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Welcome to the 2020 Official Homepage of K.C. Fung!!

Updated April 2020

I am a Full Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and for more than 10 years I have been and continue to be a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong. In the Fall of 2017, I was the Toyota Visiting Professor at Seoul National University (South Korea). In the Fall of 2019, I was a Visiting Professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan (supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology).

I teach a variety of classes, several with a focus on Asia. These include Asian Business and Economics as well as Asian Connectivity: Silk Road, Regions, Clusters and Organizations (London Business School-Hong Kong University Business School-Columbia University Business School EMBA-Global Asia Program). I also teach a class on Economies of East and Southeast Asia at the University of California.

Below is my short bio. I have been a Full Professor of Economics (with tenure) at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 1998. I have published more than 140 journal articles, chapters in books, policy briefs, international organization and government reports. I am active in research in international trade, international finance, China, Japan, South Korea, Asia, Latin America, economic development and Silicon Valley.

According to my latest official University of California merit review, my performance was evaluated to be "highly meritorious". My latest book is on Sino-Latin American Economic Relations.

I am currently actively engaged in research in several areas, including international trade and international finance, China, Japan, Korea, Asian and Latin American economies, global environmental economics and innovation activities in Silicon Valley, Europe and Asia. In 2015, I was a Guest Editor of an academic journal Special Issue with a theme related to the Economic Links between Europe and Asia. In 2020, I was a Guest Editor of an academic journal Special Issue with a theme on The Global Trading System: China, the United States and Europe.

U.S. Government Experience: I was a senior international economist in President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).

I received a letter of commendation from the U.S. President while I was working in the White House. I was a U.S. Government delegate to the OECD (Paris).

I was on various U.S. Government economics committees and negotiation teams and worked on issues related to Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil, Latin America, Europe and Canada. I was a regular member of TPSC (Trade Policy Staff Committee), inter-agency Section 301 Committee, CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States), an occasional member of TPRG (Trade Policy Review Group), an occasional member of the White House National Economic Council (NEC) Deputies Meetings and an occasional member of the White House NEC Trade and Economic Policy Working Group.

I worked on many economic issues, including market access to Japan and China, international telecommunication and intellectual property rights cases. I provided research and negotiation advice for President George H.W. Bush's official visit to Japan. I was a member of the U.S. Uruguay Round and NAFTA negotiation teams, a member of the EU Airbus Agreement committee, a member of the U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement committee, a senior economic contributor to the U.S.-Japan Working Group as well as a member of the Trade and Environment Working Group.

In 2016 and 2015, I was an academic partner with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR, United States Government, Obama Administration), working on economic issues related to the Asia/Pacific. In 2015, I provided briefings on the economics and politics of China, Hong Kong and Asia to U.S. government officials (Obama Administration). In 2012 and in 2011, I was an outside academic expert for a project related to American national economic interests in the Asia/Pacific, supported by the U.S. Government (Obama Administration). Also in 2012, I was invited to contribute to a U.S. State Department Initiative related to American foreign economic policy, with a focus on Asia (under Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama Administration).

I provided two expert testimonies to U.S. Congressional Committees, the latest one in 2011. From 2006 to 2010, I was an adviser and an academic collaborator for the United States International Trade Commission (USITC, U.S. Government, George W. Bush and Obama Administrations).

Former Secretary of State and Former Treasury Secretary George P. Shultz wrote a Foreword for my previous book U.S. Direct Investment in China (American Enterprise Institute Press).

In addition, my research has been cited in official publications of the following U.S. Government entities: U.S. Department of the Treasury, The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (The Fed), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Federal Reserve Bank of New York, U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS),etc.

Experience with International Organizations: In 2018 and 2017, I was an academic consultant for Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA, Indonesia). In 2015, I was commissioned to provide work related to Asia by the Asian Development Bank (ADB, Manila). In 2014 and in 2013, I was an academic consultant for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, Paris). In 2014, I was invited to make a presentation to the Trade Committee of the OECD.

In 2013, I made a presentation to the research staff of the World Trade Organization (WTO, Geneva). In 2013, I also made a presentation to the Chinese delegation to the WTO in Geneva. Also in 2013, I published an Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI, Tokyo) paper related to aspects of Japanese cities (Tokyo, Osaka) and American cities (New York, Chicago).

In 2013 and 2012, I was an academic consultant for the World Bank. My World Bank project involved research on value-added trade in East Asia, South Asia and in Latin America. I also conducted research related to infrastructure and connectivity for the ADBI and my peer-reviewed chapter was published in 2012. Also in 2012, I was an academic consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and was invited to make a presentation in Washington, D.C..

In 2007, I was a Senior Research Fellow at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Also in 2007, I was an academic research consultant for the WTO (Geneva). In addition, from 2004 to 2007, I partnered with the WTO and trained senior government officials from 31 countries. My research has previously been published by UN ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok) and was cited by official IMF (International Monetary Fund) publications.

Experience with European Institutions: In 2016 and previously in 2012 and 2008, I was a Visiting Researcher at the Bank of Finland (Helsinki). In 2014, I co-organized an academic conference at the University of Rouen, France. In 2012, I was an invited academic expert panelist providing advice and the opening presentation to the EU Trade Commissioner (Brussels). In 2010, I was a Visiting Professor at the University of Le Havre (France). In 2007, I was an academic consultant for the University of Barcelona, Spain. In 2006 and in 2007, I was a Visiting Fellow at Bruegel (Brussels). In 2007, I provided advice to economists at the European Commission (Brussels). I was previously a Visiting Researcher at Tilburg University (Netherlands).

I was the Ph.D. dissertation advisor and a co-author of Dr. Andrea Maechler, who in 2015 became the first woman to be on the governing board of the Swiss National Bank (Berne and Zurich).

Between 2015 and 2012, I was a member of the Economics Department Ph.D. Committee. Previously in 2012, I taught a Ph.D. International Trade course and a Master-level course on International Trade and Development Policies.

From 1998-2001, I was the Economics Ph.D. Program Director and the Placement Director for the Ph.D. students. I am a Co-founder of Santa Cruz Center for International Economics. In 2009, I served as Chair of a system-wide University of California International Review Committee (UCIE) for Singapore. In 2015, I was the Chair of the system-wide University of California International Review Committee (UCIE) for Hong Kong.

I got my B.A. (with Honors) from Swarthmore College and my Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For the past decade, I have been and continue to be a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Since my full professorship, I have been officially evaluated by the Department of Economics and the University of California, Santa Cruz 5 different times. Evaluations by the University of California are based on research, teaching and service. All my evaluations led to normal or above normal merit pay increases. My last official evaluation was successfully completed in February 2016.

I also taught at Stanford University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mount Holyoke College, Seoul National University and National Sun Yat-sen University.

I have been teaching 2 courses at the joint London Business School-HKU Business School-Columbia Business School EMBA-Global Asia program. The LBS-HKU-CBS joint EMBA electives I teach are Asian Business and Economics and Asian Connectivity: Silk Road, Regions, Clusters and Organizations. In addition, I also teach in the Master of Economics (MECON) and MBA programs at the University of Hong Kong. Previously I have taught at the joint Fudan University-HKU international MBA program (in Shanghai and Beijing) and also at Nankai University (Tianjin, China).

In 2010, I co-organized an academic conference at Stanford University (Palo Alto, California). At Stanford, I taught a Ph.D. course on international trade theory, an upper division undergraduate course on international trade and international finance, an upper division undergraduate course on the Japanese economy and a writing-intensive undergraduate course on public policy in the United States. I also served as a Dissertation Committee Member for a Stanford Ph.D. student.

At UC, Santa Cruz, I taught undergraduate, Master-level and Ph.D. classes related to international trade, international finance, economic development, Asian economies as well as a writing-intensive business case study-related class.

In addition, in 2017, I was commissioned to provide work for RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, California). In 2011, I was invited to be a Visiting Professor at Osaka University (Japan). I was also a Visiting Scholar/Academic Consultant at the University of Tokyo, IDE-JETRO (Japanese Government), KIEP (Seoul), National University of Singapore, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (Taipei) and ECIPE (Brussels).