Dr Hongsong Zhang is Associate Director of the APEC Study Center in Hong Kong, as well as Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). His main research interests cover topics in empirical industrial organization, international trade, and applied microeconomics, with a special focus on how firms’ competitiveness in productivity, supplier network, and demand affects firm performance in the domestic and international markets. His research has been published in leading general interest and top field journals in Economics, such as International Economic Review (x2), European Economic Review, and Journal of Development Economics. Starting 2020, he also serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Industrial Organization (IJIO). He also serves as an Executive Committee Member for China Trade Research Group since 2018.

Dr Zhang obtained his PhD in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University in 2013, MA in Economics from Peking University, and BA in Economics from the China Youth University for Political Sciences. He joined the HKU Business School at The University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor in 2013.

Representative Publications: 

• “Input Prices, Productivity, and Trade Dynamics: Long-Run Effects of Liberalization on Chinese Paint Manufacturers”, with Paul L E Grieco and Shengyu Li, December 2021, The RAND Journal of Economics, Accepted.
• “Does External Monitoring from the Government Improve the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises?”, with Shengyu Li. The Economic Journal, Vol 132, Issue 642, Pages 675-708, February 2022.
• “Productivity or Unexpected Demand Shocks: What Determines Firms’ Investment and Exit Decisions?”, with Pradeep Kumar. International Economic Review, Vol 60, Issue 1, Pages 303-327, February 2019.

Working Papers:

• "How Do Large Epidemics Redistribute Market Power: Evidence from the 2003 SARS Shock in China", with Yating Jiang, May 2022. 
• “Technology Training, Contract Trade, and Quality Upgrading in an Agricultural Supply Chain”, with Sangyoon Park and Zhaoneng Yuan, March 2022.
• "Output Quality, Productivity Growth, and Resource Reallocation”, with Jing Li and Shengyu Li, October 2021.