Jan Brueckner

Jan K. Brueckner is Distinguished Professor of Economics, Emeritus, in the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences, at the University of California, Irvine. A key figure in Business & Economics, his research centers on urban economics, public economics, industrial organization, real estate finance, and the economics of the airline industry. He earned an A.B. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1976. Brueckner spent nearly three decades at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, progressing from Assistant Professor (1976-1985) to full Professor (1985-2005) and IBE Distinguished Professor of Economics (1999-2005). He joined UC Irvine in 2005 as Professor of Economics, served as Department Chair from 2010 to 2016, was named Chancellor's Professor in 2015, and appointed Distinguished Professor in 2018 prior to Emeritus status. He has been a visiting professor at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego and a visiting scholar at various foreign universities.

Brueckner has made significant contributions through extensive publications, including the book Lectures on Urban Economics (MIT Press, 2011) and influential papers such as "Airport Congestion When Carriers Have Market Power" (American Economic Review, 2002), "The Price Effects of International Airline Alliances" (Journal of Law and Economics, 2000), "Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies" (International Regional Science Review, 2000), and recent articles on airline fuel usage and carbon emissions (Economics of Transportation, 2024) and schedule buffers (Journal of Air Transport Management, 2025). His scholarship, cited over 30,000 times, has shaped understanding in transportation economics and urban policy. He edited the Journal of Urban Economics for 16 years and serves on editorial boards of several journals. Honors include the John M. Quigley Medal (2015), Fellowship in the Regional Science Association International, and Fellowship in the Air Transport Research Society. Brueckner has consulted for the World Bank, U.S. Department of Transportation, major airlines, and other entities.

Professional Email: jkbrueck@uci.edu