My research areas include international economics, organizational economics and firm dynamics. My research topics include (T1) firm organization and management in a global economy, (T2) multinational firms and trade/FDI policies , and (T3) heterogenous firms and firm dynamics (uncertainty, expectations, labor protection and population aging).
Working Papers:
Multinationals and Structural Transformation NBER WP version with V. Alviarez, N. Pandalai-Nayar, L. Varela, Kei-Mu Yi, and H. Zhang T2 (under revision)
Firm Entry and Market Interdependence (with Zhang Chen and Chang Sun) T2
Population Aging, Firms and Worker Composition (with Santiago Caicedo, Aspen Gorry, and Takahiro Hattori): draft available soon T3
Information Rigidity and Elastic Attention: Evidence from Japan with Yulei Luo and Takahiro Hattori T3 (under revision)
Incomplete Information and Investment Inaction with Jonathan Adams, Min Fang, Takahiro Hattori, and Eugenio Rojas T3
Information Acquisition and Price Setting under Uncertainty: New Survey Evidence with Tatsuro Senga, Chang Sun and Hongyong Zhang T3
Ownership Network and Production Network: Evidence from Japan with Chang Sun, Hongyong Zhang and Jiaxu Zhang T1
Published Papers:
2011:
Information, Incentives and Multinational Firms Journal of International Economics 85(1): 147-158. T1 and T2
2017:
Management Quality and Firm Organization in Industry Equilibrium (online appendix) American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 9(4):203-244 (working paper version) T1
2019:
The Comparative Statics of Optimal Hierarchies (with Wing Suen) American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 11(2): 1-25 (working paper version) T1
Trade Liberalization, Agency Problem and Aggregate Productivity European Economic Review 111: 421-442 (working paper version) T1
Outward FDI and Domestic Input Distortions: Evidence from Chinese Firms (online appendix) (with Wei Tian and Miaojie Yu) Economic Journal 129(624): 3025-3057 (working paper version) T2
2021:
“Import Competition, Heterogeneous Preferences of Managers and Productivity” (online appendix) NBER WP version
(with Claudia Steinwender) Journal of International Economics 133. T1
2022:
“Learning and Information Transmission within Multinational Corporations” (online appendix) with Chang Sun, and Hongyong Zhang European Economic Review 143: 421-442 T2 and T3
2023:
“Uncertainty, Imperfect Information, and Expectation Formation over the Firm’s Life Cycle” with Chang Sun, Tatsuro Senga, and Hongyong Zhang Journal of Monetary Economics 140: 60-77 T2 and T3
2026:
“Population Growth, Employment Protection, and Firm-level Distortions” with Takahiro Hattori T3 Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 183: 105243 T3
Short and Policy Papers:
2026:
Trade and FDI Policies in an Interdependent World: Lessons from East Asia Asian Economic Policy Review
with Zhang Chen and Chang Sun
2022:
with Chang Sun, Tatsuro Senga, and Hongyong Zhang RIETI Discussion Paper Series 18-E-059 (revised in 2022)
3. “Firm Expectations and Investment: Evidence from the China-Japan Island Dispute”
with Chang Sun, Tatsuro Senga, and Hongyong Zhang RIETI Discussion Paper Series 16-E-090 (revised in 2022)
2021:
4. “Measuring Business-Level Expectations and Uncertainty: Survey Evidence and the COVID-19 Pandemic”
with Tatsuro Senga and Hongyong Zhang Japanese Economic Review 72: 509-532 (special issue on Covid-19)
5. “Outward FDI and Domestic Input Distortions: Evidence from Chinese Firms” (Vox China)
2019:
6. “Import competition, family firms, and productivity" (Vox EU)
Work-in-Progress:
Investment Flexibility, Asset Pricing and Aggregate Fluctuations (with Takahiro Hattori and Eugene Tan)
The Old, the Young, and the Biased: Technological Change in Aging Economies (with Frank Li)
Workshops organized:
Globalization workshop (HKU 2018)
Organization workshop (HKU 2018)
RIETI Workshop on Uncertainty, Trade and Firms (Tokyo, Japan 2018)