Shang-Jin Wei
N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy
Personal Details
Focus areas: International finance, trade, macroeconomics, China
Dr. Shang-Jin Wei is N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy and Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and Graduate School of Business.
During 2014-2016, Dr. Wei served as Chief Economist of Asian Development Bank and Director General of its Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department. He was ADB’s chief spokesperson on economic trends and economic development in Asia, advised ADB’s President on economic development issues, led the bank’s analytical support for regional cooperation fora including ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, and Korea) and APEC, growth strategy diagnostics for developing member countries, as well as research on macroeconomic, financial, labor market, and globalization issues.
Prior to his Columbia appointment in 2007, he was Assistant Director and Chief of Trade and Investment Division at the International Monetary Fund. He was the IMF’s Chief of Mission to Myanmar (Burma) in 2004. He previously held the positions of Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, the New Century Chair in Trade and International Economics at the Brookings Institution, and Advisor at the World Bank.
He has been a consultant to numerous government organizations including the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, United Nations Economic Commission on Europe, and United Nations Development Program, the Asian Development Bank, and to private companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a PhD in economics and MS in Finance from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Wei is a noted scholar on international finance, trade, macroeconomics, and China. He is a recipient of the Sun Yefang Prize for Distinguished Contributions to Economics (for the invention of the Competitive Saving Motive published in Journal of Political Economy), the Zhang Peifang Prize for Contributions to Economics of Development (for pioneering work on measurement of global value chains published in American Economic Review), and the Gregory Chow Award for Best Research Paper; some of his research was supported by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Dr. Wei’s research has been published in top academic journals including American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics, and reported in popular media including Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Business Week, Times, US News and World Report, Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post, and other international news media.
Education
- PhD, University of California, Berkeley
- MS, University of California, Berkeley
Honors and Awards
- Pushan Prize for Research Excellency on the World Economy, 2016
- An Zhijian Prize for Research on International Trade, First Prize, 2016
- Sun Yefang Prize for Distinguished Contributions to Economics
- Zhang Peifang Prize for Contributions to Economics of Development
- Gregory Chow Award for Best Research Paper
Research And Publications
In The Media
Tariffs on Chinese goods have hurt American workers and firms, failed to reduce the overall US trade deficit, and arguably further weakened respect for global economic rules. Shang-Jin Wei argues for their reversal.
“The intent was to penalize these companies and penalize the Chinese government,” Shang-Jin Wei said. “The problem is it ends up penalizing U.S.-based investors.”
Shang-Jin Wei explores the abrupt suspension of Ant Group's IPO, which may reflect Chinese authorities' displeasure over a recent speech by the fintech conglomerate’s controlling shareholder, Jack Ma.
With more sensible US leadership, new policy tools that increase the cost of greenhouse-gas emissions, and stronger incentives to make carbon capture cheaper and more effective, the world will have a fighting chance of survival. Shang-Jin Wei writes.
Shang-Jin Wei comments on China's increasingly domestic-focused economic strategy, in an effort to insulate the country from global geopolitical tensions.