Taejun Mo
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests
International Trade, Environmental Economics, Regional Economics, Agricultural Economics, Climate Change, Economic Geography.
I am a trade economist studying how large-scale shocks, from climate change and natural disasters to emerging transportation technologies, reshape the networks that move goods across regions and countries. My work combines structural gravity models with econometric estimation and counterfactual simulation to quantify these effects and evaluate the policies that mediate them.
My job market paper examines how climate-induced agricultural productivity shocks transmit through the global trading system, and shows that trade openness works as a powerful buffer against their welfare consequences. Beyond this work, my research spans autonomous and electric trucking, hydrogen trade, and the effects of natural disasters on domestic supply chains, united by a common interest in how spatial, environmental, and technological forces redraw the geography of trade.
I began my academic journey with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Seoul National University, followed by a Master of Arts in Economics from the same university. Currently, I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
I am on the 2026-2027 job market.
Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural and Applied Economics
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, expected 2027
M.A. in Economics
Seoul National University, 2021
Contact: taejunm2@illinois.edu