Entry for: Who's Who in Economics, Fourth Edition, 2003

NEARY, James Peter

Born 1950, Drogheda, Ireland.

Current Post Prof. Polit. Econ., Univ. Coll. Dublin, Ireland, 1980-; Cons., Centre Econ. Performance, LSE, UK, 1993-.

Past Posts Res. Ass., Econ. Social Res. Inst., Dublin, 1970-72; Jr. Lect., Trinity Coll. Dublin, 1972-74; Heyworth Res. Fell., Nuffield Coll. Oxford, 1976-78; Lect., St. Catherine's Coll. Oxford, 1977-78, Trinity Coll. Dublin 1978-80; Vis. Scholar, MIT, 1978, IIES, Stockholm, 1979, IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria, 1981; Vis. Prof., Princeton Univ., 1980, Univ. California, Berkeley, 1982, Queen's Univ., Kingston, Ontario, 1986‑88, Univ. Ulster, Jordanstown, 1992‑93; Directeur de Recherche, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, 1999-2000.

Degrees BA, MA Univ. Coll. Dublin, 1970, 1971; BPhil, DPhil Univ. Oxford 1976, 1978.

Offices and Honours Fell., Dir., Co‑Dir., Research Programme Int. Trade, CEPR, London 1983‑, 1983‑5, 1985‑6; Chairman, Econ. Programme Comm., Em Soc. Europ. Meetings, Madrid 1984; Council Mem., RES, 1984‑89, 1992‑97, Em Soc. 1994-99, Europ. Econ. Assoc., 1985‑92; Pres., Irish Econ. Assoc., 1990‑2, Int. Econ. and Fin. Soc., 1999-2000, Europ. Econ. Assoc., 2002; Fell., Em Soc., 1987; Mem., Academia Europaea, 1989, Royal Irish Academy, 1997; Vice-Chairman 1995, Chairman 1996-97, Econ., Social and Human Sciences Networks Panel, Training and Mobility of Researchers Program, European Commission.

Editorial Duties Co‑ed., J Int E, 1980‑83, 1999-2002; Assoc. Ed., EJ, 1981‑85; Assoc. Ed., Em, 1984‑87; Member, Ed. Board, REStud, 1984‑93; Ed., Europ ER, 1986‑90.

Principal Fields of Interest F1 Trade; F0 International Economics: General; L0 Industrial Organization: General.

Publications

Books

1. Natural Resources and the Macroeconomy, ed. (with S van Wijnbergen), (Blackwell, MIT Press, 1986);

2. Theory, Policy and Dynamics in International Trade: Essays in Honor of Ronald W Jones, ed. (with W J Ethier, E Helpman), (CUP, 1993);

3. Readings in International Trade, Volume 1: Welfare and Trade Policy, Volume 2: Production Structure, Trade and Growth, ed. (Edward Elgar, 1995).

Articles

1. ‘Short‑run capital specificity and the pure theory of international trade’, EJ, 88, Sept. 1978;

2. ‘Dynamic stability and the theory of factor‑market distortions’, AER, 68, Sept. 1978;

3. ‘The theory of household behaviour under rationing’ (with K W S Roberts), Europ ER, 13, 1980;

4. ‘Non‑traded goods and the balance of trade in a neo‑Keynesian temporary equilibrium’, QJE, 95, Nov. 1980;

5. ‘Booming sector and de‑industrialisation in a small open economy’ (with W M Corden), EJ, 92, Dec. 1982;

6. ‘Towards a reconstruction of Keynesian economics: expectations and constrained equilibria’ (with J E Stiglitz), QJE, 98, 1983;

7. ‘International factor mobility, minimum wage rates and factor‑price equalization: a synthesis’, QJE, 100, Aug. 1985;

8. ‘Two‑by‑two international trade theory with many goods and factors’, Em, 53, Sept. 1985;

9. ‘Factor content functions and the theory of international trade’ (with A G Schweinberger), REStud, 53, July 1986;

10. ‘Trade reform with quotas, partial rent retention and tariffs’ (with J E Anderson), Em, 60, Jan. 1992;

11. ‘A new approach to evaluating trade policy’ (with J E Anderson), REStud, 63, Jan. 1996;

12. ‘Theoretical foundations of the ‘Geary Method’ for international comparisons of purchasing power and real incomes,’ Econ. and Social Rev., 27, January 1996;

13. ‘Public policy towards R&D in oligopolistic industries’ (with D Leahy), AER, 87, Sept. 1997;

14. ‘Learning by doing, precommitment and infant industry promotion’ (with D Leahy), REStud, 66, April 1999;

15. ‘Strategic trade and industrial policy towards dynamic oligopolies’ (with D Leahy), EJ, 110, April 2000;

16. ‘Foreign competition and wage inequality’, Rev Int Econ, 10, Nov. 2002;

17. ‘Globalisation and market structure’, JEEA, 1, May 2003.

Principal Contributions My main research field is international trade theory. I have also written on consumer theory, industrial organisation and macroeconomics (including international macro theory and Irish economic policy).

My early work was on adjustment mechanisms in international trade models, especially the specific-factors model. This led to work on the "Dutch Disease" (with Max Corden) and related attempts to integrate real and monetary aspects of structural change, and on international capital movements. Exploring how simple models could be generalised brought me into the theory of trade policy in general equilibrium, and later to the development (with Jim Anderson) of measures of the restrictiveness of trade policy.

While all this work was conducted in an equilibrium framework, I also became interested at an early stage in the neo-Keynesian or fix-price approach as a framework for short-run analysis. As well as exploring the relevance of this approach to open economies, I extended it (with Joe Stiglitz) to deal with expectations (especially rational expectations) and asset accumulation. A spin-off from this was an ongoing interest in consumer theory, which showed up in an early paper (with Kevin Roberts) on rationing and household behaviour, and more recently in work on the theoretical underpinnings of international comparisons of purchasing power and real incomes.

In the past decade, I have become increasingly interested in the implications for international trade of imperfect competition, especially oligopolistic competition rather then the more fashionable monopolistic competition. I have worked (with Dermot Leahy) on strategic trade and technology policy, especially when governments have limited powers of commitment. More recently, I have developed a theory of oligopoly in general equilibrium, and explored its implications for problems of globalisation, including the effects of trade liberalisation on the relative wages of skilled and unskilled workers, and on cross-border merger waves.