Life and Thought
Mark Koyama is a professor of economics at George Mason University and a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center. He specializes in economic history, and his research focuses on the role of institutions, culture, and religion in the emergence of modern economic growth and religious freedom.
Mark Koyama is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a research affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and a senior scholar at the Mercatus Center. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Oxford and previously taught at the University of York.
Koyama is an economic historian, and his research primarily addresses questions such as the origins of modern economic growth, the emergence of liberal democracy, and the role of institutions in economic development. He is particularly interested in the relationship between the state, religion, and economic growth in pre-industrial Europe.
Among his important works are the books <i>Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom</i> (with Noel Johnson, 2019) and <i>How the World Became Rich</i> (with Jared Rubin, 2022). His articles have been published in prestigious journals such as the <i>Quarterly Journal of Economics</i> and the <i>Economic Journal</i>.
