Michael Wyzan

Prof. Wyzan is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Miami's Economics Department. He received his bachelor's (economics and mathematics) from Miami University in 1975 and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979. Before embarking on a 20-year overseas career as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, he held academic positions at Wake Forest University, Illinois State University, and the Stockholm School of Economics.

Prof. Wyzan has published articles in peer-reviewed journals on, among others, agricultural productive technology under central planning, macroeconomic stabilization and monetary independence in newly independent nations, the strategic interaction of workers and managers in enterprises in planned economies, household migration and public finance, and the Dutch Disease in post-communist countries. He has also edited or co-edited five volumes on such topics as the political economy of reform failure and the political economy of ethnic discrimination and affirmative action.

Academic Background

• Ph.D., Economics, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1979
• A.B., Summa cum laude, Economics and Mathematics, Miami University, 1975

Academic & Professional Experience

• Visiting Assistant Professor, Miami University (2021-)
• Foreign Service Officer, Agriculture Backstop, U.S. Agency for International Development (2000-2020)
• Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (1997-2000)
• Associate Professor, Stockholm School of Economics (1991-1994)
• Associate Professor, Illinois State University (1987-1991)
• Assistant Professor, Illinois State University (1982-1987)
• Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University (1979-1982)

Recent Publications

• The Political Economy of Reform Failure, co-edited with Mats Lundahl, 2005. Abington, Oxon: Routledge.
• “Explaining the Real Exchange Rate in Kazakhstan, 1996-2003: Is Kazakhstan Vulnerable to the Dutch Disease?,” with Ali Kutan. 2005. Economic Systems 29: 242-255.
• “Macedonian and Slovenian Trade: Contrasting Patterns and Focus on the European Union,” 1999. Eurasian Geography and Economics 40: 309-334
• First Steps Toward Economic Independence: New States of the Postcommunist World, editor, 1995. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.
• “Household Migration and the Local Public Sector: Evidence from Sweden, 1981-1984,” 1995. Regional Studies 29: 145-157.
• “The Strategic Interaction Between Managers and Workers in Soviet Industrial Enterprises: Work-Place Motivation and Economic Performance,” 1993. Economics of Planning 26: 209-228.
• "Who Should Handle Retail? Vertical Contracts, Customer Service, and Social Welfare in a Chinese Mobile Phone Market," with Jia Li. 2015. International Journal of Industrial Organization. 39: 29-43.

Honors & Awards

• Meritorious Honor Award, USAID/Haiti, 2016
• Meritorious Honor Award, USAID/West Africa, 2009
• Meritorious Honor Award, USAID/Armenia 2002
• Phi Beta Kappa, 1975, Miami University
• George W. Thatcher Prize for Distinguished Economics Undergraduate, 1975, Miami University