Contact Info
Work Address : BS314, IBSS, 8 Chongwen Rd., SIP, Suzhou Jinagsu 215123, P.R.China.
Work Phone : (+86 512) 8188 9054
email : sasan.bakhtiari (at) xjtlu dot edu dot cn
Education
Ph.D. Economics, University of Maryland at College Park, USA, Summer 2008.
M.A. Economics, University of Maryland at College Park, USA, GPA 3.7/4.0, 2005.
M.S. Electrical Eng. (Major Communication,Minor Control), University of Maryland College Park, USA, GPA 3.7/4.0, 2003.
B.S. Electrical Eng. (Major Electronics,Minor Control), University of Tehran, Iran, GPA 17.75/20, 1995.
Research interests
Micro-econometrics, Business Dynamics, Innovation, and Productivity.
Research/Work Experience
Associate Professor, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Jan.2024-Present.
Manager, Research and Analytics, AngusKnight Group, March 2023-Dec.2023.
Senior Economist, Australian Dept. of Industry, Science, Energy and Resource, July 2013-March 2023.
Conducting research and offering expert advice based on the analysis of very large scale firm-level data.
Providing research output, advice, and briefs to policy teams and the minister's office.
In charge of OECD's MicroBERD and ECB's CompNET data production for Australia.
Supervising and mentoring junior staffs' research projects.
Offering consulting to other areas and government departments on their research and evaluation methodologies.
Lecturer in Economics, University of New South Wales, July 2008-July 2013.
Economist, U.S.Census Bureau, USA, Fall 2004-July 2008.
Working in a team of economists and geographers to create a matched employer-employee dataset.
Doing research and analysis using the US employee and business datasets.
Assisting with data imputation by updating codes in TCL and C++.
Research Assistant, University of Maryland at College Park, USA, Summer 2003-summer 2004.
Programming and simulating a package auction mechanism with proxy bidders, using C++ and CPLEX.
Research Assistant, University of Maryland at College Park, USA, Fall 2000-Fall 2003.
Numerical Programmer, AEM Design, Atlanta, USA, Summer 2002.
Doing research on a new method of feasible interior-point method, designing the mechanism, proving convergence of method, programming and simulating the method on computer using Matlab and C++, improving method to work on large scale engineering problems.
Research Assistant, University of Tehran, Iran, Spring 1997-Spring 1998.
Extending some of the modern and classical control concepts to qualitative control. Proposing a qualitative method to design stabilizing controls and successfully testing the method on several unstable and chaotic dynamical systems.
Publication
S.Bakhtiari, L.Magnani; "Firm's Demand for Liquidity and Employment Decision: Evidence from Australia", International Review of Economics and Finance, Article 104531.
S.Bakhtiari; "Changing Nature of Patents in Australia", Australian Economic Review, 56(3), 288-307.
S.Bakhtiari (2023); "Growing by Outsourcing: a Tale of Two Growths", Empirica, 50(2), 411-439.
S.Bakhtiari (2021); "Government Financial Assistance as Catalyst for Private Financing", International Review of Economics and Finance, 72(1), 59-78.
S.Bakhtiari (2021); "Trends in the Market Concentration of Australian Industries" Australian Economic Review, 54(1), 57-75.
S.Bakhtiari (2020); "Do Manufacturing Entrepreneurs in Australia Have (or Develop) a Productivity Advantage?" Journal of Productivity Analysis, 53(3), 321-338.
S.Bakhtiari, R.Breunig, L.Magnani, J.Zhang (2020); "Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review"; Economic Record, 96(315), 506-523.
S.Bakhtiari and A.Bruno (2020); "Government Commercialisation Grants and Business Performance", Singapore Economic Review, 65(5), 1271-1291.
S.Bakhtiari (2019); "Entrepreneurship Dynamics in Australia: Lessons from Microdata"; Economic Record, 95(308), 114-140.
S.Bakhtiari, A.Minniti,A.Naghavi (2019); "Multinationalization and the Scope of Innovation"; Industrial and Corporate Change, 28(5), 1057-1077.
S.Bakhtiari (2018); "Coming Out Clean: Australian Carbon Pricing and Clean Technology Adoption"; Ecological Economics, 154, 238-246.
S.Bakhtiari, A.Minniti, A.Naghavi (2018); "Offshoring, Product Scope, and Firm Performance" in Developments in Global Sourcing, Edited by Wilhelm Kohler and Erdal Yalcin, MIT Press, 191-208.
S.Bakhtiari and R.Breunig (2017); "The Role of Spillovers in Research and Development Expenditure in Australian Industries", Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 27(1),14-38.
S.Bakhtiari (2017); "Corporate Credit Rating: Selection on Size or Productivity?", International Review of Economics and Finance, 49, 84-101.
S.Bakhtiari and R.Breunig (2017); "New Outsourcing, Demand Uncertainty and Labor Usage", Review of Industrial Organization, 50(1), 69-90.
S.Bakhtiari (2016); "Assortative Outsourcing with Exit", B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, 16(1), 119-142.
S.Bakhtiari (2015); "Productivity, Outsourcing and Exit: The Case of Australian Manufacturing", Small Business Economics, 44(2), 425-447.
S.Bakhtiari and R.Breunig (2013); "Outsourcing and Innovation: An Empirical Exploration of the Dynamic Relationship", B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 13(1), 395-418.
S.Bakhtiari (2012) "Offshoring, Wages and the Growing Skill Gap: Advocating Offshoring without Sectoral Reallocation"; International Review of Economics and Finance, 23, 46-58.
S.Bakhtiari (2012) "Markets and the Non-Monotonic Relation between Productivity and Establishment Size"; Canadian J. of Economics, 45(1), 345-372.
S.Bakhtiari, A.Tits,"A Simple Primal-Dual Feasible Interior-Point Method for Nonlinear Programming with Monotone Descent", J. Computational Optimization and Application, Vol.25, No.1/2/3, 2003.
A. Tits,A.Wachter, S. Bakhtiari, T.Urban, C.Lawrence,"A Primal-Dual Interior-Point Method for Nonlinear Programming with Strong Global and Local Convergence properties", SIAM J. Optimization, Vol.14, No.1, 2003, pp.173-199.
S.Bakhtiari,P.Jabedar-Maralani,"An Introduction to Qualitative Modeling and Control", J. faculty of Engineering, The university of Tehran,Vol.34,No.2, Sept.2000, pp.1-10.
S.Bakhtiari,P.Jabedar-Maralani,"Prototyping Qualitative Controllers for Fuzzy-Logic Controller Design",Proc.7th Iranian Conf.Elec.Eng., Tehran,Iran,1999, pp.53-60.
S.Bakhtiari,P.Jabedar-Maralani,"A New Method for Qualitative Stabilization of Nonlinear Systems",Proc.4th IFAC Nonlinear Control Systems Design Symposium (NOLCOS),Enschede,Netherlands,1998,pp.842-847.
S.Bakhtiari,P.Jabedar-Maralani,"Qualitative Stabilization Based on Absorbing Markov Chains",Proc.6th Iranian Conf.Elec.Eng.,Tehran, Iran, 1998,pp.I77-I82.
Book Review
S.Bakhtiari (2012) "Innovation and Economic Crisis: Lessons and Prospects from the Economic Downturn", by Daniele Archibugi and Andrea Filippetti; Economic Record, 88(283), 594-595.
Working Papers and Reports
S.Bakhtiari; "Agina nd Job Finding Difficulty".
S.Bakhtiari; "Centrality of Government and Universities to Innovation in the United States: A Social Networking Analysis".
S.Bakhtiari; "Centrality of Government to innovation in Australia: A Patent-based Analysis".
S.Bakhtiari; "Dissecting Productivity Gains from Trade".
S.Bakhtiari; "Market Power and Entrepreneurship Change: the Case for Australia".
S.Bakhtiari; "Clean Technology, Regulation, and Government Intervention: The Australian Experience".
S.Bakhtiari, J.Haltiwanger, K.Sandusky,"Comparing Annual Job Flows: LEHD-QWI versus US Self-Employment Register", LEHD Mimeo, US Census Bureau, Jan.2008.
S.Bakhtiari, J.Haltiwanger,"Employment Growth and Turnover: Building the Relation from Quarterly Workforce Indicators", LEHD Mimeo, US Census Bureau, Feb.2005.
Recent Presentations
[2025] 12th Conf. on Asian and Pacific Economies, Conf. on China Development Model, Institute for Thought and Culture (Iran)
[2024] Macquarie University, 11th Conf. on Asian and Pacific Economies, 2nd workshop on Social Networks in Economics.
[2022] Macquarie University.
[2019] Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society, Xiamen, China; Econometric Society Australasian Meeting, Perth; Productivity Research Network Workshop, Sydney; Australian Conference of the Economists, Melbourne.
[2018] Productivity Research Network Workshop, Tokyo; Australian Conference of the Economists.
[2017] Productivity Research Network Workshop, Nat.U.Singapore; Australian Conference of the Economists; Reserve Bank of Australia; Government Economist Network Conference.
Journal Reviewer
Research Policy, Economic Modelling, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Small Business Economics, Economic Record, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Australian Economic Papers.
Teaching Experience
ECO108: Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECO101: Introduction to Statistics
Instructor: Advanced Macroeconomics, Univ. of New South Wales, Australia, Spring 2013.
Instructor: Quantitative Analysis for Business and Economics, Univ. of New South Wales, Australia, Summer 2010.
Instructor: Business and Economic Statistics, University of New South Wales, Australia, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Summer 2010.
Instructor: Data, Decisions and Models, University of New South Wales, Australia, spring 2008, fall 2009.
Instructor: Economic Statistics, University of Maryland at College Park, USA, Summer 2007.
Awards and Honours
Paper "Entrepreneurship Dynamics in Australia ..." certified as one of the most cited on Wiley platform 2018-19 and 2019-20.
ARC Discovery Grant 160101914, $240k 2016-2018, joint with Elisabetta Magnani (MacQuarie U) and Robert Breunig (ANU).
Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Aug.2013-present.
Fellowship, Electrical Engineering Dept., University of Maryland, College Park, Sept.2000-July 2002.
Summa Cum Laude, School of Engineering , University of Tehran,Iran, Sept.1998.
First Rank among 8000, in nationwide entrance examination to graduate program of electrical engineering, 1996, Iran.
Languages
English(Proficient), German(Intermediate), Persian(Proficient), Mandarin (Beginner)
Computer Skills
OS : Windows and Linux
Programming : C++, HTML, Python
Packages: R, Stata, SAS, Latex, MS Office.
Other Activities
I am a base bariton and have been singing with Maryland Chorus, Colligium Musicum Choir of New South Wales, and Sydney Philharmonia Choir.
Repertoir: Carmina Burana (Orff), Die Erste Walpurgisnacht (Mendelson), Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), Gloria (Vivaldi), Messiah (Handel), Mass in Ab (schubert), Mass in A (Bach), Peaceable Kingdom (Thompson), Requiem (Verdi), Zigeuner Lieder (Brahms), Mass in Dm (Haydn), Requiem (Dvorak)
Nationality
Australian, Iranian.
Last Update Aug. 26, 2025