Dr. Ehrlich's research interests include general applications of economic theory to law and economics, crime and justice, human capital and health economics, advertising and information,uncertainty and insurance, social security, and economic growth and development. He is the author of 80 original and reprinted articles in major refereed journals and collections, including two books and a special journal issue, and his widely cited work – he is listed among the 100 most cited economists on several published surveys – has been supported by numerous grants from the National Science Foundation and other Federal agencies, including a major USAID grant to study economic development and the role of free enterprise. In 2006, Dr. Ehrlich was awarded the prestigious faculty development grant from the New York Office of Science, Technology, and Academic research (NYSTAR), which he is using to establish a “Signature center of Excellence on Human Capital, technology transfer, and Economic growth and Development”. He holds a Ph.D.degree from Columbia University .

Professor Ehrlich currently serves as Chairman of the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and as Melvin H.Baker Professor of American Enterprise in the School of Management . He is also a Research Associate (currently a senior title) of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an Honorary Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, a Research Associate of the Institute of Policy Analysis of the University of Toronto , and a member of the prestigious Mont Pellerin Society.

His previous academic affiliations include appointments as a lecturer at the Tel-Aviv University , an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago , and a Senior Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he was one of the founders of the Law and Economics Project. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and a Visiting Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He has given numerous public lectures and seminars in Austria , Canada , China , Colombia , France , Hong Kong , Israel , Japan , Singapore , Switzerland , Taiwan , and Uruguay.

Professor Ehrlich is listed in the prestigious first edition of Who's Who in Economics: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Economists 1700-1980, and all of its later updates, and has contributed entries on Crime and Punishment and the Economics of Criminal Justice in all editions of The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, and The New Palgrave Dictionary ofEconomics and the Law. His public service activities include membership on President Ronald Reagan’s Health Policy Advisory Group and the Transition Team on Health Policy, and the Hong Kong Government's Health Services Committee and its Expert Subcommittee on Grant Applications and Awards, headed by Hon. Elizabeth Wong, Secretary of Health and Welfare in GovernorChris Patton’s Administration. 

In recognition of his scholarly contributions Professor Ehrlich was promoted in March 2006 to the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor, the highest academic rank in the SUNY system. He was previously promoted to the new rank of UB Distinguished Professor in 2002. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Docteur Honoris Causa) from the University of Orleans,France, in Fall 2002.