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) firm dynamics (uncertainty, expectations, labor protection and population aging).
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
Forthcoming:
“Population Growth, Employment Protection, and Firm-level Distortions” with Takahiro Hattori T3 accepted by Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
Working Papers:
"Multinationals and Structural Transformation" NBER WP version with V. Alviarez, N. Pandalai-Nayar, L. Varela, Kei-Mu Yi, and H. Zhang T2
“Information Rigidity and Elastic Attention: Evidence from Japan” with Yulei Luo and Takahiro Hattori T3 R&R
"Incomplete Information and Investment Inaction" with Jonathan Adams, Min Fang, Takahiro Hattori, and Eugenio Rojas T3 (under review)
“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
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)
Work-in-Progress (draft available upon request)
Trade-related:
Firm Entry and Market Interdependence (with Zhang Chen and Chang Sun) T2
Macro-related:
Population Aging, Firms and Worker Composition (with Santiago Caicedo, Aspen Gorry, and Takahiro Hattori) T3
Investment Flexibility (with Takahiro Hattori and Eugene Tan) T3
Workshops organized:
Globalization workshop (HKU 2018)
Organization workshop (HKU 2018)
RIETI Workshop on Uncertainty, Trade and Firms (Tokyo, Japan 2018)