Donald Davis has been a professor of economics at Columbia University since 1999. In 2001 he was appointed chairman of the Department of Economics at the University.

Professor David's research interests include international trade, economic development in the open economy, microeconomic theory, and open economy macroeconomics. He has published extensively on these topics. Some of his recent works include "Bones, Bombs, and Breakpoints: The Geography of Economic Activity," with David E. Weinstein in American Economic Review (lead article, December 2005). He was also featured in Paul Krugman's column, "An Injured City," in the New York Times, (October 3, 2001); "Market Access, Economic Geography and Comparative Advantage: An Empirical Assessment," with David E. Weinstein in the Journal of International Economics (lead article, January 2003); "The Mystery of the Excess Trade (Balances)," with David E. Weinstein in the American Economic Review (May 2002); "The Factor Content of Trade," with David E. Weinstein in The Handbook of International Trade, which was edited by J. Choi, Harrigan (Blackwell 2003); a review of The Spatial Economy, Cities, Regions, and International Trade, by Masahisa Fujita, Paul R. Krugman and Anthony J. Venables in Journal of International Economics (2002); "Human Capital, Unemployment, and Relative Wages in a Global Economy," with Trevor Reeve in Trade, Investment, Migration and Labour Market Adjustment, which was edited by D. Greenaway, R. Upward, and K. Wakelin (Palgrave Macmillan 2002); and many others.

Donald Davis has served on the board of editors for the American Economic Review since 2003; was an associate editor for the Journal of International Economics (1999–2002); serves on the editorial board for the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development (2002–present); serves on the editorial board for Berkeley Electronic Journals of Economic Analysis and Policy (2001–present); serves on the editorial council for the Review of International Economics (1997–present).

Professor Davis is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (1999–present). Formerly, he was a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (1996–99) and an associate at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, (1993–99). He has provided consulting for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, International Research, Research and Market Analysis Group (1997–99); European Commission, DG II and III: "European Integration and Industrial Geographic Location" (1997); and the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), Bolivia Technical Support for Policy Reform Project, 1994. He held a graduate research internship at the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (1987) and was a research associate at the Central America Research Institute (1981–86).

Professor Davis holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley (1981). He earned his MA (1989) and PhD (1992) from Columbia University. Prior to his appointment at Columbia, he has held teaching positions at Harvard University as an assistant professor of economics (1992–96) and as an associate professor (1996–99).

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