Harvard University has apparently completed its investigation of alleged misconduct by a well-known economics professor, but neither the university nor the professor is saying what action—if any—has been taken against him, The Harvard Crimson reported today. The implication of the article is that he got a slap on the wrist.

The professor, Andrei Shleifer, was accused of a financial conflict of interest when he served, in the 1990s, as director of the Institute for a Law-Based Economy, a Moscow-based program that the university operated under a federal contract (The Chronicle, June 6, 1997). He was removed from that post, and the federal government subsequently sued him, the university, and others. Under a settlement last year, Harvard paid the government $26.5-million, and Mr. Shleifer paid $2-million, although he did not admit to wrongdoing (The Chronicle, August 5, 2005).

This past summer, Harvard’s Committee on Professional Conduct completed a report on Mr. Shleifer’s alleged misconduct, but it was never disclosed whether the report exonerated or condemned him (The Chronicle, July 7). The report, which was handed to the interim dean of the faculty, Jeremy R. Knowles, could have called for the revocation of Mr. Shleifer’s tenure.

That appears not to have happened. In the Crimson article, the professor is quoted as saying that “I am delighted that this matter is fully behind me,” and that he is eager to continue work at the university. For his part, Mr. Knowles said he had taken “appropriate action” in the case.