Michael Scott Taylor (born 30 July 1960) is a Canadian economist, who studies the interaction between international trade and environmental outcomes.

Following his Ph.D., Taylor held a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship and spent time at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

Taylor was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Basel, Switzerland for his pioneering work on trade, the environment and renewable resources.

Other important work connects the health of biological resources such as the bison respond to the pressures brought about by globalization.

[6] He has investigated the role natural resource collapses have played in the rise and fall of prehistoric societies, such as Easter Island,[7] how growth and trade jointly determine environmental outcomes, and how access to international markets affects research and development and long run growth.