Steve Gardner

Professional Summary

Steve Gardner is the Herman Brown Professor of Economics at Baylor University where he has served on the faculty since 1978. He was appointed chair of the Department of Economics from 2009-2014 and was inaugural director of the McBride Center for International Business from 1995-2022. Gardner has been a recipient of several university awards, most recently including his 2022 selection as Distinguished Professor in the Hankamer School of Business. Under his leadership, Baylor has developed relationships with universities throughout the world and has delivered MBA and other business programs in China and Russia. He has organized more than twenty Global Business Forums and other international events at Baylor on a wide range of themes: Africa, the Americas, China, Europe Japan, the Middle East, big data, education, energy and the environment, global finance, health care, intelligent technologies, arts and culture, women in global business and the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Gardner holds a BA in economics and Russian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author/editor of four books and numerous articles in academic and professional publications. His research and teaching focuses on comparative economic systems, global economic development, and the history of economic thought. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the Association for Comparative Economic Studies, the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies, and the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. During the 2021-2022 academic year, he served on the Steering Committee for Baylor’s involvement in the Internationalization Lab of the American Council of Education. He serves as chair of the advisory board for the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society and on the board of the World Affairs Council of Dallas and Fort Worth. 

Education

• 1978 – PhD, Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California
• 1973 – BA, Economics and Russian Studies, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

Courses

• ECO/AST/INB 4338 – Economic Systems of the World
• ECO 5338 – Seminar in World Economic Systems

Research Interests

• Comparative Economic Systems
• Measurement of Economic and Social Performance
• Global Trade Policy
• History of Economic Thought

Selected Publications

• Brailsford, L. & Gardner, S. (2023) The Great Reset:  Local Economic Development in a Tumultuous International Environment. Economic Development Journal, forthcoming.
• Gardner, H.S.; Paz, L.; & Ssozi, J. (2022) The Influence of International Trade on Labour Productivity in Services: The Case of Brazil in the 1990s. Review of Development Economics, 1-23.
• Gardner, H.S. (2023) Principles and Methods for Classification of Economic Systems and Comparing Their Economic Performance. In Routledge Handbook of Comparative Economic Systems, ed. by Dallago, B. & Casagrande, S. Oxon and New York: Routledge, 167-182.
• J. Haavard Maridala, J.H.; Palich, L.; Morgan, G.; Gardner, S.; McKinney, J.; and Bolbocean, C. (2018) Wellbeing Indices: A Comprehensive Inventory of Standards and a Review of Current Comparative Measures.  Ecological Economics, 149, 1-11.
• McKinney, J.A. & Gardner, H.S. (2008, eds.) Economic Integration in the Americas. Oxon &Los Angeles.