Avner Greif is a professor of economics at Stanford University, where he holds the Bowman Family Endowed Professor in Humanities & Sciences. An expert on institutional economics and development history, Dr. Greif has published extensively on these issues. Along with Robert Bates, Margaret Levi, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry Weingast, Dr. Greif is one of the originators of the analytic narrative method. He also co-edits Comparative Institutional Analysis for the MIT press; the Journal of Economic History, The Economic Journal, and Economics, Cognition, and Society for the University of Michigan Press.

His research is also on the cutting edge of political science, colleagues say. Greif's work has led to "greater understanding of the institutional evolution and the conditions that lead to social conflict or cooperation." Using game theory and historical analysis, he has shown "how beliefs, institutions and other social ties, which appear to be randomly connected, are in fact linked to cultural norms of trust and reciprocity."