Research areas

Macroeconomics; Public Economics; Development Economics
 

Biography

Chung Tran is an Associate Professor of Economics at the ANU Research School of Economics; Founder, Leader & Chief Investigator of the ANU Macro Public Finance Lab; Associate Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research; Member of Australian Treasury's Macroeconomic Advisory Panel; and Member of Australian Treasury's Expert Panel in Economic Modelling and Forecasting. 

Chung’s research interests are in the field of macroeconomics, public economics and development economics. His research has been funded by prestigious grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). His research has been published in leading academic journals including the Journal of the European Economic Association, Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Development Economics, European Economic Review and Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control.

Personal website
 

Grants

• ANU College Business and Economics,  Excellence in Research Award, 2023
• Australian Research Council, Discovery Project, 2021-24 (AUD 235,000)
• Australian Research Council, Early Career Fellowship, 2012-14 (AUD 170,000)
• Australian Research Council, ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), 2012-24 (AUD 100,000+)
• ANU/CBE internal grants & ARC matching funds, 2012-24 (AUD 100,000+)
• Bank of Japan, Visiting Scholar Fellowship, 2015 (JPY 2,500,000)
• US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Research Grant, 2012-13 (USD 134,000)
• US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Research Grant (R03), 2010-11 (USD 66,787)
   

Publications

Selected refereed journal articles

• 'Health Risk, Insurance and Optional Progressive Income Taxation', Journal of the European Economic Association, 2023 (with Jung, J.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Social Health Insurance: Quantitative Exploration', Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2022 (with Jung, J.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Sustainable and Equitable Pension with Means-Testing in Aging Economies', European Economic Review, 2022 (with Kudrna, G. & Woodland, A.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'On the Marginal Excess Burden of Taxation in an Overlapping Generation Economy', Journal of Macroeconomics, 2021 (with Wende, S.) [ABDC journal list: A ]
• 'Facing Demographic Challenges: Pension Cuts or Tax Hikes',  Macroeconomic Dynamics, 2019 (with George Kudrna and Alan Woodland) [ABDC journal list: A ]
• 'Fiscal Austerity Measures: Spending Cuts vs. Tax Increases', Macroeconomic Dynamics, 2018 (with Gerhard Glomm and Juergen Jung) [ABDC journal list: A ]
• 'Aging and Health Financing in the U.S.: A General Equilibrium Analysis', European Economic Review, 2017 (with Jung, J. & Chambers, M.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Market Inefficiency, Insurance Mandate and Welfare: US Health Care Reform 2010', Review of Economic Dynamics, 2016 (with Jung, J.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Trade-offs in Means Tested Pension Design', Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2014 (with Woodland, A.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'The Extension of Social Security Coverage in Developing Countries', Journal of Development Economics, 2012 (with Jung, J.)  [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Temptation and Social Security in a Dynastic Framework', European Economic Review, 2012 (with Kumru, C.) [ABDC journal list: A* ]
• 'Macroeconomic Implications of Early Retirement in the Public Sector: The Case of Brazil', Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2009 (with Glomm, G. & Jung, J) [ABDC journal list: A* ]

All research papers and publications

• Research Page
   

Engagement

• Member, Australian Treasury's Macroeconomic Advisory Panel
• Member, Australian Treasury's Expert Panel on Economic Modelling and Forecasting
• Founder, Leader & Chief Investigator, Macro Public Finance Lab (MPFL)
• Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR)
• Fellow, Tax Transfers Policy Institute (TTPI)
• Research Associate, Center for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA)
• Visiting Professor: Keio University, Towson University and Bank of Japan (BoJ)
• External Adviser & Consultant: Australian Treasury and Deloitte Access Economics
   

Teaching 

Courses

• ECON2102 - Macroeconomics 2
• ECON8001 - Topics in Macroeconomics

• ECON8022 - Macroeconomic Theory

   

  Short/master courses: 

• Quantitative Macroeconomics
• Macro/Public Economics
• Computational Methods in Macroeconomics
•  

Supervision  

     PhD students (Primary and Associate supervisor)  

1. Matthew Smith (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2023- )
2. Iris Man Hin Chio (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2022- )
3. Fajar Oktiyanto (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2026)
4. Quingsong Song (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2025)
5. Darapheak Tin (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2025)
6. Sam Ng (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2022)
7. Minh-Ngoc Nguyen (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2021)
8. Nabeeh Zakariyya (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2021)
9. Sebastian Wende (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2020)
10. Owen Freestone (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2019)
11. Qingyin Ma (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2018)
12. Arm Nakonthab (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2018)
13. Michinao Okachi (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2018)
14. Christopher Perks (Primary Supervisor, PhD 2017)
15. Jamie Cross (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2017)
16. Aubrey Poon (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2017)
17. Tomohito Okabe (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2015)
18. Patrick Carvalho (Associate Supervisor, PhD 2014)

• Master & case study students (Primary supervisor)

1.  Yingze Luo (2026)
2. Syahid Izzulhag (2026),
3. Gerelmaa Baatarchuluun (2020)
4. Dana Lawson (2017)
5. Alex Beamer (2017) 
6. Anpeng Li (2014) 
7. Trina Chuang (2013)
8. Napoleon Dewan (2015) 
9. Yahdullah Haidari (2014)

• Honours students (Primary supervisor) 

1. Duong Dang (2018)
2. James Stevens (2017)
3. Zelin Chen (2015)
4. Christine Ma (2014) 
5. Trina Chuang (2012)