Research

I investigate why some countries are richer or grow faster than others. To help answer this question, my research program focuses on two aspects: 1., the role of product quality in trade and its relationship to macroeconomic development. And 2., econometric innovations that make standard macroeconomic tools (like production functions or growth regressions) more flexible and realistic, while preserving their analytically convenient properties. I mostly work with product- or industry-level panel data, which allows me to explore differences within and between countries.

My previous research has also contributed to our understanding how economic growth, inequality, and poverty interact on a macroeconomic level and what role foreign direct investment of multinational corporations can play for macroeconomic development.

I enjoy cooperating with policy institutions and communicate research findings to wider policy audiences and I am hence regularly consulting for the World Bank and was a Klaus Liebscher Research Fellow at the Austrian Central Bank. For the public dissemination of my research findings, I have been awarded a Kurt-Rothschild Price in 2020.

My repec/ideas site provides links to academic papers and publications.

Publications

a) in peer reviewed journals

[16] Beyer, R. and K.M. Wacker (2024): "Good Enough for Outstanding Growth: The Experience of Bangladesh in Comparative Perspective." Development Policy Review: 42(2): e12750. DOI: 10.1111/dpr.12750 [data & replication repository]

[15] Koopman, E. and K.M. Wacker (2023): "Drivers of growth accelerations: What role for capital accumulation?" World Development 169: 106297. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106297 [replication repository]

[14] Hartmann, V. and K.M. Wacker (2023): "Poverty decompositions with counterfactual income and inequality dynamics." Review of Development Economics 27(3): 1746-1768. DOI: 10.1111/rode.12998 [replication repository incl. calculation tool for poverty counterfactuals]

[13] Torres Munguía, J.A., F.C. Badarau, L.R. Díaz Pavez, I. Martínez-Zarzoso, and K.M. Wacker (2022): "A global dataset of pandemic- and epidemic-prone disease outbreaks.” Scientific Data 9: 683. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01797-2 [replication repository]

[12] Crespo Cuaresma, J., S. Klasen, and K.M. Wacker (2022): "When Do We See Poverty Convergence?" Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 84(6): 1283-1301. DOI: 10.1111/obes.12492

[11] Schneider, S.T. and K.M. Wacker (2022): "Explaining the global landscape of foreign direct investment: knowledge capital, gravity, and the role of culture and institutions." The World Economy 45(10): 3080-3108. DOI: 10.1111/twec.13267 [replication repository]

[10] de Vries, G., E. Gentile, S. Miroudot, and K.M. Wacker (2020): "The Rise of Robots and the Fall of Routine Jobs." Labour Economics 66. DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101885.

[9] van Treeck, K. and K.M. Wacker (2020): "Financial Globalization and the Labor Share in Developing Countries." The World Economy 43(9): 2343-2374. DOI: 10.1111/twec.12946 [replication repository]

[8] Friesen, J. and K.M. Wacker (2019): "Who is Afraid of Informal Competition? The Role of Finance for Firms in Developing and Emerging Economies." European Journal of Development Research 31(4): 1126–1146. DOI: 10.1057/s41287-019-00204-8

[7] Moller, L.C. and K.M. Wacker (2017): "Explaining Ethiopia's Growth Acceleration - The Role of Infrastructure and Macroeconomic Policy." World Development 96: 198-215. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.007 [data repository]

[6] Wacker, K.M. (2017): "Restructuring of the SOE sector in Vietnam." Journal of Southeast Asian Economies 34(2): 283-301 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44684964

[5] Antoine, K., R. Singh, and K.M. Wacker (2017): "Poverty and Shared Prosperity: Let’s Move the Discussion Beyond Growth." Forum for Social Economics 46(2): 192-205. DOI: 10.1080/07360932.2017.1307135

[4] Wacker, K.M. (2016): "(When) Should We Use Foreign Direct Investment Data to Measure the Activities of Multinational Corporations? Theory and Evidence." Review of International Economics 24(5): 980-999. DOI: 10.1111/roie.12244

[3] Hashimoto, Y. and K.M. Wacker (2016): "The Role of Information for International Capital Flows: New Evidence from the SDDS." Review of World Economics 152(3): 529-557. DOI: 10.1007/s10290-016-0250-4

[2] Wacker, K.M. (2016): "Do multinationals deteriorate developing countries' export prices? The impact of FDI on net barter terms of trade." The World Economy 39(12): 1974-1999. DOI: 10.1111/twec.12311

[1] Wacker, K.M., P. Großkurth, and T. Lakemann (2016): "FDI, Export Prices, and Quality Upgrading: What is so special about South Asia?" Asian Development Review 33(1): 28-55. DOI: 10.1162/ADEV_a_00060

b) current research, revise & resubmit and submissions under review

[17] Muris, C. and K.M. Wacker: "Estimating Interaction Effects with Panel Data." arXiv DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2211.01557 (currently revise & resubmit: Journal of Applied Econometrics)

[18] Trenczek, J. and K.M. Wacker: “Accounting for cross-country output differences: a sectoral CES perspective.” [INFER working paper 2003.09] (currently revise & resubmit: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics)

[19] Trenczek, J. and K.M. Wacker: "Convergence and Innovation in Export Quality and the World Income Distribution" [working paper version]

[20] Casella, B., M. Borga, and K.M. Wacker: "Measuring Multinational Production with Foreign Direct Investment Statistics: Recent Trends, Challenges, and Developments." IMF Working Paper 23/113 (currently revise & resubmit: Journal of Economic Surveys).

[21] Trenczek, J. and K.M. Wacker: "Human Capital Misallocation and Output per Worker Differences: Beyond Cobb-Douglas." GLO Discussion Paper 1331.

[22] Wacker, K.M.: "Investment incomes vs. the trade balance: Is the current account still a meaningful concept?" OeNB Working Paper 256 (Austrian Central Bank).

[23] Wacker, K.M., R.C.M. Beyer, and L.C. Moller: "Leveraging Growth Regressions for Country Analysis." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10751. [data repository]

c) in peer reviewed book volumes

"Globalization and Female Labor Force Participation in Developing Countries: An Empirical (Re-)Assessment," joint with Arusha Cooray and Isis Gaddis. In: Christensen, Bent Jesper and Carsten Kowalczyk (eds.): Globalization: Strategies and Effects. Springer, pp. 545-583. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-49502-5_22

"Convergence, Poverty, and Macroeconomic Volatility: A Latin American Perspective." In: J. T. Araujo, E. Vostroknutova, K. M. Wacker, and M. Clavijo (eds., 2016): Understanding the Income and Efficiency Gap in Latin America and the Caribbean, Directions in Development, pp. 209-231 [link]

d) handbook articles

"Poverty Trap" in: Moghaddam, Fathali M. (editor): The SAGE Encyclopedia of Political Behavior, pp. 642-644 [link]

e) book reviews

Review of "Razin, Assaf: Understanding Global Crises: An emerging paradigm." Journal of Economics 117(3), 285-287 [link]

f) books

[I] Beyond Commodities : The Growth Challenge of Latin America and the Caribbean, joint with J. T. Araujo, M. Brueckner, E. Vostroknutova and M. Clavijo. Latin American Development Forum Series (peer reviewed); Washington, DC: World Bank [link]

[II] Understanding the Income and Efficiency Gap in Latin America and the Caribbean, joint with J. T. Araujo, E. Vostroknutova and M. Clavijo. Washington, DC: Directions in Development, 2016 [link]

[III] Empirical Aspects of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Development, with contributions by Y. Hashimoto, K. C. Vadlamannati, A. Cooray, and I. Gaddis. Göttingen University Press, 2013 [link]

g) in peer reviewed working paper series

Casella, B., M. Borga, and K.M. Wacker (2023): Measuring Multinational Production with Foreign Direct Investment Statistics: Recent Trends, Challenges, and Developments. IMF Working Paper 2023/113. [link]

Wacker, K.M, D. Lodge, and G. Nicoletti (2014): Measuring Financial Conditions in Major Non-Euro Area Economies. ECB Working Paper 1743, European Central Bank. [link]

"Understanding Economic Growth in Ghana in Comparative Perspective," joint with Michael T. Geiger and Jan Trenczek. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8699 [link]

"Terms of Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Development: A Case of Intra-Asian ‘Kicking Away the Ladder’?” joint with Philipp Großkurth and Tabea Lakemann. Asian Development Bank Working Paper on Regional Economic Integration No. 122.

"On the measurement of foreign direct investment and its relationship to activities of multinational corporations.” ECB Working Paper 1614, European Central Bank.

"The role of risk and information for international capital flows: New Evidence from the SDDS,” joint with Yuko Hashimoto. IMF Working Paper 12-242. Also circulated as Courant Research Centre ‘Poverty, Equity and Growth’ Discussion Paper No. 124

h) official World Bank reports

Understanding Latin America and the Caribbean’s Income Gap, joint with Araujo, J. T., E. Vostroknutova, and M. Clavijo. 2015.

Benchmarking the Determinants of Economic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, joint with Araujo, J., M. Brueckner, M. Clavijo, and E. Vostroknutova. 2014.

"Flows and ebbs: capital flows to Malaysia and their macro-financial implications." In: Malaysia Economic Monitor. December 2014: 26-33.

i) other

Differences in measuring FDI: do they matter for our economic conclusions? IFC Bulletin 52 [link]