Rate My Professor Michael Bar

Michael Bar is Professor of Economics and Chair of the Economics Department in the Lam Family College of Business at San Francisco State University, where he has served since 2005. Initially appointed as Assistant Professor from 2005 to 2011, he advanced to Associate Professor from 2011 to 2019 before his promotion to full Professor in 2019. Prior to joining San Francisco State University, Bar held the position of Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Minnesota from 2001 to 2005. He also served as Teaching Assistant at the University of Minnesota from 2000 to 2001 and held various teaching roles in Israel from 1996 to 2000, including Teaching Assistant positions at the University of Haifa and Western Galilee College, as well as Lecturer roles at the College of Management in Kiriat Bialik, Emek Izrael College, Pre-Academic Unit at the University of Haifa, and Atid College in Maalot. Bar earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 2005, with emphases in Economics of Growth and Labor Economics, and his B.A. in Economics from the University of Haifa in 1997.

Bar's research specializations include Macroeconomics, Economics of Growth, Labor and Family Economics, and Industrial Organization, with interests in gender and race inequality. His peer-reviewed publications have appeared in prominent journals such as the Journal of Economic Growth, Demography, Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Macroeconomics, and The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics. Key works include “Why did Rich Families Increase their Fertility? Inequality and Marketization of Child Care” (Journal of Economic Growth, 2018, with Moshe Hazan, Oksana Leukhina, David Weiss, Hosny Zoabi); “Gender Wage Gap Accounting: The Role of Selection Bias” (Demography, 2015, with Oksana Leukhina, Seik Kim); “On the Time Allocation of Married Couples since 1960” (Journal of Macroeconomics, 2011, with Oksana Leukhina); “The Role of Mortality in the Transmission of Knowledge” (Journal of Economic Growth, 2010, with Oksana Leukhina); “Demographic Transition and Industrial Revolution: A Macroeconomic Investigation” (Review of Economic Dynamics, 2010, with Oksana Leukhina); and “To Work or not to Work: Did Tax Reforms Affect Labor Force Participation of Married Couples?” (The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, 2009, with Oksana Leukhina). Bar has received multiple awards from San Francisco State University, including Development of Research and Creativity grants ($7,700 in 2019; $8,000 in 2016), Affordable Instructional Materials grant ($1,000 in 2015), Sabbatical (fall 2012), Presidential Award (fall 2009), and Summer Stipend (summer 2006).