John Haltiwanger, Distinguished Fellow 2024

John Haltiwanger is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland, where he has been on faculty since 1990. A prolific scholar who has written over 100 articles and co-edited multiple books, he has produced pathbreaking research on job creation and destruction, firm dynamics, and productivity that has fundamentally transformed our understanding of the microeconomic underpinnings of macroeconomic performance. He is an elected fellow of the Econometric Society and the Society of Labor Economists.

Haltiwanger’s seminal research on job creation and destruction reveals the importance of firm-level heterogeneity in explaining aggregate employment fluctuations. Haltiwanger and collaborators documented that both job creation and destruction rates are highly cyclical, with job destruction playing a larger role in driving employment changes during recessions. In addition to illuminating the hitherto poorly understood dynamic linkages between employment levels, job flows, and cyclical adjustments, this work introduced a transparent empirical toolkit for characterizing these relationships, spurring a flood of new work by both macro- and microeconomists.

Haltiwanger has brought a similarly original and illuminating lens to the role of resource reallocation among heterogeneous firms as a driver of aggregate productivity growth. By introducing price measures into the study of firm productivity dynamics, Haltiwanger and collaborators demonstrated that entrant firms make a larger contribution to productivity growth than was previously understood, whereas conversely, prior estimates of incumbents’ productivity conflated market power with technical efficiency. By carefully disentangling the role of firm entry, exit, and growth, this work has reshaped our understanding of productivity dynamics.

Haltiwanger has played a pioneering role in the development of new data infrastructure. Recognizing the limitations of traditional data sources for studying business dynamics and employment, he worked to advance the creation of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) and the Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) at the U.S. Census Bureau. These datasets have become essential tools for researchers studying firm and employment dynamics. Haltiwanger's leadership in this area has contributed to a more accurate and detailed understanding of the U.S. economy and shepherded into existence a burgeoning literature that studies matched worker-firm data to analyze the dynamics of mobility and wage setting in the United States.

Haltiwanger's dedication to teaching and mentoring the next generation of economists is exemplary. As a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, he has trained dozens of graduate students and junior colleagues, many of whom have gone on to make important scholarly contributions. His generous spirit and passion for economics and for measuring economic activity have inspired countless young researchers, and his influence as a mentor and teacher is widely applauded. Simultaneously, his leadership contributions in professional organizations and government, including multiple roles at the U.S. Census Bureau, have been instrumental in guiding policymakers and public debates on issues such as job creation, innovation, and competitiveness. He has also selflessly served the American Economic Association as Chair of the AEA Committee on Economic Statistics from 2017 through 2022.

In sum, John Haltiwanger's accomplishments as an economist, policy advisor, and mentor have left an indelible mark on the economics profession. At the same time, his dedication and service to the profession and the broader economic and policy community have left a lasting legacy. For these reasons and more, we are honored to recognize John Haltiwanger as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.