Lin Shi

Lin Shi

Ph.D. Candidate in Economics and Adjunct Instructor

American University

Biography

Hello, welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in economics at American University. My research fields are international trade, development economics, and the political economy of trade policy. My job market paper examines the heterogeneous impact of participating in global value chains on countries’ and industries’ export quality upgrading.

I currently serve as an Adjunct Faculty at American University. In Spring-Summer 2024, I worked as an Economic Affairs Intern for Africa Section, Policy Analysis and Research Branch at UNCTAD. In Summer 2023, I worked as a Research Intern at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Department, Regional Studies Division (AFRRS). During the internship, I conducted empirical research with IMF economists on the impact of sub-Saharan African trade with global partners on the region’s economic complexity (work-in-progress).

I have ten years of work experience, having been employed at multiple academic institutions, think tank, non-profit organization, and the due diligence industry in various capacities. I am seeking a full-time position as an assistant professor, economist, or economic consultant. I am available for interviews for the 2024-2025 job market season. Please refer to my CV for more information, and do not hesitate to contact me at ls6953a@american.edu.

Interests

  • Global value chain analysis
  • Structural transformation
  • Economic complexity
  • Input-output tables

Education

  • Ph.D. in Economics, May 2025 (Expected)

    American University

  • M.A. in Applied Economics, 2017

    Georgetown University

  • B.S. in Economics, 2015

    University of Washington

Working Papers

Job Market Paper: Does Participating in Global Value Chains Lead to Export Quality Upgrading?

In this paper, I examine the causal effect of GVC participation on export quality upgrading, explore the heterogeneous impact among countries and industries, and construct a country-industry upstreamness measure to examine the various effects along the positions of the value chains. I find consistent evidence that increasing GVC participation has a positive and statistically significant effect on export quality. An increase in domestic value-added embodied in foreign exports as a share of domestic gross exports (forward GVC participation) has a pronounced and robust effect on export quality upgrading. However, the effect of foreign value-added in an industry’s exports as a share of gross exports (backward GVC participation) is largely muted. The impact of increasing forward GVC participation on export quality is positive and significant among both advanced and developing countries, countries which have transitioned to a higher income status, and East Asia and Pacific countries. In terms of sectoral heterogeneities, three patterns can be observed. First, the impact is predominantly driven by manufacturing sectors. Second, increasing GVC participation in sectors with lower research and development (R&D) intensities is associated with a decrease in sectoral export quality. Third, an increasing share of sectoral differentiated products is a positive and significant contributor of export quality upgrading. Lastly, by analyzing the positions of the value chains, I find that country-industry pairs in extremely upstream positions can improve export quality by increasing backward GVC participation, while those that are closer to final uses can benefit from strengthening forward GVC participation.

Working Paper: Understanding the Linkages Between Trade Integration and Economic Complexity in Sub-Saharan Africa (co-authored with Ivanova Reyes, Ke Wang, and Qianqian Zhang)

Working Paper: Understanding the Linkages Between Trade Integration and Economic Complexity in Sub-Saharan Africa (co-authored with Ivanova Reyes, Ke Wang, and Qianqian Zhang)

Economic complexity is defined as the capability of countries to export diversified and sophisticated products. Empirical research suggests that higher income countries tend to export more diversified and complex products; therefore, economic complexity of exported goods is seen as a proxy for economic growth. Our paper shows stylized facts of export trade patterns and economic complexity in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region over the last three decades. The SSA region witnesses an increase in economic complexity between mid-1990s and late-2000s, followed by a complete reversal towards the end of 2020. Meanwhile, the region sees an upward trend in export values across product groupings during the same period, including manufacturing and agricultural goods. Utilizing panel regressions and dynamic panel data estimators with data from 28 SSA countries, we examine the role of exports and other potential determinants on the region’s economic complexity from 1995 to 2020. Our analyses distinguish the effects by product grouping and partner countries’ income level. Our regression results highlight the heterogeneous effects of export products on SSA’s economic complexity. In sum, increases in the shares of agricultural and manufacturing products in total exports are associated with a rise in economic complexity, while increases in the shares of fuels exports are associated with a decrease in economic complexity. In addition, increases in intra-region export shares are found to improve economic complexity. (Work-in-progress)

Teaching & TA Experience

Teaching:

ECON-150: Economics for Business - Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022

This is a combination of introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics, which aims at providing students with a basic understanding of the role and decision-making rule of individuals, firms, and the central government, as well as the interconnections among these agents.

SISU-300: Introduction to International Economics - Spring 2024

This introductory course in international economics utilizes basic micro- and macro-economic principles to explore an increasingly integrated world economy, where countries are connected through the exchange of goods and services, the capital flow, the migration of peoples, and data transactions.

ECON-371 (International Economics: Trade) - Spring 2022

Guest lecture: Offshoring

Teaching Assistant:

ECON-603 (Introduction to Economic Theory); ECON-601 (Macroeconomic Theory); ECON-633 (Financial Economics); ECON-440/640 (Communicating Economics); ECON-623 (Applied Econometrics I); SIS-616 (International Economics); ECON-100 (Principles of Macroeconomics); ECON-332 (Money and Banking); ECON-200 (Microeconomics); ECON-301 (Intermediate Macroeconomics); ECON-346 (Industrial Organization); ECON-400 (Intermediate Micro); ECON-371 (International Economics: Trade)

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