The NBER Reporter 2010 Number 3: Conferences

The NBER, the Australian National University, the China Center for Economic Research, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Korea Development Institute, the National University of Singapore, and the Tokyo Center for Economic Research jointly sponsored the NBER's 21st Annual East Asian Seminar on Economics. It took place on June 25 and 26, 2010 at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Takatoshi Ito, University of Tokyo and NBER, and Andrew K. Rose, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, organized the conference, which focused on "A Pacific Rim Perspective on the Financial Crisis." These papers were discussed:

• Michael B. Devereux, University of British Columbia and NBER; and James Yetman, Bank for International Settlements, "Financial Contagion and Vulnerability of Asian Financial Markets"

• Warwick J. McKibbin and Andrew Stoeckel, Australian National University, "Modelling the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on World Trade"

• Jonathan Eaton, Pennsylvania State University and NBER; Samuel S. Kortum, Brent Neiman, and John Romalis,University of Chicago and NBER, "Trade and the Global Recession"

• Bih Jane Liu, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, "Why World Exports Are so Susceptible to the Economic Crisis --The Prevailing 'Export Overshooting' Phenomenon Especially in Taiwan"

• Jiandong Ju, Tsinghua University, and Shang-Jin Wei, NBER and Columbia University, "When Are Trade Liberalizations and Capital Flows Substitutes or Complements?"

• Ippei Fujiwara, Nao Sudou, and Yuki Teranishi, Bank of Japan; and Tomoyuki Nakajima, Kyoto University, "Global Liquidity Trap"

• Yiping Huang, Nian Lin, Tao Kunyu, Wang Bijun, and Wang Xun, CCER, "China's Monetary Systems and Economic Performance during the Global Crises: From Great Depression to Great Crash"

• Joshua Aizenman, University of California, Santa Cruz and NBER; Yothin Jinjarak, Nanyang Technological University; and Donghyun Park, Asian Development Bank, "International Reserves and Swap Lines: Substitutes or Complements"

• Paul Bloxham, Christopher Kent, and Michael Robson, Reserve Bank of Australia, "Asset Prices, Credit Growth and Monetary Policy: An Australian Case Study"

• Hyun Song Shin, Princeton University, and Kwanho Shin, Korea University, "Macroprudential Policy and Monetary Aggregates"

• Shin-ichi Fukuda, University of Tokyo, "Money Market Integration during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Interbank Markets in Tokyo and London"

• Yongheng Deng, Jing Wu, and Bernard Yeung, National University of Singapore; and Randall Morck, University of Alberta and NBER, "Monetary and Fiscal Stimuli, Ownership Structure and China's Housing Market"

Summaries of these papers may be found here.

The twelfth annual NBER-CCER Conference on China and the World Economy took place at the China Center for Economic Research (CCER) in Beijing on June 26-28, 2010. The conference program was jointly arranged by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the CCER at Beijing University, and Tsinghua University. After opening remarks by U.S. organizer Shang-Jin Wei of NBER and Columbia University, Yang Yao of CCER, and Chong-En Bai of Tsinghua University, the following topics were discussed:

Macroeconomics in China and the United States

• Feng Lu, CCER, "Macroeconomic issues in China"

• Simon Johnson, NBER and MIT, "The Financial Oligarchy in the United States"

Exchange Rates and Economic imbalances

• Kenneth D. West, NBER and University of Wisconsin, Madison, "Exchange rate Economics"

• Yang Yao, "Manufacturing-Finance Comparative Advantage and China’s Trade Surplus"

• Binzheng Wu, Tsinghua University, "Income Inequality, Status Seeking, and Consumption"

• Chong-En Bai, "Declining Share of Household Income in China"

• Shang-Jin Wei, "Global Imbalances and 'Undervalued' Currency"

• Binkai Chen, CUFE, "The Cursed Virtue -- Infrastructural Investment and Household Consumption in China"

Entrepreneurship and Capital Allocation

• Erik Hurst, NBER and University of Chicago, "Entrepreneurship"

• Ping He, Tsinghua University, "Capital Allocation and Operation Efficiency in China"

Banking and Consumer Finance

• Peter Tufano, NBER and Harvard University, "Consumer Finance"

• Yan Shen, CCER, "Financial Sector Efficiency and Lending Behavior in China"

Consumer Credit and Regional Governments

• Jonathan D. Levin, NBER and Stanford University, "Recent Research on Consumer Credit Markets"

• Li-An Zhou, GSM, "Incentives of Chinese Local Officials"

Health Economics

• Daniel Kessler, NBER and Stanford University, "Health Economics"

• Ling Li, CCER, "Healthcare in China"

• Amanda Kowalski, NBER and Yale University, "Assessing the Impact of Health Care Mandates" (Presentation based on "The Impact of an Individual Health Insurance Mandate on Hospital and Preventive Care: Evidence from Massachusetts," Jonathan T. Kolstad and Amanda E. Kowalski, NBER Working Paper No. 16012.)

Labor and Productivity

• Richard B. Freeman, NBER and Harvard University, "Topics in Labor Economics"

• Miaojie Yu, CCER, "Processing Trade, Productivity, and Firm Scope"

Summaries of these papers may be found here.

An NBER Conference on State and Local Pensions, organized by Research Associate Jeffrey Brown of the University of Illinois and Robert Clark of North Carolina State University, took place on August 19 and 20, 2010. The following papers were discussed:

• Henning Bohn, University of California, Santa Barbara, "Should Public Retirement Plans be Fully Funded?"

• Jean-Pierre Aubry, Alicia Munnell, and Laura Quinby, Boston College, "Public Pension Funding Standards in Practice"

• Sylvester Schieber, Towers Watson, "Political Economy of Public Sector Retirement Plans"

• Robert Novy-Marx, University of Chicago and NBER, and Joshua D. Rauh, Northwestern University and NBER, "Policy Options for State Pensions Systems and Their Impact on Plan Liabilities"

• George Pennacchi and Mahdi Rastad, University of Illinois, "Portfolio Allocation for Public Pension Funds"

• Eduard Ponds, Netspar, and Clara Severinson and Juan Yermo, OECD, "Funding in Public Sector Pension Plans -- International Evidence"

• Leora Friedberg, University of Virginia, "Labor Market Aspects of State and Local Retirement Plans: A Review of Evidence and a Blueprint for Future Research"

• Brigitte C. Madrian, Harvard University and NBER, "Defined Contribution Plans in the Public Sector: Lessons from Behavioral Economics"

• Robert L. Clark and Melinda S. Morrill, North Carolina State University, "Retiree Health Plans In the Public Sector"

Summaries of these papers may be found here.