Yoonsoo Lee is a Korean economist and Associate Professor of Economics at Sogang University in Korea. He has conducted extensive research within his main field of study: macroeconomics, and has written over 25 research articles that have been frequently cited. Additionally, he has consulted with the World Bank and was a contributing author to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Early Life and Education:
Lee earned his B.A. from Seoul National University in 1995. Shortly after he received both his masters and his Ph.D. from University of Rochester before graduating in 2005. Lee specializes in the field of Macroeconomics. After graduating Lee conducted research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He currently is a professor at Sogang University School of Economics in South Korea.
Contributions to Economics:
Lee’s main field of study is in macroeconomics with a focus on plant-level manufacturing. He has published numerous articles on this topic, contributing analysis of the effects of plant-level economics on the business cycle. Of his many articles, several have proved influential to other researchers and economists.
One of his most frequently-cited publications, “Entry, exit and plant-level dynamics over the business cycle,” was co-authored by Toshihiko Mukoyama, and has been cited 190 times. In the article, Lee looks into the patterns of entry and exit of american manufacturing firms from 1972-1997, and creates an equilibrium model to further analyze these patterns, along with employment. His findings have been generalized and referenced in research articles pertaining to important subjects such as the financial crisis of 2008.
Another article co-authored by Toshito Mukoyama, “Entry and exit of manufacturing plants over the business cycle,” has been cited over 119 times. Similarly to the previous article, Lee examines the patterns of entry and exit of American manufacturing plants between 1972-1997.
Unique findings in this study concluded that there is a higher amount of recurrence in the entry rates than in the exit rates for firms, thus firm entry rates are more cyclical than firm exit rates.
A third article, “Geographic redistribution of US manufacturing and the role of state development policy,” was written in 2008 and has been cited 95 times. Lee concludes that state economic development incentives are largely ineffective at attracting plants and firms to move in, and his economic findings have contributed to policy action. Furthermore, growing states have a higher fraction of employment gains from plant openings and a higher fraction of employment losses from plant closings. Thus, Lee has determined that growing states have a higher turnover rate.
Awards and Honors:
In 2019 he was awarded the Chungram Award by the Korean Economic Association. He had previously presented at a 2017 conference of theirs.