# Mehrdad Vahabi

Mehrdad Vahabi (born 1963) is an Iranian professor of Economics at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (Paris) and director of Centre d'Economie Paris Nord-CEPN.

## Biography

Vahabi was born in 1963 in Tehran. He completed his higher education first in the United States and then in France. In 1981 he received his Bachelor from University of Chicago, and then in October 1993 he received his PhD in Economics from Paris 7 University on La pensée économique de János Kornai (1955-1984) : de la réforme de l'économie socialiste à la théorie de l'économie de pénurie. After that he received his Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) from Université Paris 1 on Les modes de coordination et les institutions: vers une approche dynamique. He is currently a professor of Economics in Sorbonne Paris North University (Paris 13) and the director of Centre d'Economie Paris Nord-CEPN, an affiliation of French National Centre for Scientific Research.

## Works

In his book The Political Economy of Predation (2016), which stands at the crossroad of Public Choice and New institutional Economics, Vahabi relies on the concept of predation to revisit the analysis of the genesis of the state, states conflict and the transition from autocracy to democracy.
His subsequent work, Destructive Coordination, Anfal and Islamic Political Capitalism: A New Reading of Contemporary Iran (2023), is a study of Islamic public finance that describes how ideology and politics enable institutions to emerge that contribute to perpetual crises. With focus on Iran, and a specific institution, Anfal.

### Books

* Vahabi, Mehrdad (2025). The Legacy of Janos Kornai: Collected Economic Essays on Janos Kornai. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. ISBN 978-3-031-83239-0.
* Vahabi, Mehrdad (2023). Destructive Coordination, Anfal and Islamic Political Capitalism: A New Reading of Contemporary Iran. Palgrave Macmillan Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17674-6. ISBN 978-3-031-17676-0.
* Vahabi, Mehrdad (2016). The Political Economy of Predation: Manhunting and the Economics of Escape. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781316460139. ISBN 9781316460139.
* Vahabi, Mehrdad (2004). The Political Economy of Destructive Power. Edward Elgar Publishing. doi:10.4337/9781845421724. ISBN 9781845421724.

## Footnotes

* ↑ "Mehrdad Vahabi | CEPN (Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris 13)". cepn.univ-paris13.fr. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
* ↑ Iran International ايران اينترنشنال (2023-07-03). شاهد تاریخ - مهرداد وهابی، بخش اول. Retrieved 2024-10-18 – via YouTube.
* ↑ "The Hungarian economist, after whom we have to rethink Marx - Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem". www.uni-corvinus.hu. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
* ↑ "La pensée économique de János Kornai (1955-1984) : de la réforme de l'économie socialiste à la théorie de l'économie de pénurie". Retrieved 2025-01-09.
* ↑ Vahabi, Mehrdad (1997-03-14). Les modes de coordination et les institutions: vers une approche dynamique (thesis thesis) (in French). Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I.
* ↑ "مهرداد وهابی: سرمایه‌داری سیاسی در ایران". Tribuneiran (in Persian). 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
* ↑ "چهره‌ها و گفتگوها - مهرداد وهابی: نقض قوانین در جمهوری اسلامی ایران، خصیصۀ نظامی است که بر بستر نهادهای متوازی و قدرت‌های فرا‌قانونی شکل گرفته است". ار.اف.ای - RFI (in Persian). 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
* ↑ "CEPN". Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (in French). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
* 1 2 Reviews of The Political Economy of Predation: Wladimir Andreff (2016), "Prédation et développement", Revue Tiers Monde, JSTOR 44948546 Bernard Chavance (2016), "De la prédation et de la chasse à l’homme à l’anarchisme universel", Revue de la régulation, doi:10.4000/regulation.11952 Bertrand Crettez (2016), Œconomia, doi:10.4000/oeconomia.2402 Tarik Tazdaït (2017), "La chasse à l’homme et l’état prédateur", Cahiers d'économie politique, JSTOR 90018080 Renaud Bellais (2018), Defence and Peace Economics, doi:10.1080/10242694.2017.1345826
* 1 2 Reviews of Destructive Coordination, Anfal and Islamic Political Capitalism: Thierry Kirat (2023), Revue d'économie politique, Ilia Murtazashvili (2023), Public Choice, doi:10.1007/s11127-023-01051-2
* ↑ Reviews of The Political Economy of Destructive Power: Bernard Chavance (2005), Revue d'études comparatives Est-Ouest, JSTOR 45448113 Kristian Skrede Gleditsch (2006), Journal of Peace Research, JSTOR 27640309 Wladimir Andreff (2007), Cahiers d'économie politique, JSTOR 43107688