Profile

Tain-Jy Chen is a senior professor of economics at TSE, and also a professor emeritus of National Taiwan University. In addition to teaching, he has previously served as the president of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a think tank specializing in economic policy studies, and also in the Taiwan government, as the minister for Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) and National Development Council (NDC). This experience gives him wide exposures to policy formations and implementations. As an economist, his research interests are in economic development and trade policies. He earned a Ph.D. degree in economics in 1983 from Pennsylvania State University. He has published extensively in academic journals, mostly in the fields of trade, investment, and industrial development. His recent work focuses on industrial development of China and the US-China trade war.

Education｜Previous Experience｜Research Interests｜Awards and Honors｜Selected Publication｜Teaching

Education

Ph.D. of Economics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, U.S.A., December 1983

Previous Experience

• Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Economics, National Taiwan University 2018–Present
• Professor, Dept. of Economics, National Taiwan University, Aug. 1995–2018
• President, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, November 2002–August 2005.
• Researcher, International Division, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, July 1985–August 1995
• Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, Drexel University U.S.A., September 1986–July 1987
• Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Mississippi U.S.A., August 1983–July 1985

Research Interests

• Economic development
• International trade
  

Selected Publication

Books

• 史欽泰、陳添枝、吳淑敏， 2025，《從邊緣到核心:台灣半導體如何成為世界的心臟》，台北:天下文化出版。English edition (Routledge, forthcoming).
• 陳添枝， 2022，《超越中度所得陷阱的台灣經濟 1990-2020》，台北:天下文化出版。
• Mitsuo Matsushita, Dukgeun Ahn and Tain-Jy Chen (eds.), 2006, The WTO Trade Remedy System: East Asian Perspectives, London: Cameron May.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Joseph Lee (eds.), 2004, The New Knowledge Economy of Taiwan, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Lawrence Liu, 1998, Contribution to The Role of Law and Legal Institutions in Asian Economic Development, (chief authors Katharina Pistor and Phillip Wellons), New York: Oxford University Press.
• Tain-Jy Chen, 1998, (editor and Chief author), Taiwanese Firms in Southeast Asia: Networking Across Borders, Cheltenham (UK): Edward Elgar.
• Robert Baldwin, Tain-Jy Chen, and Douglas Nelson, 1995, Political Economy of U.S.-Taiwan Trade, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Book Chapter

• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hua Ku, 2013, “Global Production Networks and the Kunshan ICT Cluster: The Role of Taiwanese MNCs,” in Peter C. Y. Chow (ed.) Economic Integration across the Taiwan Strait, Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar, 170-196.
• Tain-Jy Chen, 2008, “The Emergence of Hsinchu Science Park as an IT Cluster,” in Shahid Yusuf, Kaoru Nabeshima, and Shoichi Yamashita (eds.), Growing Industrial Clusters in Asia: Serendipity and Science, Washington DC: World Bank, pp. 67-89.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hua Ku, 2007, “Taiwan and East Asian Integration,” in Peter C.Y. Chow (ed.) Economic Integration, Democratization and National Security in East Asia: Shifting Paradigms in US, China and Taiwan Relations, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 172-190.
• Tain-Jy Chen, 2006, “Taiwan: Diffusion and Impacts of the Internet and ECommerce in a Hybrid Economy,” in K. Kramer, J. Dedrick, N. Melville and K. Zhu (eds.) Global E-Commerce: Impacts of National Environment and Policy, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 247-277.
• Tain-Jy Chen, Been-lon Chen, Yun-peng Chu, 2002, “The Development of Taiwan’s Electronics Industry,” in Poh-Kam Wong and Chee-Yuen Ng (eds.) Industrial Policy, Innovation & Economic Growth, Singapore: Singapore University Press.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hua Ku, 2002, “Offshore Sourcing Strategies of Multinational Firms in Taiwan,” in Peter Chow (ed.) Taiwan in the Global Economy, Westport CT: Praeger.

Journal Articles

• Tain-Jy Chen, 2016, “The Development of China’s Solar Photovoltaic Industry: Why Industrial Policy Failed,” Cambridge Journal of Economics, 40(3): 755-774.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hau Ku, 2016, “Rent seeking and entrepreneurship: internet startups in China,” Cato Journal, 36(3):659-688.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hua Ku, 2014, “Indigenous Innovation vs. Teng-long Huan-niao: Policy Conflicts in the Development of China’s Flat Panel Industry,” Industrial and Corporate Change, 23(6): 1445-67.
• Tain-Jy Chen, 2013, “Taiwan’s Middle Income Trap: No Escaping without Services,” Global Asia, 8(1), Spring: 120-123.
• Tain-Jy Chen, Homin Chen, Ying-Hua Ku, 2012, “Resource Dependency and Parent-Subsidiary Capability Transfers,” Journal of World Business, 47(2), 259- 266.
• Jue-Shyan Wang, Hui-Wen Koo and Tain-Jy Chen, 2006, “Resource Rivalry and Endogenous Lobby,” Japan and the World Economy, 18(4), 488-511.
• Tain-Jy Chen, 2006, “Liability of Foreignness and Entry Mode Choice: Taiwanese Firms in Europe,” Journal of Business Research, 59(2), 288-294.
• Tain-Jy Chen, Homin Chen, and Ying-Hua Ku, 2004, “Foreign Direct Investment and Local Linkages,” Journal of International Business Studies, 35(4), 320-333.
• Tain-Jy Chen and Ying-Hua Ku, 2003, “Networking Strategies of Taiwanese Firms in Southeast Asia and China,” in Edmund Gomez and Hsin-Huang Hsiao (eds.) Chinese Enterprise, Transnationalism, and Identity, London and New York: Routledge Curzon, pp.151-171.
• Homin Chen and Tain-Jy Chen, 2003, “Governance Structures in Strategic Alliances: Transaction Cost versus Resource-based Perspective,” Journal of World Business, 38(1), pp.1-14.

Teaching

• TSE 604200 | Political Economy of the Semiconductor Industry 
  (Co-teach with Chin-Tay Shih, Lien-Fang Kin, and Chan Yuan Wong)
  Module: Elective
  Abstract
  The semiconductor industry has become strategically important in economic growth and international relations. This course is designed to demystify the complexity of the global semiconductor industry in terms of technological development, market competition, geopolitics, and interactions of national policies. It is an interdisciplinary course bringing together the knowledge of engineering, management, economics, and political science. The course is divided into five parts and to be taught by five instructors, with each instructor covering a part for three weeks. The rest of the time will be used for class organization and evaluations. The five parts are (1) development of the semiconductor industry, (2) characteristics and evolutions of the global semiconductor market, (3) case studies of East Asian semiconductor companies, (4) technology policies pertinent to the semiconductor industry in East Asia, (5) geo-politics and geo-economics in the semiconductor industry.

• TSE 601100 | Asian Economic Development in Comparative Perspective
  Module: MAPE Core & MED Core
  Abstract
  We study the contributions of institutions to economic development in East Asia from a comparative perspective. Four countries will be featured in the comparative study: Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China. Two major institutions will be examined: business organization and financial institutions. On business organization, we will compare and contrast the distinctive patterns of business organizations in these countries and study their impacts on the path of economic development, as well as the effectiveness of various policies under this structure, including trade and industrial policies. On financial institution, we will compare the roles of banks, non-bank lending institutions, and other financial institutions, in these countries and examine their impacts on capital formation and industry evolution over time. These two institutions are interrelated, and they together determine the long-term competitiveness in these countries and shape the business strategies.