Pao-Li CHANG (張寶莉)

 

Associate Dean (Research and Partnership & Engagement)

Director, SMU Centre for Research on International Trade

Associate Professor of Economics

School of Economics

Singapore Management University

90 Stamford Road, #6003.1

Singapore 178903

 

Tel:         (65) 6828-0830

Fax:        (65) 6828-0833

E-mail:    plchang@smu.edu.sg

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CV

 

Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan, 2002.

A.M., Economics, University of Michigan, 1997.

A.B., Business Administration, National Taiwan University, 1994.

 

Bio:

Pao-Li is currently the Associate Dean (Research and Partnership & Engagement), the Director of SMU Centre for Research on International Trade, and an Associate Professor of Economics at Singapore Management University (SMU).  She graduated with a PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan.  Pao-Li has published in renowned journals such as Management Science, International Economic Review, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and Econometrics Journal. She has served on the editorial board of Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Kiel Institute, Germany), and several others. Pao-Li has won several research grants, including an MOE AcRF Tier 3 grant (2025-2030) on the “Role of Firm-to-Firm Input-Output Linkages in Transmitting Aggregate Shocks” as the lead PI.

 


Research areas:

     GATT/WTO institution and laws

     Political economy of trade policies

     Empirical analysis of trade and foreign direct investment

     Quantitative analysis of trade flows and welfare evaluations

     Effects of political institutions on FDI flows

     Impact of education systems on human capital composition and trade patterns

     Measurement of global value chain

     Effects of preference and demand shocks on trade flows

     Estimation of firm-level production function with spatial dependence

     Impacts of floods on firm-level micro performances

     Firm-level production and knowledge networks

 

Journal Articles

1.       “Using Satellite-observed Geospatial Inundation Data to Identify the Impacts of Flood on Firm-level Performances: The Case of China during 2000–2009”, Accepted by Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2025. With Fan Zheng.

 

Article  Data & Programs  Working paper version  Online Appendix

 

      Working paper version: SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 01-2023.

 

2.       “The Depth of Preferential Trade Agreements,” Accepted by IMF Economic Review, 2025. With Kefang Yao and Wei Jin.

 

Article  Data & Programs  Working paper version  Online Appendix

 

             Working paper version: SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 01-2024.  

 

3.       “Global Value Chains and the CPTPP,” The World Economy, 2022, 45(12), pp. 3780-3832. With Phuong T. B. Nguyen.

Article  Data & Programs  Working paper version

Working paper version: SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 12-2019. 

4.       “Good Names Beget Favors: The Impact of Country Image on Trade Flows and Welfare,” Management Science, 2022, 68(10), pp. 7065-7791. With Tomoki Fujii and Wei Jin.

Article  Data & Programs  Working paper version  Online Appendix

Working paper version: SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 03-2018. Circulated previously under the title “Does “America First'' Help America?  The Impact of Country Image on Exports and Welfare.”

5.       “Informal Institutions and Comparative Advantage of South-Based MNEs: Theory and Evidence,” Journal of Development Economics, January 2021, 148, Article 102566. With Yuting Chen.

Article  Online Appendix

6.       “The Optimal Degree of Reciprocity in Tariff Reduction,” East Asian Economic Review (by Korea Institute for International Economic Policy), 2020, 24(3), pp. 237-252.

Article  Working paper version

7.       “Made in Singapore,” Singapore Economic Review, 2022, 67(06), pp. 1835-1904. With Phuong T. B. Nguyen.

Article  Working paper version

8.       “Geography, Trade and Power-Law Phenomena,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, January 2020. Oxford University Press. With Wen-Tai Hsu.

Article  Working paper version

9.       “Trade and Divergence in Education Systems,” International Economic Review, November 2014, 55(4): 1251–1280. With Fali Huang (SMU).

Article  Technical Appendix

10.   “Risk and the Technology Content of FDI: A Dynamic Model,” Journal of International Economics, March 2012, 86(2): 306–317. With Chia-Hui Lu (City University of Hong Kong).

Article  Working paper version

11.   “The WTO Trade Effect,” Journal of International Economics, September 2011, 85(1): 5371. With Myoung-Jae Lee (Korea University).

Article  Data & Programs  Working paper version

12.   “Estimation of Impulse Response Functions Using Long Autoregression,” Econometrics Journal, July 2007, 10(2): 453–469. With Shinichi Sakata (University of British Columbia).

Article

13.    “Avoiding Arbitrary Exclusion Restrictions Using Ratios of Reduced-Form Estimates,” Empirical Economics, 2007, 33: 339–357. With Myoung-Jae Lee (Korea University).

Article

14.   “L S Penrose's limit theorem: Tests by simulation,” Mathematical Social Sciences, January 2006, 51(1): 90–106. With Vincent C.H. Chua (SMU) and Moshé Machover (LSE).

Article

15.   “Protection for sale under monopolistic competition,” Journal of International Economics, July 2005, 66(2): 509–526.

Article

16.   “How accurate are confidence intervals for impulse responses in large VAR models?” Economics Letters, December 2000, 69(3): 299–307. With Lutz Kilian (University of Michigan).

Article

 

Chapters in Books

1.       “Quantifying Hallyu: A Structural Gravity Approach to the Nexus Between Cultural Exports and International Trade,” with Iona Hyojung Lee, in Mapping the Korean Wave: Disciplinary Approaches to Hallyu Studies, Natalia Grincheva and Patrick Williams (eds), Routledge, forthcoming.

2.       “Balance of Concessions under the WTO and the Potential Direct/Indirect Impacts of the US Reciprocal Tariffs on ASEAN Economies” in The Forty-Second Singapore Economic Roundtable, Sharanya Shanmugam, Manu Bhaskaran, and Faizal Bin Yahya (eds), NUS, 2025.

3.       “Singapore in the Global Value Chains,” with Phuong T. B. Nguyen, in The Singapore Economy: Dynamism and Inclusion, Hian Teck Hoon (ed), Routledge, 2021.

Article  Working paper version

Working paper version: SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 1-2020.

4.       “The Evolution and Utilization of the GATT/WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism,” in Trade Disputes and the Dispute Settlement Understanding of The WTO, James C. Hartigan (ed), Emerald, 2009.

5.       “Trade, FDI, and Regional Competition: The Case of Singapore,” in The Economic Prospects of Singapore, Winston T.H. Koh and Robert S. Mariano (eds), Singapore: Addison Wesley, 2005.

 

Working Papers (contact me for the latest version)

1.       “The Balance of Concessions in Trade Agreements,” with Mostafa Beshkar and Shenxi Song, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 05-2024. Revise and Resubmit: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2753)

Previous version: Chapter 1 in Shenxi’s PhD dissertation. Circulated previously under the title “The Balance of Concessions in the World Trade Organization.”

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/411/)

2.       “Estimating Firm-Level Production Functions with Spatial Dependence in Output, Input, and Productivity,” with Ryo Makioka, Bo Lin Ng, and Zhenlin Yang, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 10-2024.   

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2769)

 

3.       The GATT/WTO Welfare Effects: 1950-2015,” with Wei Jin and Kefang Yao, 2025. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 02-2018 (update No. 04-2022).    (https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/1957/)   

4.       Disentangling the Effects of GATT/WTO on Variable and Fixed Trade Costs: Trade Status, Trade Margins, and Export Sales Distribution,” with Renjing Chen and Wei Jin, 2025. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 05-2022.    (https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2612/)   

5.       “Labor Market Participation, Income Distribution, and Welfare Gains from Trade,” with Yi-Fan Chen and Wen-Tai Hsu, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 06-2022.    Under review.

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2614/)

6.       “A Dynamic Quantitative Analysis of Labor Market Implications of Taiwan’s WTO Accession: Skill, Capital, and the China Shock,” with Yi-Fan Chen and Wen-Tai Hsu, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 07-2022.   

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2613/)

7.       “The Response of the Chinese Economy to the U.S.-China Trade War: 2018-2019,” with Kefang Yao and Fan Zheng, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 25-2020.    Under review.

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2415/)

8.       “The Missing Middle in Product Price Distribution,” with Xin Yi and Haeyeon Yoon. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 05-2021. Also available at SSRN.   

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_working_paper/7/)

(https://ssrn.com/abstract=3889907)

9.       “The Potential Impacts of COVID-19 on the Global Value Chains: GVC Positioning and Linkages,” with Gerald Foong. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 24-2020.

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2411/)

10.   “Quantifying Quality Specialization Across Space: Skills, Sorting, and Agglomeration,” with Angdi Lu and Xin Yi. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 2-2020.

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2341/)

11.   “Cultural Exposure and International Trade: Evidence from the Korean Wave,” with Iona Hyojung Lee, 2026. SMU Economics and Statistics Working Paper No. 05-2018.    Under review.   

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2142/)

 

Work in Progress

1.       “Knowledge Networks in Taiwan's Semiconductor Industry,” with Ruoqing Chen and Lin Ma. 2026. 

2.       “Firm-Level Decomposition of GVC,” with Yosuke Higashiyama and Jin-Tan Liu, 2026.

3.       “The SMU Trade Dashboard: Tracking and Quantifying the Trump II Tariffs,” with Ruoqing Chen and Lin Ma. 2026. 

(https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6449743)

(https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2860/)

4.       “Unifying Patent Data from Heterogeneous Data Formats for Scalable Integration and Analysis,” with Khaing Phyo Wai, Ruoqing Chen, and Lin Ma. 2026. 

5.       “A Hybrid Patent Analytics Framework for Monitoring AI Hardware Innovation,” with Khaing Phyo Wai and Lin Ma. 2026.

sppmlhdfe: Sparse Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood Estimation with High-Dimensional Fixed Effects,” with Lin Ma and Bohan Xue. 2026.

 

Policy Reports

1.       “Networks of Knowledge,” with Khaing Phyo Wai, Ruoqing Chen, Meng Xuen Lim, and Lin Ma. 2026. Annual Policy Report, SMU Centre for Research on International Trade. (https://doi.org/10.25440/smu.32249292.v1)

2.       Singapore in Global Value Chains: Implications of the Trump II Tariffs,” with Ruoqing Chen, 2026. Commission Paper: Trade Intelligence Center 2026.  International Institute for Trade and Development, Thailand. 

3.       “Global Rules for Global Value Chains: An ASEAN Perspective,” with Gerald Foong, 2026.  Verve Research Compendium.

 

Media Contributions and Citations

2.       “US says dozens of countries helped China dodge Trump's tariffs,” BBC, 14 Aug 2026, mentioned in:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78gy6ep3n5o

 

3.       “Local Insights Into Global Value Chains,” Asian Management Insights, July 2025

https://ccx.smu.edu.sg/ami/issues/volume-12-issue-2/insights/local-insights-global-value-chains?new=1

 

4.       “Tracking the Effects of Trade Shocks,” Research@SMU, May 2025

https://research.smu.edu.sg/news/2025/may/tracking-effects-trade-shocks

 

5.       “Trump 2.0 vs Global Trade: What It Means for Singapore and the World,” Channel News Asia, 14 Feb 2025, mentioned in:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/big-read/trump-international-trade-tariffs-protectionism-4935876

 

6.       “How Covid-19 Could Transform the Global Economy,” SMU Engage: Thought Leadership, 21 April 2020

https://engage.smu.edu.sg/how-covid-19-could-transform-global-economy.

7.       “Singapore in the Global Value Chains,” The Business Times, Date: 18 March 2020

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub-projects/tackling-societal-challenges/singapore-in-the-global-value-chains.

8.       “When Firms Turn Weakness into Strength,” Asian Scientist Magazine, September 2019 https://www.asianscientist.com/2019/09/features/investments-singapore-china-government/.

9.       “The Intersection of Education and Trade,” Asian Scientist Magazine, December 2013 https://www.asianscientist.com/2013/12/features/smu-professor-huang-fali-chang-pao-li-2013/. With Fali Huang.


Latest update 8/16/2026