Semih Tumen is a Principal Economist at Amazon. He held faculty positions as a Professor of Economics at TED University and Louisiana State University. He also served as a Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy Committee Member, Head of Structural Economic Research, and Economist at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from London School of Economics, and BSc in Economics from Middle East Technical University.

His research concentrates on Labor Economics with a special focus on job search, human capital/education, migration/refugees, and social interactions & networks. His current research delves into the education, labor market, and product market consequences of forced displacement. He has also worked on topics including labor productivity, active labor market policies, vocational education/training, compulsory military service, informal employment, minimum wages, inequality, entrepreneurship, neighborhood formation, social interactions/networks, returns to education, intergenerational mobility, and subjective well-being.

His research has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Economics of Education Review, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Review of Income and Wealth, Journal of Population Economics, Review of Economics of the Household, Journal of Economic Inequality, Economics Letters, International Journal of Manpower, Empirical Economics, The Economics of Transition, Journal of Happiness Studies, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Journal of Housing Economics, The World Economy, International Journal of Economic Theory, Industrial Relations, IZA Journal of Labor Economics, IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Energy Economics, Food Policy, Demographic Research, Social Indicators Research, Singapore Economic Review, Economic Modelling, Labour, and other journals.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Kuznets Prize.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in September 2015.