Jesse Hajer, PhD

• ECON 1210 - Introduction to Canadian Economic Issues and Policy
• ECON 2690 - Income Distribution
• ECON 4690/7300 - Special Topics (Social Finance and the Social/Solidarity Economy)
• LABR 2100 - Political Economy of Labour
• LABR 4510 - Labour Studies Field Placement Seminar. Cross listed as ECON 4610 and GPE 4510.
• LABR 4520 - Labour Studies Field Placement. Cross listed as ECON 4620 and GPE 4520.

Prior to joining the University of Manitoba as a faculty member, Dr. Hajer was a founding member and director of the Breakwater Group consulting co-operative, leading government and community policy initiatives aimed at reducing poverty, helping people with barriers to employment into the labour market, and promoting access to education. Previously, he served the Government of Manitoba as a project manager with the Community and Economic Development and Priorities and Planning cabinet secretariats, and as executive director of Apprenticeship Manitoba.  Dr. Hajer has also been a visiting lecturer at the University of Turin, Italy, where he developed and delivered an intensive graduate level course module, Social Impact Finance and its Application, as part of Masters in Social Innovation for Sustainable Development Program offered by the International Labour Organization’s International Training Centre.

• PhD (Economics), New School for Social Research, 2018
• MA (Economics), University of Manitoba, 2007
• BAH (Economics), University of Winnipeg, 2004

Research interests

• Social impact bonds/social outcomes contracts
• The political economy of public policy in Manitoba
• Community economic development
• The social/solidarity economy
• Public - private partnerships 
   

Research summary

My research uses a political economy approach that focuses on how the relative power of classes and social groups, as opposed to economic efficiency or social welfare, drive economic and public policy outcomes. Within this broad focus I have two main areas of research specialization: Social Impact Bonds, and the Political Economy of Public Policy in Manitoba. While I have published works making theoretical contributions to the literature, most of my work, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been targeted at enhancing public policy discourse and practice, informed by the research needs of labour and community-based organizations whose work supports the reduction of poverty, socio-economic equity, and inclusive and sustainable economic development.
 

Research affiliations/groups

• Co-Lead, Community Economic Development Stream and Research Committee Member, Manitoba Research Alliance
• Research Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba 
• Member, Progressive Economics Forum 
• Research Associate, Centre for Social Science Research and Policy
• Research Affiliate, Centre for Human Rights Research

• Hajer, Jesse, and Bin Chen. 2024. “New Public Management Marketizers versus Neo-Weberian State Modernizers? Institutional Configurations of Social Impact Bond Utilization among 18 OECD Countries.” Public Management Review. 1-27.
• Hajer, Jesse, Niall Harney, and David Macdonald. 2023. Funding Our Way: Rebalancing Revenues and Spending for a Fair and Prosperous Manitoba. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba. 
• Akram-Lodhi, A. Haroon, Peter Lawrence, Roy Culpeper, Neil Tudiver, Ray Bush, Bonnie Campbell, John Serieux, et al. 2021. “The Legacies of John Loxley.” Edited by A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi. Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue Canadienne d’études Du Développement 42 (4): 556–79. 
• Hajer, Jesse, and John Loxley. 2021. Social Service, Private Gain: The Political Economy of Social Impact Bonds. University of Toronto Press. 
• Keith, Jennifer, Jesse Hajer, and Michael Conway. 2021. Hard Infrastructure, Hard Times: Workers Perspectives on Privatization and Contracting out of Manitoba Infrastructure. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba. 
• Cooper, Sarah, and Jesse Hajer. 2020. “The Covid-19 Policy Response for Renters and Persons Experiencing Homelessness in Manitoba.” In COVID-19 in Manitoba: Public Policy Responses to the First Wave, edited by Andrea Rounce and Karine Levasseur, 173–81. University of Manitoba Press.
• Hajer, Jesse. 2020. “The National Governance and Policy Context of Social Impact Bond Emergence: A Comparative Analysis of Leaders and Skeptics.” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 22 (2): 116–33.
• Hajer, Jesse, and Ellen Smirl. 2020. Surviving on Minimum Wage: Lived Experiences of Manitoba Workers & Policy Implications. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba. 
• Hajer, Jesse. 2019. “Unions and the 2019 Manitoba Election.” In Understanding the Manitoba Election 2019: Campaigns, Participation, and Issues, edited by Royce Koop, Barry Ferguson, Karine Levasseur, Andrea Rounce, and Kiera Ladner, 33–35. Winnipeg, Canada: University of Manitoba Press. 

• Loxley, John, and Jesse Hajer. 2019. “Public–Private Partnerships, Social Impact Bonds, and the Erosion of the State in Canada.” Studies in Political Economy 100 (1): 18–40. 

   

• Dandenault, Natalie, Jesse Hajer, and Niall Harney. 2023. Manitoba Living Wage: 2023 Update. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba. 
• Hajer, Jesse. 2022. Understanding and Responding to the Rising Cost of Living in Manitoba: An Update for Workers, Lower-Income Households and Allied Organizations. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba.
• Evans-Boudreau, Anna, Oyindamola Alaka, Lorna Turnbull, Jesse Hajer, Natalie Dandenault, and Kristine Barr. 2023. Tired of Waiting: Rectifying Manitoba’s Gender Pay Gap. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba. 
• Hajer, Jesse, and Lynne Fernandez. 2021. COVID-19, Austerity and an Alternative Social and Economic Policy Path for Manitoba. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba.
• Cooper, Sarah, Jesse Hajer, and Shayna Plaut. 2020. Assisting Renters: Manitoba’s Rent Assist in the Context of Canada’s National Housing Strategy. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba.