| Honorific Prefix: | Professor |
| Michael Wachter | |
| Birth Date: | 12 March 1943 |
| Birth Place: | New York City |
| Occupation: | Law professor |
| William B. and Mary Barb Johnson Professor of Law and Economics; Co-Director of the Institute for Law & Economics | |
| Alma Mater: |
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| Workplaces: | University of Pennsylvania Law School |
Michael L. Wachter (12 March 1943 – 3 September 2022) is the William B. and Mary Barb Johnson Professor of Law and Economics Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Co-Director of the Institute for Law & Economics.[1]
Wachter was born in New York City, and earned a B.S. from Cornell University in 1964, an M.A. from Harvard University in 1967, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1970.[1] [2] [3] [4] From 1964 to 1965 he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.[2]
Since 1970, Wachter has held full professor positions at the University of Pennsylvania in Arts and Sciences, the Wharton School, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.[5] He was Commissioner of the Minimum Wage Study Commission established by the US Congress from 1978 to 1981.[2] He was Interim Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from January 1998 to December 1998.[5] In July 2020, the Michael L. Wachter Distinguished Fellowship in Law and Policy was established in his name at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.[6]
Wachter is the William B. and Mary Barb Johnson Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Co-Director of the Institute for Law & Economics.[5]
Among the many articles Wachter has authored are "The Rise and Decline of Unions," 30 REG. 23 (2007), "Labor Unions: A Corporatist Institution in a Competitive World," 155 U. PA. L. REV. 581 (2007), and "Judging Unions' Future Using a Historical Perspective: The Public Policy Choice Between Competition and Unionization," 2 J. LAB. RES. 339 (2003).[5] [7]
He passed away on September 3, 2022.[8]