THOMAS BARANGA, International Trade Economist

THOMAS BARANGA, International Trade Economist

Appointments
Assistant Professor, IR/PS, UCSD, July 2009 - present
Graduate Studies
PhD, Economics
Harvard University, 2003-2009
Thesis Title: Essays in International Trade
Undergraduate Studies
BA, Philosophy, Politics and Economics,
Spring 2007 Nominated for Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Teaching of Undergraduates
Spring 2006 Awarded Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching
Honours, Scholarships and Fellowships
2008 – 2009 GSAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship (Harvard)
2008 – 2009 Chiles Fellowship (Harvard)
2004 – 2005 Dillon Fellowship (Harvard)
2003 – 2004 Kennedy Scholarship (Harvard)
2000 – 2002 Fletcher Scholarship (Balliol College, Oxford)
2002 Hicks Webb-Medley Prize (for best performance in economics finals, Oxford)
2000 Jenkyns Prize (Balliol College, Oxford)
Working Papers
Fixed Exchange Rate Networks and their effect on Trade Flows Bilaterally fixed exchange rate regimes have positive spillovers. Two clients pegging to the same anchor indirectly stabilise their bilateral exchange rates. Modelling exchange rates arrangements as a network formalises these spillovers and generates a measure of the stability of exchange rates, both for individual currencies and the global system. This stability measure is used as an instrument for countries' bilateral exchange rate regime in a gravity equation. IV estimates of the effect of currency unions and fixed exchange rates on trade are dramatically lower than OLS estimates.
Estimating the Effects of Fixed Exchange Rates on Trade: Evidence from the Formation of the Euro The formation of the euro is treated as a natural experiment with which to estimate the effects of fixed exchange rate regimes on trade flows. 32 countries fixed their currencies against the DM or FFr prior to the formation of the euro, and have continued to fix against the euro since 1999. On the euro's formation these countries came to adopt a fixed exchange rate against the other Eurozone members in addition to their original anchor. These `exogenous' changes in exchange rate regime yield significantly lower estimates of the effect of a peg on trade than the full set of pegs. Standard estimates may be inflated by countries' tendency to select into a fixed exchange rate regime with a major trading partner.
Unreported Trade Flows and Gravity Equation Estimation Some widely used trade databases do not distinguish between zero and unreported trade flows. The number of unreported trade flows is high but they account for a small volume of world trade, so the distinction may be unimportant for traditional gravity equation estimation. However, techniques that separately estimate the intensive and extensive margins of trade may be more sensitive to the distinction. This pa er develops a methodology to consistently estimate the Helpman, Melitz and Rubinstein model when some trade is unreported. This also breaks the relationship between the sample selection and heterogeneity correction terms, reducing collinearity of the regressors. A natural exclusion restriction identifies the model, removing the need to distinguish fixed from variable costs of trade.