The collaborative paper “TFPR: Dispersion and Cyclicality” by Professor Russell Cooper from the China Economic Research Institute at Liaoning University (LNU) and researcher Ozgen Ozturk from the Bank of England has been accepted by the top macroeconomics journal American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (AEJ: Macro).
This paper marks the 17th publication by faculty members of the Division of Economics of LNU in recent years in internationally top-tier journals across various fields of economics. These include Review of Economics and Statistics (one paper by Yu Miaojie), Journal of Development Economics (one paper each by Yu Miaojie, Yin Lijuan, Yang Guohao, and Wang Zhifeng), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (one paper by Qiu Huanguang), Journal of International Economics (one paper by Ma Xiangjun), Journal of Public Economics (one paper by Chen Feng), Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (one paper by Gao Ming), Journal of Labor Economics (one paper by Yang Zhe), Journal of Economic Theory (one paper by He Chao), Journal of Human Resources (one paper by Zhou Yu), Journal of Monetary Economics (one paper by Wang Xiaowen), Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (one paper each by Yang Zhe and Chen Feng), and International Economic Review (one co-authored paper by Russell Cooper and Yan Ping). This achievement represents another landmark outcome in the “Double First-Class” development, signifying further important progress in the high-level scientific research output of LNU’s applied economics “Double First-Class” development.
Paper Introduction
This paper investigates the determinants of the cyclicality of revenue-based total factor productivity (TFPR). The distribution of TFPR depends on exogenous shocks and the endogenous determination of prices. The paper employs an overlapping generations (OLG) model to examine the factors shaping the TFPR distribution. It primarily focuses on three empirical features: (i) the countercyclicality of TFPR dispersion, (ii) the countercyclicality of price change dispersion, and (iii) the countercyclicality of price adjustment frequency. The model can match these features if mean shocks to physical total factor productivity (TFPQ) are negatively correlated with dispersion shocks, or if monetary authorities respond to TFPQ dispersion shocks by “leaning against the wind”.
Journal Introduction
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics (AEJ:Macro), founded in 2009, is published by the globally renowned American Economic Association (AEA) and is a top-tier journal in the field of macroeconomics.
Author Introduction
Professor Russell W. Cooper joined Liaoning University as a full-time faculty member in 2024. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He has published over 100 papers in fields including macroeconomics, industrial organization, international economics, experimental economics, labor economics, and monetary economics, among which are 19 significant papers in top-tier (TOP 5) economics journals. His research covers topics such as business cycles, labor market dynamics, fiscal policy, finance, and monetary policy. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and has held academic positions at the University of Texas at Austin (as Department Chair), Yale University, Stanford University, the University of Iowa, Boston University, Pennsylvania State University, and the European University Institute.
