Research Seminar in International Economics

The Research Seminar in International Economics is a University of Michigan center that is operated jointly by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Department of Economics. It was founded by Professor Robert M. Stern in the Department of Economics in 1963. It has been distributing discussion papers since 1968, and it became affiliated with the Institute of Public Policy Studies, predecesoor of the Ford School, in 1980. The activities of the Research Seminar include a weekly seminar or workshop, an ongoing program of faculty and graduate student research, linkages with developing country institutions, conferences involving academics and policy makers, training of graduate students specializing in international economics and international economic law, and the distribution of a series of RSIE Discussion Papers.

Co-directors of the Research Seminar are Alan V. Deardorff and Linda Tesar, Professors of Economics. Other core faculty include: Kathryn Dominguez, Juan Carlos Hallak, James Levinsohn, Gary Saxonhouse, and Jing Zhang. Several additional faculty members from Economics, Business Administration, and Public Policy also participate actively in the Research Seminar. The Research Seminar is administered by the School of Public Policy and is located on the fourth floor of Lorch Hall, the building that also houses the Department of Economics.

Faculty research currently in progress under the auspices of the Research Seminar includes such topics as: the future of the multilateral trading system; preferential trading arrangements; econometric analysis of trade and trade policies; international taxation, international finance, and international corporate behavior; economic reform and transition; and international political economy.

Research results are reported initially in the form of Discussion Papers. For almost thirty years, these were circulated periodically to about 200 specialists in international economics and to government and international agencies and institutions. More recent discussion papers are available for viewing and downloading here on the World Wide Web.

In 1989, a series of Studies in International Economic Policy was established under the auspices of the University of Michigan Press. Professor Stern is the General Editor of the series.