SPEAKERS' PROFILE

JAE WON LEE
Chief Economist and Deputy Governor, Bank of Korea 

Jae Won Lee is the Chief Economist and Deputy Governor that directs the Economic Research Institute at the Bank of Korea. Prior to joining the Bank of Korea in 2023, he served on the faculty at Seoul National University, the University of Virginia, and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Additionally, Lee was a member of committees for Korean government financial regulatory bodies, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.

Lee's research specializes in macroeconomics, focusing primarily on monetary and fiscal policy over business cycles. His work has appeared in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Review (P&P), Economics Letters, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Quantitative Economics, Review of Economic Dynamics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. Beyond his research, Lee contributes to the academic community as a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Macroeconomics and the Korean Economic Review, among others. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 2008, after obtaining a B.A. in economics and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

CHANG YONG RHEE
Governor, Bank of Korea
Keynote address: Post-Pandemic Monetary Policy in Korea: Toward an Integrated Policy Framework

Chang Yong Rhee has been the Governor of the Bank of Korea and Chairman of its Monetary Policy Board since 2022. He currently serves as Chair of the Committee on the Global Financial System and as a member of the Board of Directors at the Bank for International Settlements.

Between 2014 and 2022, he served as the Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that, he was Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank from 2011 to 2014, Secretary General and Sherpa of the Presidential Committee for the 2010 G-20 Seoul Summit from 2009 to 2011, and Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission from 2008 to 2009.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rhee was a Professor of Economics at Seoul National University and an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.

In 2011, he was awarded the Order of Civil Merit (Peony Medal) by the Government of the Republic of Korea. 

JOHN BEIRNE
Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank

John Beirne is currently Principal Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the Philippines. Previously, he was Vice-Chair of Research and a Senior Fellow at the ADB Institute in Japan, and before that he was a Senior Economist at the European Central Bank in Germany. John’s research and policy work focuses on exchange rates, commodities, financial crisis and contagion, capital flow management, and monetary policy transmission. He has published widely in journals and holds a PhD in Economics from Brunel University London.

GAZI SALAH UDDIN
Paper: Public spending and inclusive growth: A cross-country empirical analysis

Gazi Salah Uddin is a Professor of Financial Economics at Linköping University and associate researcher at the Cambridge Centre for Economic and Public Policy (CCEPP), University of Cambridge. His research interests emphasize multidisciplinary aspects, where econometric techniques and methodologies from economics, physics, engineering, and psychology are applied to study the complexity of economic and financial systems on a macro level, focusing on areas such as international economics, financial markets, energy, and green finance. His research is recognized based on high-level citation indexes (H-index: 62 and Google Scholar citations: 12,000+; Stanford ranking: 2%).

JOSEF YAP 
Discussant

Josef T. Yap was President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, where he worked for 26 years until his retirement on June 30, 2013. While at PIDS, he specialized in macroeconomic policy and applied econometrics. Dr. Yap finished his undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman and went to the University of Pennsylvania on a post-graduate program. In 2010, Dr. Yap was honored as one of the 100 outstanding alumni of the UP Diliman College of Engineering as part of its Centennial celebration. His current research interest centers on regional economic integration in East Asia and promoting energy security in the Philippines. Dr. Yap is co-author of the books The Philippine Economy: East Asia's Stray Cat?  Structure, Finance and Adjustment and Lessons from Nationalist Struggle: The Life of Emmanuel Quiason Yap. 

AMAT ADAROV
Paper: Public Investment Quality and Sovereign Risk

Amat Adarov is a Senior Economist in the Prospects Group of the World Bank. His research focuses on macroeconomics, international trade and finance. He has been leading a research agenda on investments and contributing to the World Bank’s flagship Global Economic Prospects report. His recent publications include studies on investment, economic integration, macro-financial stability, capital flows, and global value chains. Prior to joining the World Bank, Amat Adarov led a range of research projects in international economics at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. His previous professional experience in the public sector focused on macroeconomic analysis and modelling, forecasting, and investment policies. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

HYUN-A KIM
Discussant

Hyun-A Kim is the Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the Research Group for Fiscal Affairs at the Korea Institute of Public Finance. She earned her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From 2021 to 2022, she served as a Presidential Advisory member of the National Economic Advisory Council. Currently, she advises the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Prime Minister Office, etc. as a government committee member. She has served on the editorial boards of the Korean Journal of Public Finance, the Korea Journal of Local Finance, and the Korea Local Tax Association. She was a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore (2010–2011) and the University of Georgia, USA (2018–2019). In 2012, she received the Korea Association of Public Finance Award. Her research includes urban and public economics, with work published in Journal of Regional Science, International Tax and Public Finance, and Economic Inquiry.

YOONSOO LEE
Professor, Sogang University

Yoonsoo Lee is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Sogang University. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester in 2005 and holds a B.A. from Seoul National University. His research focuses on macroeconomics, particularly labor markets, productivity dynamics, and firm behavior over the business cycle. Dr. Lee has published extensively in leading journals such as the Journal of Urban Economics, Small Business Economics, and the European Economic Review. He is also affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

JOONYOUNG HUR
Paper: Time-varying Effects of Monetary Policy Shocks in Five Asian Countries

Professor Joonyoung Hur is an Associate Professor of Economics at Sogang University, South Korea. His primary research interests include monetary economics, applied econometrics, and fiscal policy. He has published papers in journals such as the Journal of Applied Econometrics and the European Economic Review.

HWEE KWAN CHOW 
Discussant

Hwee Kwan CHOW is Professor of Economics and Statistics (Practice) at the School of Economics, Singapore Management University. She has a PhD from the London School of Economics and is a past Lead Economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Vice President at Overseas Union Bank. She teaches Econometrics and her research focuses on Economic Forecasting, Empirical Monetary Economics, and International Finance. Hwee Kwan is Associate Editor of Singapore Economic Review, and her publications have appeared in the Journal of Macroeconomics, Open Economies Review and International Journal of Forecasting. She has provided consultancy services to ADB, ADBI, AMRO and several central banks.

SEOLWOONG HWANG
Paper: The Effects of Monetary Policy Shocks on Inflation Heterogeneity and Transmission Channels: Evidence from Korea

Seolwoong Hwang is an Economist at the Economic Research Institute of the Bank of Korea. His research interests include macroeconomics, international finance, and monetary policy. His current work investigates the demographic drivers of Korea’s declining real interest rate, the distributional effects of monetary policy, and business cycle dynamics in emerging markets. He also examines how uncertainty shocks influence neutral interest rates and explores structural sources of real exchange rate volatility. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Seoul National University in 2021.

JUTHATHIP JONGWANICH 
Discussant

Juthathip Jongwanich is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand (Awaiting royal approval to attain the rank of professor) and Editor-in-Chief, Thailand and the World Economy (TWE). She won the best paper award in international economics and international macroeconomics from National Research Council of Thailand in 2009, 2019 and 2022 and from Thammasat University in 2018 as well as award for the highest numbers of publications in ISI and Scopus database with Impact factor (for Social Science), by Thammasat University in 2021. Her research interests are International Economics; Capital Mobility; Multinational Enterprises; International Macroeconomics and International Production Network. She works as an international consultant for various international organizations including World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia. She published papers in leading peer-reviewed journals such as World Development; Food Policy; World Economy; Oxford Development Studies; Review of Policy Research etc., four books and several book chapters for the past decade. She is currently working on research projects concerning impacts of US-China de-risking on Southeast Asia and in Thailand, Thailand’s export competitiveness, digital technology and labour market in Thailand.

DONGHYUN PARK
Economic Advisor (Strategic Knowledge Initiatives), ADB

Dr. Donghyun Park is currently Economic Advisor (Strategic Knowledge Initiatives) at the Economics Research and Development Department (ERDI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which he joined in April 2007. Prior to joining ADB, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Dr. Park has a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA, and his main research fields are international finance, international trade, and development economics. His research, which has been published extensively in journals and books, revolves around policy-oriented topics relevant for Asia’s long-term development, including innovation, entrepreneurship, and green finance. Dr. Park plays a leading role in the production of Asian Development Outlook, ADB’s biannual flagship publication on macroeconomic issues, and leads the team that produces Asia Bond Monitor, ADB’s quarterly flagship report on emerging Asian bond markets.

YEIL LEE
Paper: Effects of Government Spending Shocks by Household Indebtedness: An OECD Panel Analysis

Yeil Lee is an Economist at the Economic Research Institute of the Bank of Korea. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Seoul National University in 2024. Her recent research focuses on the macroeconomic effects of fiscal and monetary policy, particularly how their effectiveness varies across different economic and institutional environments. From 2014 to 2017, she worked in research teams at the Bank of Korea’s International Department and Payment & Settlement Systems Department, gaining experience in global macroeconomics and financial market infrastructure. Her recent work examines how household indebtedness conditions the impact of government spending shocks, using a state-dependent panel local projection approach with OECD data. She also investigates the time-varying effectiveness of monetary policy in Asian emerging market economies through time-varying VAR models, and is currently studying how forward guidance in small open economies influences domestic financial markets. Her broader research interests lie in the interaction between economic policy, macroeconomic dynamics, and financial markets.

AKIKO TERADA-HAGIWARA 
Discussant

Akiko Terada-Hagiwara is a Head of Economics and Strategy Unit of ADB’s operations in the People’s Republic of China. She was also at the Economics Research and Development Impact Department contributing to ADB’s research agenda. Outside ADB, she held various positions at Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies of the Bank of Japan, Global Insight and the World Bank. Her areas of expertise are in international finance, development economics, macroeconomic policies, knowledge management. She holds a PhD in Economics from George Washington University and BA from Osaka University.

BRAM GOOTJES
Paper: Dynamic Effects of Fiscal Rules: Do Initial Conditions Matter?

ZIDONG AN 
Discussant

Zidong An is a Professor of Economics at the School of Applied Economics, Renmin University of China, and a Wu Yuzhang Scholar. He also serves as Director of the Center for International Policy Coordination Research at the university’s Shenzhen campus. Dr. An earned his Ph.D. in Economics from American University, an M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. from Renmin University. Before joining academia, he worked as a Research Officer at the International Monetary Fund. His research interests include applied macroeconomics, monetary economics, policy coordination, and expectation management. He has published in leading journals such as the Journal of Applied Econometrics, Energy Economics, and Economic Modelling. Dr. An has also held visiting and advisory roles with institutions such as the National Development and Reform Commission and the Policy Center for the New South. His recent work explores the macroeconomic effects of inattention and oil price expectations.

JOHN BEIRNE
Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank

SAYURI SHIRAI
Professor of Economics, Keio University, Japan
Macroeconomic Policy Coordination for Climate Action in Developing and Emerging Asia

She is currently a professor of economics under Keio University’s faculty of policy management. She is also an advisor to both the Nomura Research Center for Sustainability and the Nissin Oillio Group. From 2020-2021, she was a senior advisor to London-based EOS at Federated Hermes, which provides environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related stewardship services on firms and public policy. Prior to that, she was an ADBI visiting fellow from 2016-2020, a member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan from 2011-2016, taught at Sciences Po in Paris from 2007–2008, and served as an economist at the International Monetary Fund from 1993-1998. 

She has published extensively on topics such as central bank digital currency, monetary policy, global finance, and ESG investment. She is also a contributing writer to the Japan Times and a frequent Japanese and international media commentator on Japan’s economy and global monetary policies. 

She holds a PhD in economics from Columbia University.

JOSHUA AIZENMAN
Dockson Chair in Economics and International Relations, University of Southern California

Joshua Aizenman joined the faculty at USC in 2013, where he serves as the Dockson Chair in Economics and International Relations. Joshua also serves as a Research Associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research, and occasional Special Issues co-editor for the Journal of International Money and Finance. Other affiliations have included teaching and research positions at UC Santa Cruz (served as a Presidential Chair of Economics), Dartmouth (served as the Champion Professor of International Economics), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Chicago GSB, University of Pennsylvania, and serving as co-editor for the Journal of International Money and Finance (2010 – 2021). Consulting relationships include the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

ANH DINH MINH NGUYEN
Paper: The Economic Impact of Fiscal Policy Uncertainty: Evidence from a New Cross-Country Database

Anh Dinh Minh Nguyen is a Vietnamese economist currently working in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). His research focuses on fiscal and monetary policy, economic uncertainty, international spillovers, and the intersection of technology and labor markets. At the IMF, Anh has contributed to flagship publications, including eight editions of the Fiscal Monitor, and has made significant contributions to the workstream on fiscal rules and debt sustainability. Prior to joining the IMF, he was a Senior Research Economist at the Bank of Lithuania, where he was responsible for developing its core forecasting models. He also worked as an economist in the Monetary Policy Strategy Division at the European Central Bank under the ESCB’s Schuman Programme. His academic work has been published in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association: Papers and Proceedings, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, among others. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Lancaster University.

ESEUL CHOI
Discussant

Eseul Choi is an Economist at the Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea. Her research interests focus on the intersection of human behavior and sustainability, particularly examining how individuals adapt to environmental and institutional factors. Her studies have addressed the trade-offs between climate change adaptation and water pollution, reference-dependent labor supply decisions in natural environments, and firm-level innovation for green transitions. Prior to earning her PhD, she served as a research volunteer with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Myanmar, contributing to international development efforts. She holds a BA in Economics from Seoul National University and a PhD in Economics from Iowa State University

JOAO JALLES
Paper: Public Spending, Private Gains: The Gendered Impact of Exogenous Fiscal Policy Shocks

João Tovar Jalles is a Senior Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Lisbon with 20 years of experience in macroeconomics, public finance, and applied econometrics across policy, research, and academia. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge and has previously served as a staff economist at the IMF, OECD, ECB, and the Portuguese Public Finance Council. Dr. Jalles has taught at institutions including Nova SBE, the University of Cambridge, the University of Aberdeen, and Sciences Po, and has been a Visiting Scholar at the IMF and the Central Bank of Portugal. He regularly consults for national and international organizations on macroeconomic and fiscal policy issues. Ranked in the top 1% of global economists by IDEAS, he has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Political Economy and as Associate Editor of Public Finance Review.

BOREUM KWAK
Discussant

Boreum Kwak is an Economist at the Economic Research Institute of the Bank of Korea, where she focuses on empirical macroeconomics, particularly monetary policy, inflation expectations, fiscal-monetary interactions, and forecasting. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Indiana University, and both M.A. and B.A. degrees in Economics from Sungkyunkwan University. Prior to joining the Bank of Korea, Dr. Kwak held academic and research positions at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. Her research has been presented at numerous international conferences and workshops, and she has authored several working papers on macroeconomic policy dynamics and monetary transmission mechanisms.

YOTHIN JINJARAK
Paper: Fiscal Rules for China: Lessons from Europe

Yothin Jinjarak is an economist at the PRC Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). His current research centers on fiscal capacity in advanced and developing economies, sovereign risks in emerging markets, and productivity growth in the PRC. Yothin has recently collaborated on technical assistance projects with government counterparts to enhance the business practices of multinational enterprises and support climate-related risk reporting standards for commercial banks. His previous positions included roles in the research department of the ADB and in academia. He is presently based in Beijing and has lived in the Philippines, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, and Thailand.

YI HUANG
Discussant

Prior to his appointment as Innovation Adviser to the Chief Representative of the BIS Office for Asia and the Pacific in 2024, Yi Huang was a Professor of Finance at Fudan University, the Pictet Chair in Finance and Development, an Associate Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute and an economist in the Research Department of the IMF. His work has been published in leading journals such as the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Finance, the Review of Economics and Statistics and Management Science. Yi has also been a research fellow affiliated with the BIS, CEPR, ABFER and IZA. Additionally, he served as co-director of the CUHK–Fudan Research Center for International Finance, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial Markets and a member of the Council on Global Economic Imbalances at the World Economic Forum. Yi holds a PhD in economics from London Business School.

RUDRA SENSARMA
Paper: Beyond Borders: Spillover Effects of US Monetary Policy on the Financial Stress of Emerging Market Economies

Rudra Sensarma is a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management in Kozhikode, where he has been teaching since 2012. His professional journey includes roles as a Research Officer at the Reserve Bank of India, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (Lucknow), Maxwell Fry Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.

Rudra's research interests encompass banking, macroeconomics, financial markets, and development policy. He has published extensively in academic journals, with recent works focusing on monetary policy transmission, financial inclusion, and gender issues. His recent papers have appeared in European Journal of Political Economy, Applied Economics, and Scientific Reports.

GABRIELE CIMINELLI
Discussant

Gabriele Ciminelli is an economist in the Macroeconomic Research Division of the Asian Development Bank, specializing in policy analysis and research. His work covers international finance, labor markets, and political economy, and has been published in leading academic journals. Prior to joining ADB, he held positions at the IMF, OECD, and Asia School of Business. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute.   

JAMEL SAADAOUI
Paper: Global shocks, institutional development, and trade restrictions: What can we learn from crises and recoveries between 1990 and 2022?

Jamel Saadaoui is a Full Professor of Economics at Paris 8 University and a member of the Dionysian Lab of Economics. He teaches at the Institute of European Studies and is an external consultant for the Asian Development Bank. He is also a research fellow at the Economic Research Forum. His research focuses on international macroeconomics, development economics, and political economy, with a special interest in the MENA region, financial vulnerabilities, and climate-related risks. From 2016 to 2024, he served as an elected member of the French National Council of Universities. He has published in leading peer-reviewed journals, contributed to policy reports, and regularly collaborates with international institutions.

SHU (GRACE) TIAN
Discussant

Dr. Shu Tian is a Principal Economist at the Economic Research and Development Impact Department (ERDI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Prior to joining ADB, she was an Associate Professor of Finance at Fudan University in China. Her main working area is financial sector development, sustainable and climate finance, and digitalization. Her work has been published in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Banking & Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Management, Finance and Accounting. 

IN DO HWANG 
Head and Deputy Director General, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea 

Dr. Hwang is Head of the Financial & Monetary Economic Studies Team at the Bank of Korea’s Economic Research Institute (ERI). He has been working for the Bank of Korea since 2003, performing various research in the Research Department and Monetary Policy Department. Before joining the ERI, he served as a senior economist advising the Governor of the Bank of Korea. His areas of interest include central bank communication, loss aversion and household portfolio choice, and trust. He has published frequently in academic journals including the Journal of International Money and Finance, International Review of Economics & Finance, and Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. He is currently working as a member of the Editorial Board for Economic Analysis. Dr. Hwang received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. from Sungkyunkwan University, both in Economics.