Hâle [Haːleh] Utar

RESEARCH

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• Firms and Labor in Times of Violence: Evidence from the Mexican Drug War, 2024, The World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 39, Issue 3, August 2025.

  • • Read on VoxEU:  Firms and labour markets in times of violence, VOXEU Column, 28 March 2021.

    • WP versions: (IZA DP # 15160, CESifo Working Paper No. 7345)

    • Online Appendix

• International Trade and Job Polarization: Evidence at the Worker Level, with W. Keller, Journal of International Economics, Vol. 145, 2023, 103810 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103810  Online Appendix

  • • Read on VoxEU: Globalization and Polarization in the Wake of Brexit, VOXEU Column, 05 July 2016.

    • Prepub version w/ Online Appendix 

• Globalization, Gender, and the Family, with W. Keller,  Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 89, Issue 6, November 2022, pp. 3381–3409.

doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdac012 Online Appendix

• • • Featured in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,  FAZ

    • Read on VoxEU: Biological clocks,  import competition, and the gender gap in earnings, VOXEU Column, 05 March 2020. 

    • Also featured on VoxChina: Biological Explanation for the Gender Gap in Earnings, VoxChina Column, 15 April 2020. 

• Workers beneath the Floodgates: Impact of Low-Wage Import Competition and Workers' Adjustment,   Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 100, No. 4, October 2018, pp. 631-647.

  • •  Read on VoxEU: You are needed but not your skills: Challenges to Manufacturing Workers in the wake of Globalization, VOXEU Column, Dec 06, 2018

    •  Featured at the World Economic Forum link 

    • Online Appendix

• Characteristics of International Trade Intermediaries and Their Location in the Supply Chain,   in   Globalization: Strategies and Effects, Editors:  B. J. Christensen, & C. Kowalczyk, 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

• Credit Rationing, Risk Aversion and Industrial Evolution in Developing Countries,   with E. Bond and J. Tybout,  International Economic Review, August 2015, pp. 695-722.

• When the Floodgates Open: Northern Firms' Response to Removal of Trade Quotas on Chinese Goods,  American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, October 2014,  Vol. 6, No. 4. pp. 226-250.

• International Competition and Industrial Evolution: Evidence from the Impact of Chinese Competition on  Mexican Maquiladoras, with L. Ruiz,   Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 105, November 2013, pp. 267-287. 

  • • Prepub version w/ Online Appendix

RECENT WORKING PAPERS

• The US-China Trade War and Relocation of Global Value Chains to Mexico, CESIfo WP # 10638, 2023, Accepted. Review of Economics and Statistics.

  • • Shifting sands in cross-border supply chains: How Mexico emerged as a key player in the US-China trade war, VoxEU Column, 9 December, 2023

    • Also featured on VoxDev : How Mexico emerged as a key player in the US-China trade war, VoxDev, 26 April, 2024

• Technology Hubs or Backwater? Lessons on Structural Change from Germany’s Coal Regions,  with Janssen, Keller, and Vallizadeh, 2021.

• Elsewhere in North America: How U.S. Tariffs on China Boosted Mexico's Manufacturing Employment and Output, 2025.

HONORS, GRANTS, VISITS, and SCHOLARSHIPS

• • Visiting Scholar, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI), Mexico City, March 2024, December 2024, March 2025, May 2025, August 2025

  • Visiting Scholar, Dartmouth College, April/May 2023

  • Visiting Scholar, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI) and Banco de Mexico, Mexico City, February 2023

  • Ranked by Handelsblatt (Forschungmonitoring 2017) as among the top 100 economists in the DACH countries 

  • Invited Research Visit, the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London, March 2019

  • Invited Research Visit, the Center for Economic Studies (CES), Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, April 2016 

  • Visiting Scholar, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia (INEGI), Aguascalientes, Nov 2010

  • Visiting Scholar, Department of Economics, Labor Markets Dynamics and Growth Center, University of Aarhus, Denmark, Fall 2009

  • Colorado European Union Center of Excellence, Faculty Research Grant, Spring 2009

  • National Science Foundation Research Grant, “Openness, Industrial Evolution and Job Flows”,    (SES 061788 subcontracted from Pennsylvania State University as PI under 3383-UC-NSF-7888).

  • Full Scholarship, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Economics, 2001-2006

  • Haci Omer Sabanci Scholarship, 1993-1999, awarded for outstanding performance in the National Student Placement Examination

  INVITED SEMINAR TALKS  AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS SINCE 2019

2025:

• • • • • National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute (NBER-SI), International Trade and Investment, Cambridge, MA

        • CESIfo Venice Summer Institute — The Regulation of Multi-Firm Groups: Combining Advances from Trade and Public Economics, Venice

        • Workshop on International Economic Networks (WIEN), Vienna

        • BIS-BoE-ECB-IMF Spillover Conference, the European Central Bank, Frankfurt

        • International Trade and Industrial Policy in a Changing World, the Bank of France, Paris

        • Institutions Trade & Economic Development (InsTED) Workshop, University of Alberta

2024:

• • • • • Inter-American Development Bank, D.C. 

        • OECD, Paris

        • Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona

        • Sabanci University

        • Owens Conference "Shifting Patterns of Globalization: Trade, Migration, and North American Integration", Dallas, TX

        • CESIfo Global Economy Conference, Munich, Germany

        • ABFER (The Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research ) Conference, Singapore

        • GEN (Global Economic Networks) Workshop, Tübingen, Germany

        • Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP) Annual Academic Conference, Nottingham, UK

        • Danish International Economic Workshop, Aarhus, Denmark

        • GGDC Conference, Groningen, Netherlands

        • Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) Conference, Pennsylvania State University

2023:

• • • • • The United States International Trade Commission (USITC)

        • Iowa State University

        • Colby College

        • Dartmouth College

        • Empirical Investigation in International Trade (EIIT), Syracuse University

        • TIGN (Trade, Integration, and Growth Network) Conference,  Buenos Aires

        • IZA workshop on “Labor Markets and Innovation during Times of War and Reconstruction" 

        • SEA Meeting, New Orleans

        • Advancing sustainability of critical supply chains in developing countries, ifW Kiel 

        • The European Trade Study Group, University of Surrey, UK

        • The Penn State Alumni Conference, State College, PA

        • Koç University Winter Workshop, Istanbul

2022:

• • • • • The United States International Trade Commission (USITC)

        • The Society of Labor Economics (SOLE) Conference, Minneapolis

        • Warwick University, Political Violence, and Labor Market Outcomes Workshop

2021:

• • • • • Inter-American Development Bank, D.C. 

        • Syracuse University, NY

        • University of Cardiff, UK

        • Iowa State University, Ames

        • CAED Conference, University of Coimbra, Portugal

        • The Latin American Meeting of the Econometric Society, LACEA-LAMES

        •  North American Meeting of the Urban Economics Association 

        • Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ) Meeting, London School of Economics

        • Trade, Technology, and Demographics, 6th international conference of the DFG Priority Program 1764

2020:

• • • • • Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam

        • National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute (NBER-SI),Gender in the Economy 

        • The Econometric Society and Bocconi University Virtual World Congress 

        • EALE SOLE AASLE World Conference 

        • CESIfo Area Conference on Global Economy

        • AEL Conference of the Research Group on Development Economics

        • Online Economics of Crime Seminar

2019:

• • • • • CReAM, University College London

        • University of Trento, Italy

        • IZA (Institute of Labor Economics), Bonn

        •  University of Cologne, Germany

        • European Research Workshop in International Trade (ERWIT), London School of Economics and CEPR

        • 6th Institutions Trade & Economic Development (InsTED) Workshop, Nottingham, UK

        • Empirical Investigations in International Trade (EIIT), University of Colorado, Boulder

        • 10th Trade, Integration and Growth Network (TIGN) Conference,  Bogotá, Colombia

        • CAED Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

        • The International Conference of the DFG Labor Network :  "Technology, Demographics and the Labor Market", Cologne

        • CESIfo Area Conference on Applied Microeconomics, Munich 

        • North American Winter Meeting of the Econometric Society (ASSA), session on Crime and Development, Atlanta

        • the 13 Winter Workshop in Economics at Koç University, Istanbul

  INVITED SEMINAR TALKS EARLIER THAN 2019 

Bielefeld University, Germany; Bogazici University, Istanbul; Central European University, Budapest; Copenhagen Business School; Colorado State University, Fort Collins; ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Switzerland; Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; GIGA – German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg; Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg; Johns Hopkins SAIS; Johannes Kepler University of Linz; Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) (x2); Koc University, Istanbul; Maastricht University; Norwegian School of Economics; Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada; Sabanci University, Istanbul; Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SHUFE); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; University of Aarhus, Denmark; University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Duisburg-Essen; University of Göttingen; University of Groningen; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Munich (x2); University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney; University of Nottingham; University of Texas, Austin; University of Virginia; World Bank, Washington, D.C. 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

COURSES TAUGHT

• Graduate (PhD) Teaching       

  • • • Empirical Industrial Organization (Bielefeld University 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)

      • Industrial Organization  (University of Colorado 2009, 2011)

      • Seminar in International Trade (Bielefeld University 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)

• Undergraduate Teaching

  • • • •       Seminar in International Trade (Grinnell College 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

        •       International Economics (Grinnell College 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025)

        •        International Economics (Bielefeld University 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19)

        •        Industrial Organization and Regulation (University of Colorado, 2007, 2010)

        •        Multinational Firms in the Global Economy (2010, 2011)

        •        Economics of the European Union and Its Enlargement Process (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)

        •        Intermediate Microeconomics (Penn State University, 2004, 2005) 

STUDENT ADVISING

• Ph.D. THESIS SUPERVISION 

  • • •   Luis Bernardo Torres Ruiz, "Mexican maquiladoras: Evidence from plant-level panel data'', University of Colorado, 2011                                     

        • • • • first placement: Banco de Mexico, current: Federal Reserve Bank at Dallas

      •  Victor Eduardo Zapata Garcia, "Essays on Labor Economics and International Trade", 2019.

• MASTER THESIS SUPERVISION

  • • •  Melana Kalpakidou, "The Impact of Financial Crisis on Firms' Growth and Productivity: Evidence from Greece", 2018.

      • Huyen Nguyen, "Examination of Occupation Wage Gap with respect to Globalization", 2019.

• UNDERGRADUATE HONOR THESIS SUPERVISION 

  • • • Steven Cryer, "The impact of labor market regulations on the size of informal economy",  University of Colorado, 2007 (magna cum laude)

• HONORS EXAMINER at SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, 2021

  • • • Francis Dillon

      • Matthew Salah

      • Tom Wang

• Ph.D. THESIS SECOND ADVISOR

  • • • Robert Genthner, “Firm dynamics and regional development in Indonesia”, Göttingen University, 2022.

      • Lasha Chochua, "Essays in Political Economy of International Trade Policy", Bielefeld University, 2019.

      • Niklas Herzig, "Essays in International Trade",  Bielefeld University,  2019. 

• Ph.D. THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER

  • • • Toni Glaser, "Essays on Globalization and Economic Policy", Bielefeld University, 2015    

        • • • first placement: the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs

      • Watcharapong Ratisukpimol, "A Theory and Some Empirics on Modern Maritime Piracy", University of Colorado, 2011                                             

        • • • first placement: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

      • Tianle Zhang, "Three Essays on Innovation and Information Economics", University of Colorado, 2010                                                                                    

        • • • first placement: School of Accounting and Finance, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong

      • Molly Lipscomb, "Three essays on environmental issues in developing countries", University of Colorado, 2009                                                                

        • • • first placement: Notre Dame University

      • Cong Khai Dinh, "Trade Effects of the WTO and Anti-dumping Policy in Developing Countries", University of Colorado, 2009                                     

        • • • first placement: Fulbright Economics Teaching Program, University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

      • Karuna Wiwattanakantang, "Three essays on fiscal competition, the value of commitment, and foreign direct investment determination", University of Colorado, 2008 (completed)

• MASTER THESIS SECOND ADVISOR 

  • • • Homa Haddad, "The Impact of Trade Sanctions on Iran'', 2018.

      • Alexander Ringbeck, "Bilateral investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement'', 2019.

      • Julius Ferdinand Loermann,  "Wage Growth by Means of Job Changes and Promotions: Empirical Evidence for Germany'',  Bielefeld University, 2015.

      • Clara Mareike Pott,  "Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Empirical Evidence for Germany'', Bielefeld University, 2015.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Associate Editor: Review of International Economics,  2021 - .

Refereeing for: American Economic Review (AER), Econometrica (ECMA), Review of Economic Studies (REStud), Journal of the European Economic Association (JEEA), International Economic Review (IER), Review of Economics and Statistics (ReStat), Economic Journal (EJ), Journal of Political Economy (JPE), Journal of Development Economics (JDE), Journal of International Economics (JIE), Journal of Labor Economics (JOLE), European Economic Review (EER), Canadian Journal of Economics (CJE), Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking (JMCB), Demography, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (JEMS), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (JEBO), Scandinavian Journal of Economics (SJE), World Bank Economic Review (WBER), Demography, Economic Inquiry (EI), Empirical Economics (EE), Southern Economic Journal (SEJ), Review of International Economics (ROIE), International Review of Economics and Finance, International Economics and Economic Policy, Review of World Economics (ROWE), Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, Asian Journal of Social Science, Economie et Statistique.

Reviewer for:  Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), The Leverhulme Trust, German Research Foundation (DFG – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) 

Chairing sessions at: 

Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) Conference 2024; The European Trade Study Group (ETSG) Surrey 2023; The Latin American Meeting of the Econometric Society, LACEA-LAMES 2021; CESIfo Area Conference on Global Economy 2020;  CESIfo Area Conference on Applied Microeconomics 2019; Ljubljana Empirical Trade Conference 2018; 2nd International Conference on DFG Labor Network (SPP 1764): Occupations, Skill, and the Labor Market 2016; International Industrial Organization Conference 2012; International Industrial Organization Conference 2011; International Industrial Organization Conference 2010

Discussant at: 

Empirical Investigation in International Trade Conference (EIIT), Purdue University, 2024; Danish International Economics Workshop 2024; Women in International Economics 2023; Empirical Investigation in International Trade Conference (EIIT), Syracuse University, 2023; American Economic Association Annual Meetings 2023; Warwick University, Political Violence, and Labor Markets Workshop 2022; North American Meeting of the Urban Economics Association 2021; Trade, Integration, and Growth Network (TIGN) Conference 2021; Ljubljana Empirical Trade Conference 2018; Sardinian Empirical Trade Conference 2017; Ljubljana Empirical Trade Conference 2015; International Industrial Organization Conference 2015; Empirical Investigations in Trade and Investment Conference (EIIT) 2013;  International Industrial Organization Conference 2012; International Industrial Organization Conference 2011;  International Industrial Organization Conference 2010; American Economic Association Annual Meetings 2009; Empirical Investigation in International Trade Conference (EIIT) 2008; International Industrial Organization Conference 2007;  Southern Economic Association Meetings 2007

Mentoring for Junior Economists

• CSWEP CeMENT Mentoring Workshop, 2025, Chicago

• Women in International Economics Conference, 2023, Rochester

• Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP), the 2022 ASSA Annual Meeting

• Women in International Economics Conference, 2022, Minneapolis

• Women in International Economics Conference, 2021

• Women in International Economics Conference, 2020

• Graduate Student Training, European Doctorate in Economics Erasmus Mundus, Berlin 2018

Selection and Scientific Committees 

 Scientific Committee, Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) Conference, Pennsylvania State University, 2024

       Selection Committee, ROWE Young Economist Award, 2015