Semih Tumen is a Visiting Professor of Economics at Louisiana State University. He is also a Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF, Cairo/Egypt). He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2012, MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2006, and BSc in Economics from the Middle East Technical University in 2000. He was a Professor of Economics at TED University between 2018-2023. He also served as Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy Committee Member, Head of Economic Research, and Economist at the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye.

His research concentrates on Labor Economics with a special focus on job search, human capital/education, migration/refugees, and social networks. His current interest is mainly on investigating the education, labor market, and product market consequences of forced displacement. He has also worked on topics including 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, Economics of Education Review, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Review of Income and Wealth, Journal of Population Economics, 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.