Harris was an assistant professor at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1966 to 1967 and at
Northwestern University from 1967 to 1968. He moved to the
University of Wisconsin–Madison as an associate professor in 1968. In 1972, he joined the faculty of Stanford University as a professor of economics, and became the first
black scholar to be granted tenure in Stanford's Department of Economics. At various times, he was a
visiting fellow in
Cambridge University and
Delhi School of Economics; and visiting professor at
Yale University. He is a longtime member of the
American Economic Association. Harris directed the Consortium Graduate School of Social Sciences at the
University of the West Indies in 1986–1987, and he was a
Fulbright Scholar at the
University of Brasília in 1990 and 1991, and in Mexico in 1992. In 1998, he retired from Stanford, becoming a
professor emeritus.
Contributions to economic analysis and policy Harris's economic philosophy was critical of mainstream economics and questioned orthodox assumptions. Harris is said to work in the tradition of
Post-Keynesian economics. He has acknowledged the works of
Joan Robinson,
Maurice Dobb,
Piero Sraffa,
Michal Kalecki,
Karl Marx,
John Maynard Keynes,
Joseph Schumpeter, and
W. Arthur Lewis as influences upon his work. which is a critique of orthodox economic theories that provides an alternative, synthesizing the work of
David Ricardo, Kalecki, Marx,
Roy Harrod, and others. Harris employs mathematical modeling to explore the relationship between the accumulation of capital and income inequality, economic growth, economic instability, and other phenomena, arguing that typical theories fail to adequately consider power, class, and historical context. Harris has done research on the
economy of Jamaica, presenting analyses and reports on the structural conditions, historical performance, and contemporary problems of the economy, as well as developing plans and policies for promoting economic growth and social inclusion. and the Growth Inducement Strategy of 2011. He has published several books on the economy of Jamaica, including ''Jamaica's Export Economy: Towards a Strategy of Export-led Growth
(Ian Randle Publishers, 1997) and A Growth-Inducement Strategy for Jamaica in the Short and Medium Term'' (edited with G. Hutchinson, Planning Institute of Jamaica, 2012). Jamaica has in recent years been considered an economic success story, as it has achieved sustained economic growth and large reductions in public debt, and some allies attribute this success to an agreement between Jamaica and the
International Monetary Fund that was made possible through Harris's growth strategy for Jamaica. ==Personal life==