Steven Klepper

Steven Irwin Klepper (January 24, 1949 - May 27, 2013) was an American economics professor, researcher and author.

Klepper was the Arthur Arton Hamerschlag Professor of Economics and Social Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He was recognized for his teaching and research related to the integration of traditional economic models with evolutionary theory, and finding connections between the study of entrepreneurship and mainstream economics.

Klepper received his B.A. in Economics in 1970; M.A. in Economics in 1972, and Ph.D. in economics in 1975 all from Cornell University.

Previously he was an assistant professor of economics at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1974 to 1980.

According to his colleagues, Klepper had a distinctive style of educating students in his introductory economics classes at Carnegie Mellon University.

This style became known on campus as "Kleppernomics. " Klepper's post-class meetings with students who did not perform well on his exams became known on the campus as being "Klepperized. " He was highly committed to educating his students, as evidenced by the fact that he did not miss a day of teaching for almost 40 years.

Klepper joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University in 1980.

In 2011, he was the recipient of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.

Klepper authored more than 100 peer reviewed articles generating more than 10,000 citations.

He is listed in the top five percent of most influential economist authors in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc.

The couple moved to Pittsburgh when Klepper accepted a position with the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, where he remained a member of the faculty until his death in 2013.

He was the father to son Julian, and daughter, Arielle.

According to his family, he was known personally for his wit and for being a formidable competitor, both on and off the tennis court.

A comprehensive review of Klepper's academic and research contributions to the field of economics were published in "Industry Evolution and Entrepreneurship: Steven Klepper's Contribution to Industrial Organization, Strategy, Technological Change, and Entrepreneurship" (Serguey Braguinsky with Rajshree Agarwal), Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9(4), 2015, pp. 380–397.

doi: 10.1002/sej.1179 The paper reviews Steven Klepper's scholarly contributions in industry evolution, employee entrepreneurship, and geographical clusters, while tracing the evolution of his career and identifying the unique characteristics and processes he used to undertake his research.

Klepper was regarded at CMU as a "brilliant researcher whose work challenged generations of young economists and entrepreneurs to look beyond traditional assumptions."

Klepper's education honors include:

Professional honors include:

Klepper was a prolific and highly cited author of numerous works, which are cataloged on his page in Research Papers in Economics.

In 2015, Klepper's book, Experimental Capitalism: The Nanoeconomics of American High-Tech Industries ISBN 9780691169620 was published posthumously by Princeton University Press.

Klepper's research has been published in leading journals in economics and management, including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, Econometrica, and Management Science.

Steven Klepper was born in Brooklyn, New York.

After receiving degrees from Cornell University, he first taught at SUNY Buffalo.

There, he met and married his wife of 33 years, Florence Rouzier.