Political Economy

Through its research, teaching, and course development, the Stanford GSB political economy group has consistently led the way in business schools’ awakening to the enormous impact of nonmarket forces on business practice and performance.

Political economy courses blend cutting-edge research with contemporary business cases. Spanning theory and practice as such provides future managers with systematic frameworks for understanding behavior outside the traditional sphere of markets. Important features of the nonmarket environment include strategic aspects of NGOs and activists; business-government relations in lawmaking, rulemaking, and regulation (locally and globally); the legal environment of business; and the interplay of strategy and ethics.

The political economy faculty is composed of world-class economists and political scientists whose research epitomizes the unique benefits of rigorous interdisciplinary social science. The faculty not only strives for excellence in its own research and teaching but also takes pride in its incomparable Stanford GSB PhD Program, which regularly trains the world’s best new political economists.