Sonin is the co-founder of the joint HSE-NES Bachelor of Arts Program. Until December 2014, Sonin was Vice Rector at the Higher School of Economics, but was forced to resign for political reasons.[3] Until August 2013, he was Professor of Economics and Vice Rector at the New Economic School. His primary research interests are in political economics, development economics, conflict, and economic theory.[4]
Sonin has been a columnist for Vedomosti/VTimes (in Russian) in 2004-2020 and The Moscow Times in 2004-2017. He contributes to major international[5] and Russian media outlets. He is the author of "Sonin.ru: Lessons of Economics" (in Russian), a book aimed to a wide audience. In 2019, a new edition of the book was published, titled "When the Oil Runs Out and Other Economics Lessons" (in Russian).
In 2023, Sonin was placed on the Federal Wanted list in Russia (Sonin lives in Chicago); the criminal case against him is based on information that he published in 2022 about the Bucha massacre and the Siege of Mariupol.[6]
An arrest warrant was issued for Sonin in February 2024.[7]
Biography
Sonin was born in Moscow. He received his MSc in 1995, and PhD from Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University in 1998. Initially an algebraist, he transitioned to economics after 2000–01, when he was appointed a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Davis Center for Russian studies at Harvard. In 2001, he joined New Economic School as an Assistant Professor and in 2009 received tenure as a full Professor of Economics. In 2011–13, he was Vice Rector at New Economic School responsible for creating an NES undergraduate program. In August 2013, he moved to become Professor of Economics at the Higher School of Economics. In August 2013 - January 2015, he was Vice Rector at the Higher School of Economics. Sonin is a co-founder of the joint HSE-NES Bachelor of Arts Program.
Reprinted as: Sonin, Konstantin (2008), "Why the rich may favor poor protection of property rights", in Henrekson, Magnus; Douhan, Robin (eds.), The political economy of entrepreneurship, The International Library of Entrepreneurship Series, Cheltenham, UK Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar, ISBN9781845421878.
Sonin, Konstantin; Guriev, Sergei; Kolotilin, Anton (August 2011). "Determinants of nationalization in the oil Sector: a theory and evidence from panel data". Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization. 27 (2): 301–323. doi:10.1093/jleo/ewp011. SSRN1103019.
Sonin, Konstantin; Gehlbach, Scott (October 2014). "Government control of the media". Journal of Public Economics. 118 (C): 163–171. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.06.004. SSRN1315882.