Mariana Spatareanu is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and core faculty in the Division of Global Affairs, Rutgers University, Newark. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Her research interests focus on measuring productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment, as well as investigating factors that affect the flows of foreign direct investment, including the rule of law, labor market regulations, environmental standards and financial markets. She is also working on issues related to immigration, innovation and competition.

Her research has been published in The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Economics Letters, World Bank Economic Review, Review of World Economics/Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Journal of Applied Economics, Journal of Environment and Development, various other economics journals as well as chapters in books and monographs.

She is affiliated with LICOS Center for Institutions and Economic Performance, Catholic University Leuven and with Hamburg Institute of International Economics. Before joining Rutgers University, she worked for the World Bank where she was involved in research related to the impact and the characteristics of foreign direct investment with focus on developing countries.