USC finance professor Larry Harris has accepted appointment as chief economist for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Harris holds the Fred V. Keenan Chair in Finance at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

Harris joins the Commission July 1, taking a two-year leave from Marshall. He succeeds Acting Chief Economist William J. Atkinson, who is retiring after 30 years with the agency.

The SEC works closely with the securities industry and with other government agencies to ensure that markets work well. The economists at the SEC play a central role by helping the commission and its staff better understand the many economic forces that affect markets.

As chief economist, Harris said he will be responsible for leading these efforts, working under chairman Harvey Pitt and with commissioners Cynthia A. Glassman and Isaac C. Hunt Jr.

"The tremendous prosperity of our economy depends critically on having fair and well-functioning markets," said Harris. "Good markets do not just happen. Exchanges, brokers, dealers, traders and regulators must act together to create markets that promote the common good."

Innovations in trading technologies, trading products and corporate financing arrangements present many difficult issues that need to be well understood before good policies can be created, he added.

"Recent high profile bankruptcies and scandals also raise many concerns that do not have obvious answers. I look forward to addressing these questions with the assistance of my new colleagues on the staff of the Office of Economic Analysis," said Harris.

Recognized as one of the top 100 most cited finance and business economics researchers, Harris specializes in financial economics, volatility and stock index markets. He previously served as economic fellow in the SEC's Office of the Chief Economist, as well as a visiting scholar at the New York Stock Exchange.