Gérard Roland (born 1954) is a Belgian economist, and a professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley since 2001.

He wrote the leading graduate textbook Transition and Economics published in 2000 at MIT Press and translated in various languages, including Chinese and Russian.

In recent years, he extended his research to comparative economic history in his quest to understand the origins of different cultures in today's world.

He has received many honors including an honorary professorship from the Renmin University of China in Beijing in 2002 and the medal “De Scientia et humanitate optime meritis” by the Czech Academy of Sciences, November 15, 2018.

The Association for Comparative Economic Studies created an annual dissertation fellowship in his name to recognize his contributions to the field.