Eytan Sheshinski

Prof. Eytan Sheshinski is an emeritus lecturer in economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the Sir Isaac Wolfson Emeritus Professor of Public Finance at the university. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from the Hebrew University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Sheshinski has served as guest professor at many universities, among them Stanford, Harvard, Brown, MIT, and Columbia in the USA. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, and an honorary member of the American Economic Association, and holds an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics. In December 2011, Sheshinski was awarded the title of Knight of Quality Government. Prof. Sheshinski is an economic adviser to the Knesset and an adviser on welfare in the Prime Minister’s Office. In 1987, he headed the Sheshinski Commission, drawing up a reform in income tax for individuals, and in 1995 was a member of the committee for the privatization of government companies. In addition, he headed the Sheshinski Commission for examining gas and petroleum taxation policy on Israel (whose recommendations were approved by the Knesset in the Petroleum and Gas Law 2011), and has recently headed a committee examining the taxation of other natural resources in Israel. Sheshinski has chaired many public and private companies, among them the Board of Directors of Koor Industries Ltd., and the boards of Tadiran, Machteshim Agan Industries, and the Psagot Investment House. Prof. Sheshinski was president of the Israel Economic Association between 2004 and 2006. In 2007, his book "The Economic Theory of Annuities" was published. His research interests include the economics of exhaustible natural resources, taxation, outsourcing, rent taxation, concessions and franchises. In addition, he has done extensive research on the structure of public pension systems, desirable structure of pension tiers, Nottional Defined Contribution (NDC), and worldwide reforms.