Co-Ethnic Business Networks

"Exploring the Role of Co-Ethnic Business Networks in International Trade"

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 | 12:30-1:30 p.m. 
Whitewater Room, Idaho Commons

Presenter: Eric Stuen - Assistant Professor of Economics Department of Business



Abstract
International transactions are inhibited by incomplete information about market opportunities and by difficulty enforcing contracts in various legal regimes. To what extent do ethnically homogeneous business networks facilitate international trade? This presentation will describe current research on that question as well as the empirical methods involved in answering it. It will be the point of departure to discuss determination of cause and effect in non-experimental contexts. The presentation will discuss statistical issues with the use of proxy and instrumental variables, as well as panel data. The program should be of interest to researchers across many of the sciences.

Biography
Eric Stuen earned a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University and master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder, all in economics. His doctoral dissertation research studied the importance of Ph.D. students to the conduct of science at U.S. universities and how changes to visa and immigration policies for foreign graduate students may affect scientific research. This research received funding from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the National Science Foundation. An analysis of the effects of immigration policy on science and innovation by Stuen and his co-authors was recently published in Science. His work was short-listed for a “best paper” award from Britain’s Royal Economic Society and has been discussed in the New York Times and Science Careers, among other media outlets. His current research interests include the economics of immigration, international trade and wine. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Business since 2008.