Daniel Bernhofen
Professor of International Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences
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Biography
Daniel joined the University of Nottingham in 2005. He is Professor of International Economics and Director of the Globalisation and Economic Policy Research Centre (GEP). Prior to moving to Nottingham he taught at Clark University (USA), Brandeis University International Business School (USA), the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA) and the University of Ulm (Germany). He also held research visiting positions at the University of Tokyo, the University of Munich and the University of Bordeaux. Daniel's research interests are in the theoretical, empirical and historical aspects of globalisation and international trade. His research has been funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. He has published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of International Economics, Economic Theory, the Canadian Journal of Economics and others. He is co-editor of the recently published Palgrave Handbook of International Trade.
Professor Bernhofen's full cv can be downloaded here in pdf format.
Research Summary
My research interests are in the theoretical, empirical and historical aspects of international trade and globalisation. In recent years, my research has gravitated towards exploiting natural or… read more
Recent Publications
BERNHOFEN, D.M., 2011. The empirics of general equilibrium trade theory. In: BERNHOFEN, FALVEY, GREENAWAY AND KREICKEMEIER, ed., Palgrave Handbook of International Trade Palgrave.
BERNHOFEN, GREENAWAY, FALVEY AND KREICKEMEIER, 2011. Handbook of International Trade Palgrave.
"Testing the general validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem: the natural experiment of Japan", (joint with John Brown), March 2012, submitted.
"A factor augmentation formulation of the value of international trade" (joint with John Brown), June 2012, submitted.
"Preferences, rent destruction and multilateral liberalisation: the building block effect of CUSFTA (joint with Tobias Ketterer and Chris Milner), September 2012, in preparation for submission.
"Estimating the effects of the container revolution on international trade" (joint with Zouheir El-Sahli and Richard Kneller); September 2012, in preparation for submission.
"A direct of the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem: the natural experiment of Japan" (joint with John Brown and Tanimoto Masayuki), September 2012, in preparation for submission.
"Quantity restrictions and price adjustments of Chinese textile exports to the US" (joint with Richard Upward and Zheng Wang), July 2012, in preparation for submission.
"A technology matrix for the tradable sector of the late Tokugawa and early Meji economy" (joint with John Brown and Tanimoto Masayuki), July 2012, mimeo.
Current Research
My research interests are in the theoretical, empirical and historical aspects of international trade and globalisation. In recent years, my research has gravitated towards exploiting natural or quasi-natural experiments to provide causal evidence on the causes and welfare effects of trade and trade policies. From a methodological perspective, I strive for a nexus between theoretical formulation, careful measurement and theory-compatible empirical implementation, taking into account the historical and institutional environment. This often involves the construction of new historical data sets.
My long term research project on the 'natural experiment of Japan' (joint with John Brown and in collaboration with Masayuki Tanimoto) has resulted in a unique quantitative assessment of the Japanese economy and its trading partners before and after its 19th century move from autarky to free trade. Already completed, working paper and work in progress components of this project make contributions to the testing of Walrasian general equilibrium (trade) theory and to the global economic history literature.
My second overarching research project examines the deeper determinants of changes in trade costs during the first and second eras of globalisation The first subproject (joint with Zouheir El-Sahli and Richard Kneller) examines 'containerization' and aims to empirically quantify the effects of the container revolution on world trade during the second era of globalisation (1945-present). The second subproject (joint with Peter Egger and Nikolaus Wolff) examines the effects of the reductions in trade costs during the first era of globalisation (1850-1914). It constructs a historical data set before and after the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal to exploit the opening of the Canal as a natural experiment to examine the joint effects of 'distance reduction' and 'technological transition from sail to steam' on the composition of trade and economic welfare.
My third research strand exploits the recent policy experiments of the Canadian-US free trade agreement (CUSFTA) and the elimination of the multi-fibre agreement (MFA) to provide causal empirical inferences on firm and policy behaviour. Both research lines involve micro level data sets on firm transactions and policy behaviour. The first project (joint with Tobias Ketterer and Chris Milner) identifies and tests a theoretical mechanism through which the signing of CUSFTA has induced Canadian policy makers to act more aggressively in reducing their external tariffs during the Uruguay round negotiations. The second project (joint with Richard Upward and Zheng Wang) exploits Chinese transaction cost data to identify changes in firm behaviour stemming from the elimination of the MFA.