Welcome to my research page.
I am currently a Professor of Economics at Duke University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER, Productivity; International Trade and Investment; Development), a Research Fellow at the The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR, Climate Change and the Environment), and a senior fellow at the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER).
I am currently the co-editor of the American Economic Journal: Micro. I am also an associate editor of the Rand Journal of Economics. I previously edited the Review of Economics and Statistics (2021 - 2024) and the Journal of Development Economics (2018 - 2021).
My research interests: Productivity/International Trade/Industrial Organization/Development
My research lies at the intersection of Productivity, International Trade, and Industrial Organization. My long-term research agenda is concentrated on using large-scale microdata to model and estimate a rich set of individual firm decisions, often dynamic, and to investigate how these decisions affect resource allocation, industry performance, and economic growth, especially in developing and emerging economies.
I am interested in applying research methodologies that combine structural IO/quantitative trade techniques with quasi-random policy variations/RCT in developing countries. More recently, I have been extensively studying the roles of firms in environmental and energy regulation, as well as in green industrial policy and offset markets.
China Econ Lab [A platform that facilitates high-quality research of the Chinese Economy]
Contact: daniel.xu@duke.edu
Research Papers:
The Geographic Leakages of Environmental Regulations: Evidence from the Clean Air Act, (Preliminary), March, 2025, with M. Curtis, W. Miao, F. Soliman, and JC. Suarez Serrato
The Private and Societal Impacts of Power Lawyers: Evidence from China, May, 2025, with Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Shaoda Wang, submitted
Firm Selection and Growth in Carbon Offset Markets: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism in China, March, 2025, with Q. Chen and Nick Ryan, submitted
Market Congestion and Information Frictions on Global E-Commerce Platforms, Feb, 2024, with J. Bai, M. Chen, J. Liu, and X. Mu, R&R at Review of Economics and Statistics
Two-Sided Search in International Markets, May, 2025, with J. Eaton, D. Jinkins, and J. Tybout, R&R at Journal of Political Economy
When Food Gets Political: How Does News Drive Green Food Offerings, March, 2025, with Boya Xu and Tong Guo, R&R at Marketing Science
Coming soon:
The Welfare Impacts of U.S. Solar Panel Tariffs, with Bryan Bollinger, Todd Gerarden, Kenneth Gillingham, and Drew Vollmer
Local Concentration, National Concentration, and the Spatial Distribution of Markups, August, 2024, with Jonathan Becker, Chris Edmond, and Virgiliu Midrigan
Publications:
Regulating Conglomerates: Evidence from an Energy Conservation Program in China, with Q. Chen, Z. Chen, Z. Liu, and J.C. Suarez-Serrato, American Economic Review, Feb, 2025
O-Ring Production Networks, Appendix, with B. Demir, C. Fieler, and K. Yang, Journal of Political Economy, Jan, 2024
How Costly Are Markups, Appendix with Chris Edmond and Virgiliu Midrigan, Journal of Political Economy, July, 2023 (Lead Article)
A Structural Empirical Model of R&D Investment, Firm Heterogeneity, and Industry Evolution, with Yanyou Chen, Journal of Industrial Economics, June, 2023 (Lead Article)
Tax Policy and Lumpy Investment: Evidence from China VAT Reform, Z. Chen, X. Jiang, Z. Liu, and J.C. Suarez-Serrato, Review of Economic Studies, March, 2023
Notching R&D Investment with Corporate Income Tax Cuts in China, with Z. Chen, Z. Liu, J.C. Suarez-Serrato, American Economic Review, July, 2021 (Lead Article)
Industrial Energy Regulation: The Role of Business Conglomerates in China, Q. Chen, Z. Chen, Z. Liu, and J.C. Suarez-Serrato, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May, 2021
Understanding the Social Learning Effect in Contagious Switching Behavior, with Mandy Hu and Sha Yang, Management Science, July, 2019
The Role of Firm Factors in Demand, Cost, and Export Market Selection for Chinese Footwear Producers, with Mark J. Roberts, Xiaoyan Fan, and Shengxing Zhang, Review of Economic Studies, Oct, 2018
Competitors, Complementors, Parents and Places: Explaining Regional Agglomeration in the U.S. Auto Industry, with Luis Cabral and Zhu Wang, Review of Economic Dynamics, Oct, 2018 (Lead Article)
Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Input Linkages: A Theory with Evidence from Colombia, with Ana C. Fieler and Marcela Eslava, American Economic Review, Jan, 2018
Competition, Markups, and the Gains from International Trade, with Chris Edmond and Virgiliu Midrigan, American Economic Review, Oct, 2015
Indirect Input Linkages, with Marcela Eslava and Ana C. Fieler, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May, 2015
Finance and Misallocation: Evidence from Plant-level Data, with Virgiliu Midrigan, American Economic Review, Feb, 2014
Entry, Exit, and The Determinants of Market Structure, with Timothy Dunne, Shawn Klimek, and Mark J. Roberts, Rand Journal of Economics, Fall, 2013
R&D Investment,Exporting, and Productivity Dynamics, with Bee Yan Aw and Mark J. Roberts, American Economic Review, June, 2011
Entrepreneurship and the Extensive Margin in Export Growth: A Microeconomic Accounting of Costa Rica’s Export Growth during 1997-2007, with Daniel Lederman and Andres Rodriguez-Clare, World Bank Economic Review, July, 2011
Macroeconomic Implications of Size-Dependent Policies, with Nezih Guner and Gustavo Ventura. Review of Economic Dynamics, Oct, 2008
R&D Investment, Export, and the Evolution of Firm Productivity, with Bee Yan Aw and Mark Roberts, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May, 2008
How Costly are Restrictions on Size, with Nezih Guner and Gustavo Ventura, Japan and the World Economy, 2006, 18, 302-320.
Other Publications in Books:
The Structure of Business Taxation in China, with Z. Chen, Y. He, Z. Liu, and J.C. Suarez-Serrato, Forthcoming, Tax Policy and the Economy, Oct, 2020
The Dynamics of Market Structure and Market Size in Two Health Service Industries, with Timothy Dunne, Shawn Klimek,and Mark J. Roberts, in Timothy Dunne, J. Bradford Jensen, and Mark J.Roberts (eds.) Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, University of Chicago Press.