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Daniel Trefler

Daniel Trefler

Daniel Trefler

Douglas and Ruth Grant Canada Research Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity
Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy

Degrees:

PhD, UCLA
MPhil, University of Cambridge
BA, University of Toronto

Phone:

416-946-7945

Bio

Daniel Trefler is the J. Douglas and Ruth Canada Research Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity at the Rotman School of Management and a Senior Research Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Studies.

Professor Trefler is an internationally respected trade economist, known for his path-breaking contributions to fundamental research. This research has been instrumental in the design and pursuit of trade agreements that promote productivity, innovation and investment while minimizing the harmful effects on workers and the most disadvantaged. In recent years he has advised Global Affairs Canada on national policies towards foreign direct investment and helped to frame the document that launched the Canada-EU trade agreement.

The importance and influence of Professor Trefler’s work has been recognized through numerous distinctions including the 2016 Killam Prize in Social Sciences (Canada’s ‘Nobel Prize’), the 2016 Bank of Canada Fellowship Award, a Canada Research Chair, and all three major awards of the Canadian Economics Association.

Born and raised in Toronto, Professor Trefler holds degrees in economics from the University of Toronto (BA), Cambridge University (M.Phil) and UCLA (Ph.D). 

Academic Positions

  • 1997 to Current

    Professor, Rotman School of Management

  • 1994-96

    Visiting Associate Professor , The Irving B.Harris Grad School of Public Pol.Studies, Univ of Chicago

  • as of July 1994

    Associate Professor , University of Toronto

  • 1990-94

    Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Toronto

  • 1988-90

    Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Toronto

Non-Academic Positions

  • Current

    Research Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

  • Current

    Member, Ont Task Force on Comp, Prod & Econ Progress

  • Current

    Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research

  • Current

    Research Fellow, CD Howe Institute

  • Current

    Co-Editor, Journal of International Economics

Selected Publications - Papers

Selected Publications - Books and Chapters

  • Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage

    with Nathan Nunn. In Handbook of International Trade

    edited by Gita Gopinath, Elhanan Helpman, and Kenneth Rogoff. Amsterdam: Elsevier

    Issue:Volume 4

    2014

    Pages: pp263-315

  • Mexico and Canada Before and After NAFTA

    In NAFTA at 20, edited by Michael Boskin

    Hoover Institution Press

    2014

    Pages: pp 38-42

  • Canadian Policy Responses to Offshore Outsourcing

    In Offshore Outsourcing: Capitalizing on Lessons Learned, edited by Daniel Trefler

    2010

  • Offshore Outsourcing: Capitalizing on Lessons Learned

    edited by Daniel Trefler

    Toronto: Rotman School of Management and Industry Canada

    2010

  • The New World Division of Labor

    with Elhanan Helpman. In Offshore Outsourcing: Capitalizing on Lessons Learned, edited by Daniel Trefler, Toronto: Rotman School of Management and Industry Canada

    2010

  • The Boundaries of the Multinational Firm: An Empirical Analysis

    In The Organization of Firms in a Global Economy, edited by Elhanan Helpman, Dalia Marin, and Thierry Verdier. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

    2008

    Pages: pp55-83. With Nathan Nunn

  • Service Offshoring: Threats and Opportunities

    In Brookings Trade Forum 2005: Offshoring White-Collar Work, edited by Susan M. Collins and Lael Brainard. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press

    2006

    Pages: pp35-60

  • Successful Economies, Failed Economics: What the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement Teaches Us about International Economics

    In The MacDonald Commission Report 20 Years On edited by David Laidler and Bill Robson. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute

    2005

    Pages: pp111-120

  • A Time to Sow, A Time to Reap: The FTA and Its Impact on Productivity and Employment

    In Productivity Issues in Canada edited by Someshwar Rao and Andrew Sharpe. Calgary: University of Calgary Press

    2002

    Pages: pp357-569. With Gary Sawchuk

Research and Teaching Interests

International Trade, Canadian Competitiveness and Prosperity

Honors and Awards

  • 2016-2021

    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), How We Compete: Canadian Firms Responding to the Rise of the Chinese Economy,

  • 2016

    Killam in the Social Sciences,

  • 2015 to 2020

    Bank of Canada Fellowship Award,

  • 2011-2014

    The Complex Integration Strategies of Multinational Corporations, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • 2010

    Noni MacDonald Award,

  • 2010-2017

    Canada Research Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity,

  • 2009-2010

    International Trade, Inequality, and Institutional Change, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • 2008-2011

    Global Sourcing and Capability Building: Threats and Opportunities for Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • 2004-2010

    International Competitiveness and Domestic Institutions, Canada Research Chair

  • 2004-2007

    International Trade and Domestic Institutions, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • 2006

    Offshore Outsourcing Capitalizing on Lessons Learned, Industry Canada, sponsored conference-organizer

  • 2000-2003

    International Trade as if People Matter, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • 2000

    Rae Prize, Canadian Economic Association for Excellence in Research