I am a Senior Economic Advisor for labor markets and research at the National Labor Observatory (NLO) of Saudi Arabia. I also served as the Acting General Manager of Product Management at NLO Nov 2023 - Oct 2024. Previously I worked as an Associate Professor of Economics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Business School, as a researcher at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Saudi Arabia and as an Associate Professor of Economics at Ozyegin University, Istanbul. I have been a consultant for the World Bank and the Energy Exchange Istanbul. I also served as the director of the TUSIAD-Ozyegin University Sustainable Development Forum between 2018-2020 and as the Rapporteur of the Turkish Ministry of Development Special Commission Report -“Savings and Consumption Trends in Turkey”- as a part of the 11th Development Plan of the Republic of Turkey in 2018. I hold a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Pittsburgh.
Selected Academic Publications
“Intergenerational Income Mobility and Income Taxation”, Musab Kurnaz and Mehmet A. Soytas, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 176, 105111 (2025). Link
“Extending behavioral theory of the firm to new ventures: Dispositional optimism as a moderating influence on new product introductions in high-tech ventures”, R. Isil Yavuz, Dev K. Dutta and Mehmet A. Soytas, Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 22, Nov. (2024). Link
"Sustainability Outcomes in Multi-tier Supply Chains: An Empirical Study of Turkish Manufacturing Firms”, Damla Durak-Usar and Mehmet A. Soytas, International Journal of Production Research, 61 (14), 4625–4656 (2023). Link
“What is the source of the intergenerational correlation in earnings?”, George-Levi Gayle, Limor Golan and Mehmet Soytas, Journal of Monetary Economics, 129, 24-45 (2022). Link
“Estimation of Static Corporate Sustainability Interactions”, Mehmet Soytas, Damla Durak Usar and Meltem Denizel, International Journal of Production Research, 60 (4), 1245-1264 (2022). Link
"The Pacifying Effect of Energy Dependence on Interstate Conflict: A Large-N Analysis", Osman Zeki Gokce, Emre Hatipoglu and Mehmet A. Soytas, Energy Research and Social Science, Volume 78, 102133 (2021). Link
“The asymmetric impact of oil prices, interest rates and oil price uncertainty on unemployment: New evidence from the US”, Baris Kocaarslan, Mehmet Ali Soytas and Ugur Soytas, Energy Economics, 86, 104625 (2020). Link
“Addressing Endogeneity in the Causal Relationship between Sustainability and Financial Performance”, Mehmet Ali Soytas, Meltem Denizel and Damla Durak Usar, International Journal of Production Economics, 210, 56–71 (2019). Link
“Estimation of Dynastic Lifecycle Discrete Choice Models”, George-Levi Gayle, Limor Golan and Mehmet Soytas, Quantitative Economics, 9(3), 1195–1241 (2018). Link
“Intergenerational Mobility and the Effects of Parental Education, Time Investment, and Income on Children’s Educational Attainment”, George-Levi Gayle, Limor Golan and Mehmet Soytas, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 100(3), 281-295 (2018). Link
Policy Reports
“Future Skills Needed and Profiles of Workers: Ways to Maximise Productivity of Labor", Mehmet A. Soytas , Gulf Research Center Policy Report, No.: 1, (2025) Link
“Technology and the Future of Work: Global Trends and Policy Directions for Technological Change in the Labor Market", Mata Lorenzo, E., Zeid, R. Y. M., Chartouni, C., Koettl-Brodmann, J., Soytas, M. A., & Rivera Guivas, N., World Bank Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes, No.: 191619 (2024), Link
“The Gig Economy and the Future of Work: Global Trends and Policy Directions for Non-Standard Forms of Employment", Zeid, R., Mohamed, R. Y., Alrayess, D. J., Ajwad, M. I., Soytas, M. A., & Rivera Guivas, N., World Bank Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes, No.: 190908 (2024), Link
Recent Working Papers
“What Accounts for the Racial Gap in Time Allocation and Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital?”, George-Levi Gayle, Limor Golan and Mehmet Soytas (2018). [R&R at the Journal of Political Economy] Link
“A Theory of Intergenerational Mobility with Government”, Nizam M. Demirtas, Mehmet A. Soytas and Orhan Torul, (2024).
“The asymmetric impact of energy dependence on interstate conflict”, Emre Hatipoglu,Baris Kocaarslan and Mehmet A. Soytas, (2024).
“Dynamic interconnectedness between oil prices, interest rates, and US unemployment: The role of oil price uncertainty”, Baris Kocaarslan, Mehmet Ali Soytas and Ugur Soytas, (2024). [Under Review]
During my academic and think tank career, I have had several research projects funded, authored numerous articles in the fields of labor economics, economic policy and corporate sustainability, organized workshops, gave talks at many prestigious universities, research institutions and central banks, supervised Ph.D. dissertations, and presented at major economic conferences. I have taught courses on labor economics, microeconomics, econometrics, statistics, managerial economics, and managerial statistics. I acted as a referee for many national/international journals, and European and Turkish science foundation grants. I have also been a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Washington University in St. Louis, Turkish Central Bank, University of Pittsburgh, Australian National University and King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.