Michael L. Lahr, Ph.D.


Distinguished Research Professor, Emeritus
B.A., M.A.., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Contact
Research Interests
  • Economic development
  • Interindustry economics
  • Urban and regional economics/geography
  • Public finance
  • Labor markets


Michael L. Lahr is the former Director of Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/ECON™). As Distinguished Research Professor, Emeritus of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, he holds a Ph.D. in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania. At the Bloustein School Dr. Lahr taught courses on Global Analytics and occasionally an advanced course on applied statistical methods and economic modeling that is designed for PhD students.
Since 1995, Dr. Lahr supervised R/ECON™ research on a broad array of public policy issues in the fields of housing, economic development, program evaluation, and fiscal and economic impact analysis. He has published over 50 articles in journals and edited volumes on economic modeling techniques; development economics; and the economics of various planning and fiscal issues. In addition to being Editor of the journal Economic Systems Research, Lahr sits on the editorial board of Papers in Regional Science, Journal of Economic Structures, and the Brazilian Review of Regional Studies, He has co-edited four books and two journal special issues. He is presently Treasurer of the Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship of the North American Regional Science Council. Lahr also has been Vice President of the International-Input Output Association, Chair of the North American Regional Council, and President of the Southern Regional Science Association, and sat on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Regional Science and Economic Systems Research. He has received service awards from the North American Regional Science Association International and the Southern Regional Science Association. He has also been proclaimed a Research Fellow of the Southern Regional Science Association.

View all course offerings and related syllabi
Graduate Courses
  • Global Data Analytics

Recent Publications

View Publications on SOAR
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Articles in Refereed Journals

  • Lee, Annie Seong, Michael L. Lahr, & Sicheng Wang (2022) Couple Households and the Commuting Time–Gender Gap, The Professional Geographer, DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2022.2075407
  • Zhang, Haiyan, Yue Xu, and Michael L. Lahr. (2022) “The greenhouse gas footprints of China’s food production and consumption (1987–2017).” Journal of Environmental Management, 301,  113934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113934
  • Christa D. Court, João-Pedro Ferreira, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Michael L. Lahr (2021) Accounting for global value chains: rising global inequality in the wake of COVID-19?, International Review of Applied Economics, DOI: 10.1080/02692171.2021.1912716
  • Michael L. Lahr, João Pedro Ferreira, and Johannes Többen. (2020) “Intraregional Trade Shares for Goods-producing Industries: RPC Estimates using EU Data,” Papers in Regional Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/pirs.12541  (may require subscription for access)
  • Michael L. Lahr. (2020) “Poverty, the U.S. South, and the SRSA,” The Review of Regional Studies, 50,153–169. https://rrs.scholasticahq.com/article/14142-poverty-the-u-s-south-and-the-srsa 
  • Ferreira, João Pedro, Michael L. Lahr, Pedro Ramos, and Eduardo Castro. (2020) “Accounting for Global Migrant Remittances Flows,” Economic Systems Research, 32(3), 301-317. https://doi.org/10.1080/09535314.2019.1659756  
  • Ferreira, João-Pedro,  Pedro N. Ramos, and Michael L. Lahr. (2020) “The rise of the sharing economy: Guesthouse boom and the crowding-out effects of tourism in Lisbon,” Tourism Economics, 26, 389-403. DOI:10.1177/1354816619839849
  • Liu, Xi , Huibin Du, Zengkai Zhang, John Crittenden, Michael L. Lahr, Juan Moreno-Cruz, Dabo Guan, Zhifu Mie, and Jian Zuo. (2019) “Can Virtual Water Trade Save Water Resources?,” Water Research, 163(114848). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.07.015
  • Yang, Ling and Michael L. Lahr. (2019) “The Drivers of China’s Regional Carbon Emission Change—A Structural Decomposition Analysis from 1997 to 2007,” Sustainability, 11(12), 3254; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123254
  • Ferreira, João Pedro, Pedro Ramos; Luis Cruz, Eduardo Barata, and Michael L. Lahr. (2019) “Port Wine Value Chain: from the Douro Valley to Oporto Cellars,” British Food Journal. 121, 466-478. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2018-0162
  • Rodrigues, João F.D. & Lahr, Michael L. (2018) “The reconciliation of multiple conflicting estimates: Entropy-based and axiomatic approaches,” Entropy, 20, https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T37P92XH
  • Zhang, Haiyan and Michael L. Lahr. (2018) Households’ Energy Consumption Change in China: A Multi-Regional Perspective. Sustainability, 10, 2486. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072486
  • Elshahawany, Dina N., Eduardo A. Haddad, Michael L. Lahr. (2017). “Accessibility, Transportation Cost, and Regional Growth: A Case Study for Egypt,” Middle East Development Journal, 9(2), 256-277. https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T38G8P4H
  • Fu, Xue Michael L. Lahr, Yaxiong Zhang, and Bo Meng. (2017). Reducing carbon emissions in China via optimal industry shifts: toward hi-tech industries, cleaner resources and higher carbon shares in less-developed regions. Energy Policy, 102, 616-638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.10.038
  • Haddad, Eduardo A., Lahr, Michael L., Elshahawany, Dina N., & Vassallo, Moisés Diniz. (2016) Regional analysis of domestic integration in Egypt: an interregional CGE approach, Journal of Economic Structures, 5, 25. Retrieved from dx.doi.org/doi:10.1186/s40008-016-0056-5
  • María Teresa Álvarez-Martínez and Michael L. Lahr. (2016) “Gaming, States and Tax Revenues—The Tortoise or the Hare: A CGE Comparative Assessment of Diversified Casino Resorts and Games-only Casinos,” Growth and Change, 47(2), 236–258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/grow.12134
  • Chang, Ning and Michael L. Lahr (2016) “Changes in China’s Production-source CO2 Emissions: Insights from Structural Decomposition Analysis and Linkage Analysis,” Economic Systems Research, 28:2, 224-242, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T36W9D5J
  • Zhang, Hayian, Michael L. Lahr, and Jun Bi. (2016) “Challenges of Green Consumption in China: A Household Energy Use Perspective,” Economic Systems Research, 28:2, 183-201. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3QC05JN
  • Deka, Devajyoti, Michael L. Lahr, Thomas Marchwinski, Maia de la Calle. (2015) “Economic Impacts of Rail Transit on Recreational Shore Communities: Case of the North Jersey Coast Line,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2531, 1-8.  http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3KK9DVT

Chapters in Books

  • 2020: Dietzenbacher, Erik, Michael L. Lahr, and Manfred Lenzen (eds).  Recent Developments in Input–Output Analysis. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, United Kingdom. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/recent-developments-in-input-output-analysis-9781786430809.html
  • 2019: Lahr, Michael L. and João-Pedro Ferreira. “A Reconnaissance through the History of Shift-Share Analysis,” in Peter Batey (ed.) Handbook of Regional Science, Vol 1: History of Regional Science. Springer: New York (forthcoming).
  • 2018: Michael L. Lahr. “Regional Input-Output Analysis: An Appraisal of an Imperfect World,” in Josefina Callicó and López Evaristo Jaime González Robles (eds), Estudios Regionales: Un Enfoque de Insumo-Producto, University of Guadalajara: Guadalajara, Mexico, pp. 213–236.
  • 2017: Lahr, Michael L. and Erik Dietzenbacher. (2017). “Structural Decomposition and Shift-Share Analyses: Let the Parallels Converge,” Chapter 13 in Randall Jackson and Peter Schaeffer (eds), Regional Research Frontiers: Methodological Advances, Regional Systems Modeling and Open Sciences. Springer, pp. 209-220.
  • 2017: Zhang, Haiyan and Michael L. Lahr. (2017). “Peak Carbon Emissions in China: A Household Energy Use Perspective,” Chapter 7 in María Ángeles Cadarso, Óscar Dejuán, and Manfred Lenzen (eds), Environmental and Economic Impacts of Decarbonization. Routledge: New York, pp. 147-162.

Other Publications

  • 2020: Lahr, Michael L. New Jersey Economic Forecast: NJ’s Pandemic Recovery and the Revised State Budget. Rutgers Economic Advisory Service, New Brunswick, NJ, August.
  • 2020: Lahr, Michael L. (with David Listokin and Charles Heydt) Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit for FY 2019. Report to the U.S. National Park Service. August 2020.
  • 2020: Lahr, Michael L. (with Ye Yao, Da Fei, and Annie Lee) The Total Economic Impacts of Philadelphia’s Beverage Tax. A Report from National Institute for Early Research to The William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA.
  • 2019: Irving, Will & Lahr, Michael L.. (2019) A study of the systematic risks of New Jersey’s casinos: phase I – the market saturation point and NJ’s share. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-6bhf-ry07767.37 kb
  • 2019: Irving, Will & Lahr, Michael L. & Zhang, Chen. (2019) A study of the systematic risks of New Jersey’s casinos: phase II – impacts of new market entrants. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-qtgd-vj51
  • 2019: (with Da Fei) Economic Impacts to New Jersey of the Middlesex Extension Project. Report to Texas Eastern Transmission Company. July 2019.
  • 2019: (with Will Irving) New Jersey Economic Forecast. A R/ECON Quarterly Report. July 2019.
  • 2019: (with Da Fei and Will Irving) State Economic Impacts of PSE&G’s Roseland-Pleasant Valley Project. Report to PSE&G. June 2019.
  • 2019: Horizon’s Contribution to the New Jersey Economy. Report to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. May 2019.
  • 2019: (with Will Irving) A Slowdown Showdown: Government Employee Benefits to Take a Bite. A R/ECON Quarterly Report. March 2019.
  • 2019: (with Will Irving) Contribution of the Commercial Banking and Savings Institutions Sectors to the New Jersey Economy. Report to the New Jersey Bankers Association. February 2019.
  • 2018: Lahr, M. (with Will Irving and Ray Caprio) Review of Grow New Jersey and Economic Redevelopment and Growth Programs. A report for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. June.
  • 2018: Lahr, M. (with Will Irving) Economic Impacts of a New Jersey Off-shore Wind Farm. A report for Gabel Associates. June.
  • 2018: Lahr, M. (with Emilia Piziak) Review of the Pinelands Commission’s Long-term Economic Monitoring Program. A report for the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. May.
  • 2018: Listokin, D. Tourism, Heritage Tourism, and Enhancing Knowledge of Route 66 Tourism. With Michael Lahr. Study for the National Park Service.
  • 2018: Listokin, D. Report on the Economic Impacts of the Federal Historic Tax Credit. With Michael Lahr. Research conducted for the National Park Service.
  • 2016: (with Maia de la Calle, Will Irving, Nancy Mantell, Guadalupe Gutierrez Escribano, Maria Luz Laham, Tianyi Li, Wendy Liu, and Patrick, Salemme) Union County: Baselines for the Future. A report for Union County. May 2016.
  • 2016: (with Maia de la Calle and Will Irving) Contribution of the Life Sciences Industry to the New Jersey Economy. Report to BioNJ. April 2016.
  • 2015: (with Guadalupe Gutiérrez Escribano, Jay Dahr, and Maria Luz Laham) The Potential Economic Impacts on New Jersey of an Extension to Secaucus of MTA’s #7 Line. A report for the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. July 2015.
  • 2015: (with David Listokin, Maia de la Calla, and others) Economic Impact of Historic Preservation in Texas: Update 2015. Report to the Texas Historical Commission, June 2015.
  • 2015: (with Nancy Mantell) The Economic Impacts of the Southern Reliability Link. Report to New Jersey Natural Gas. May 2015.
  • 2015: (with Joseph Seneca and Will Irving) Impacts of CarePoint Health Operating and Capital Expenditures on the Economy of Hudson County and the State of New Jersey. Report for CarePoint Health. February 2015.

Areas of Expertise: Computer Simulation Modeling, Economics, Informatics, Regional Development