Dr Zafer Kanik
- Lecturer in Economics (Economics)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400Biography
Zafer Kanik joined the Adam Smith Business School as a Lecturer in Economics in September 2020. Before joining the University of Glasgow, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zafer holds a PhD in Economics from Boston College.
Zafer’s research focuses on economic and financial networks. His current research is centred around two main themes:
- macroeconomic impacts of automation
- systemic risk, financial stability and banking regulations.
He is particularly interested in risks, regulations, and reorganization in networked markets.
Research interests
Zafer is a member of the Schoo's Macroeconomics research cluster.
Areas of expertise:
- Economic and financial networks
- Financial crises and contagion
- Banking regulations and financial stability
- Systemic risk and its measurement
- Innovation and technological change
- Automation, productivity and income inequality
- Automation and the future of work
Publications
2026
Jackson, Matthew O. and Kanik, Zafer 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2026)
The economic benefits and costs of AI and policies to mitigate AI's impact on inequality.
arXiv,
1 July.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2607.01101)
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400 and Hakobyan, Zaruhi
(2026)
Strategic expression, popularity traps, and welfare in social media.
arXiv,
1 July.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2601.01370)
Heydari, M. Sadra, Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400 and Montoya-Blandon, Santiago ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2229-2254
(2026)
The R&D productivity puzzle: innovation networks with heterogeneous firms.
arXiv,
1 Feb.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2512.23337)
2024
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2024)
Skill-intensive automation, labor supply and mobility, and wage inequality.
SSRN,
Jan 15.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4867553)
2021
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2021)
From Lombard Street to Wall Street: Systemic Risk, Rescues, and Stability in Financial Networks.
Working Paper.
NET Institute Working Paper No. 17-17, SSRN.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3057615).
2019
Jackson, Matthew O. and Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2019)
How automation that substitutes for labor affects production networks, growth, and income inequality.
SSRN,
Sep 19.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3375523)
Articles
Jackson, Matthew O. and Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2026)
The economic benefits and costs of AI and policies to mitigate AI's impact on inequality.
arXiv,
1 July.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2607.01101)
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400 and Hakobyan, Zaruhi
(2026)
Strategic expression, popularity traps, and welfare in social media.
arXiv,
1 July.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2601.01370)
Heydari, M. Sadra, Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400 and Montoya-Blandon, Santiago ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2229-2254
(2026)
The R&D productivity puzzle: innovation networks with heterogeneous firms.
arXiv,
1 Feb.
(doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2512.23337)
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2024)
Skill-intensive automation, labor supply and mobility, and wage inequality.
SSRN,
Jan 15.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4867553)
Jackson, Matthew O. and Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2019)
How automation that substitutes for labor affects production networks, growth, and income inequality.
SSRN,
Sep 19.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3375523)
Research Reports or Papers
Kanik, Zafer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1713-2400
(2021)
From Lombard Street to Wall Street: Systemic Risk, Rescues, and Stability in Financial Networks.
Working Paper.
NET Institute Working Paper No. 17-17, SSRN.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3057615).
Supervision
Supervisory interests
- Economic and financial networks
- Banking, financial stability, systemic risk
- Automation and the future of work
- Productivity, technological change and innovation
- Risks and regulations in networked markets
