari’s innovative research into the economic aspects of the complex relations between nations generally and between states, in our area of the world in particular, can serve as an effective basis for providing insights which will yield a constructive approach to dealing with problems and practical means of achieving concrete, positive solutions. His research approach emphasizes the importance of establishing the precise nature of causes (causality), which, in turn, provides a solid (stable), and evidence-based (justified base) foundation for implementing policy, which is especially important when large investments are involved. His research papers have been published in leading international publications worldwide, and have served as milestones that have helped to shape international policy aimed at resolving conflicts and achieving peace. His papers have been published by, among others, The Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of economic Behavior & Organization, Labor Economics, Journal of the European Economic Association, Review of economics of the Household, Defense and Peace Economics, and Oxford University Press. In the light of his research contribution, he has won several prestigious awards in the past few years, such as the “Best Paper Award” from the Middle East Economic Association in 2016, the prestigious Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships Award for 2017, and a Ma’of grant from the Council for Higher Learning in Israel in 2012. In the past few years, Dr. Miaari has led important projects in the global arena, such as the Department for International Development (DFIID), on the subject of the impact of economic crises on political conflicts. He worked as an economist at leading international organizations such as the World Bank from 2004-2008 and served as an advisor at the same organization from 2004-2016, and as an advisor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2009-2010 on a variety of projects dealing with capital markets. In 2012, Dr. Miaari founded the Arab Economic Forum – an institute for economic-social research and strategic planning, and a forum of business people in Arab society. As part of his work as CEO of the Forum, he advises large Arab companies on stock market flotations and major investments. In 2003, Dr. Miaari founded the first project in Israeli academia with the aim of providing academic counselling to Arab students at the Hebrew University. He currently continues to give lectures, on a volunteer basis, to Arab high-school students on subjects related to guiding studies.