Professor Markus Brueckner

RSE

Research School of Economics

Position
Professor
Email
markus.brueckner@anu.edu.au
Phone number
61 2 612 53881
Office
Room 2062A, LF Crisp Bld (26)
Link
https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/markus-brueckner
Research areas

Economic Development and Growth, International Economics, Macroeconomics, Political Economy

Biography

Markus Brueckner is Professor and Head of the Economics Program in the Research School of Economics of the Australian National University. In 2020 he received the Young Economist Award from the Economic Society of Australia. Markus has broad research interests: His primary research field is economic growth; secondary research fields include international economics, development economics, political economy, and macroeconomic policy, in particular, fiscal policy. Markus has published widely in leading international journals. His endeavor is to conduct research that is informative, relevant, and of interest to both academics and policy makers. At the ANU he has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in macroeconomics.

Markus has been engaged in numerous consulting projects for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He has advised these institutions on a wide range of issues relating to economic growth. Markus provided advice to these institutions on general issues that were of high policy relevance at the time of writing. He advised the World Bank on country- and region-specific issues relating to the drivers of economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Russian Federation, Middle East and North Africa, East Africa, and South-East Asia.

Markus has also been engaged with Commonwealth agencies in Australia. He was a macroeconomic advisor in the Macroeconomic Modelling and Policy Division of the Australian Treasury. As a member of a team put together by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a joint project with the IMF, he gave lectures on the macroeconomic management of natural resources at the Africa Training Institute in Mauritius.

Markus holds doctorate and masters degrees in economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra; an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Mannheim; and an ACT Year 12 Certificate from the International School of Lae.

Markus has lived in a number of countries -- some of which are very diverse and at very different stages of development. Long-term stays for periods of at least three years or more include Australia, Germany, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and Spain. Short-term stays of at least several months but less than a year include the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Malaysia, Thailand, and the United States. Living in these countries provided Markus with many valuable life experiences.

Research publications

Peer-reviewed journal publications are grouped according to the Australian Business Deans Council journal quality list. For each group, the numbering of journal publications is in alphabetical order.

 

A* Journals

  1. Econometrica 79: 923-947. "Rain and the Democratic Window of Opportunity." With Antonio Ciccone
  2. Economic Journal 120: 519-534. "International Commodity Price Shocks, Growth, and the Outbreak of Civil War in Sub-Saharan Africa." With Antonio Ciccone
  3. Economic Journal 120: 535-550. "Population Size and Civil Conflict Risk: Is there a Causal Link?"
  4. Economic Journal 122: 848-866. "Commodity Windfalls, Democracy, and External Debt." With Rabah Arezki
  5. Economic Journal 124: 1279-1316. "Local Government Spending Multipliers and Financial Distress: Evidence from Japanese Prefectures." With Anita Tuladhar
  6. Economic Journal 125: 1653-1676. "Income and Population Growth." With Hannes Schwandt
  7. European Economic Review 55: 955-964. "Oil Rents, Corruption, and State Stability." With Rabah Arezki 
  8. European Economic Review 63: 76-97. "Cultural Diversity and Economic Growth: Evidence from the US During the Age of Mass Migration." With Philipp Ager
  9. International Economic Review 53: 1205-1228. "Fiscal Expansions, Unemployment, and Labor Force Participation." With Evi Pappa
  10. Journal of Applied Econometrics 28: 102-125. "On the Simultaneity Problem in the Aid and Growth Debate."
  11. Journal of Development Economics 105: 254-266. "Exogenous Volatility and the Size of Government in Developing Countries." With Mark Gradstein
  12. Journal of Development Economics 111: 107-116. "Government Spending Cyclicality: Evidence from Transitory and Persistent Shocks in Developing Countries." With Mark Gradstein
  13. Journal of Development Economics 98: 220-227. "An Instrumental Variables Approach to Estimating Tax Revenue Elasticities: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa."
  14. Journal of Economic Growth 15: 155-176. "Wealth Inequality and Credit Markets: Empirical Evidence from Three Industrialized Countries." With Hans Grüner and Kerstin Gerling
  15. Journal of Economic Growth 20: 149-175. "National Income and its Distribution." With Mark Gradstein and Era Dabla-Norris
  16. Journal of Economic Growth 23: 341-366. "Inequality and Economic Growth: The Role of Initial Income." With Daniel Lederman
  17. Journal of International Economics 86: 318-326. "Commodity Windfalls, Polarization, and Net Foreign Assets: Panel Data Evidence on the Voracity Effect." With Rabah Arezki
  18. Journal of International Economics 87: 377-385. "Rainfall, Financial Development, and Remittances: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa." With Rabah Arezki
  19. Journal of International Economics 91: 343-357. "Effects of Transitory Shocks to Aggregate Output on Consumption in Developing Countries." With Mark Gradstein
  20. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 47: 1339-1367. "News Shocks in the Data: Olympic Games and their Macroeconomic Effects." With Evi Pappa
  21. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 52: 1071-1106. "On the Relationship Between Domestic Saving and the Current Account: Evidence and Theory for Developing Countries." With Evi Pappa and Wotjtek Pazcos
  22. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, forthcoming. "Geographic Cross-Sectional Fiscal Spending Multipliers and the Role of Local Autonomy: Evidence from European Regions." With Evi Pappa and Akos Valentinyi
  23. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, forthcoming. "A Test of the Permanent Income Hypothesis When Households are Less Constrained. " With Emma Aisbett, Ralf Steinhauser, and Rhett Wilcox.
  24. Journal of Public Economics 96: 1025-1034. "Estimating the Permanent Income Elasticity of Government Spending: Evidence on Wagner's Law." With Alberto Chong and Mark Gradstein
  25. Journal of Urban Economics 71: 26-36. "Economic Growth, Size of the Agricultural Sector, and Urbanization in Africa."
  1. Review of Economics and Statistics 102: 806-822. "Structural Change and the Fertility Transition." With Philipp Ager and Benedikt Herz
  2. Review of Economics and Statistics 94: 389-399. "Oil Price Shocks, Income, and Democracy." With Antonio Ciccone and Andrea Tesei

A Journals

  1. Applied Economics 54: 4608-4631. "Trade, Education, and Income Inequality." With Ngo Van Long and Joaquin Vespignani
  2. Applied Economics 55: 4522-4538. "Covid-19 and Firms' Stock Price Growth: The Role of Market Capitalization." With Wensheng Kang and Joaquin Vespignani
  3. Economic Inquiry 56: 1149-1164. "Immigrants' Genes: Genetic Diversity and Economic Development in the US." With Philipp Ager
  4. Economica 82: 1653-1676. "Trade Openness and Economic Growth: Panel Data Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa." With Daniel Lederman
  5. Economics Letters 107: 63-65. "Financial Determinants of Firm Dynamics: Evidence from a European Panel."
  6. Empirical Economics, forthcoming. "Inequality and Growth in China." With Haiyan Lin
  7. European Journal of Political Economy 50: 157-170. "Rent Extraction by Capitalists."
  8. Explorations in Economic History 65: 94-105. "The Boll Weevil Plague and its Effect on the Southern Agricultural Sector, 1889-1929." With Philipp Ager and Benedikt Herz
  9. Journal of Asian Economics 56: 48-58. "The Rise of the Middle Class and Economic Growth in ASEAN." With Mark Gradstein, Era Dabla-Norris, and Daniel Lederman
  10. Journal of Comparative Economics 38: 461-471. "Natural Resource Dependence, Non-Tradables, and Economic Growth.
  11. Journal of Comparative Economics 43: 575-594. "Income Growth, Ethnic Polarization, and Political Risk." With Mark Gradstein
  12. Journal of Human Capital 10: 212-234. "Income and Schooling: Evidence from International Oil Price Shocks." With Mark Gradstein
  13. Macroeconomic Dynamics 27: 482-505. "Transitional Dynamics of the Saving Rate and Economic Growth." With Tomoo Kikuchi and George Vachadze.
  14. Public Choice, Special Issue in Honor of the 90th Birthday of Peter Bernholz 185: 131-159. "Economic Growth and Political Extremism." With Hans Grüner.
  15. Review of Development Economics 25: 293-314. "National Income and Trust." With Alberto Chong and Mark Gradstein.
  16. Review of International Economics 25: 975-989. "Terms of Trade Volatility, Government Spending Cyclicality, and Economic Growth." With Francesco Carneiro
  17. World Bank Economic Review 26: 78-99. "Resource Windfalls and Sovereign Bond Spreads: The Role of Political Institutions." With Rabah Arezki
  18. World Development 122: 184-198. "Adult Mortality and Urbanization." 
  19. World Development 61: 142-153. "Effects of International Food Price Shocks on Political Institutions in Low Income Countries." With Rabah Arezki

B Journals

  1. Economic Papers 40: 173-193. "Covid-19 Infections and the Performance of the Stock Market: An Empirical Analysis for Australia." With Joaquin Vespignani.
  2. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade 53: 2782-2793. "Economic Growth and the GDP Share of Consumption: An Empirical Analysis for Asia."
  3. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, Special Issue: Economic Growth and Policies 14: 492-506. "Democracy and Corruption."​​​​​​
  4. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, Special Issue: Economic Growth and Policies 14: 543-556. "Infrastructure and Economic Growth."
  5. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, Special Issue: Economic Growth and Policies 14: 575. "Natural Resources and Civil Conflict: The Role of Military Expenditures." With Rabah Arezki.

C. Peer-Reviewed Books

  1. Beyond Commodities. World Bank Publications, The World Bank, 2016. With Jorge Araujo, Ekaterina Vostroknutova, Mateo Clavijo, and Konstantin Wacker.

 

 

Research grants and awards

Australian Research Council: Discovery Project. DP200102979. Joint with Rod Tyers and Yixiao Zhou

Australian Research Council: Future Fellowship. FT160100104

Australian Research Council: Linkage Project. LP120100527. Joint with Emma Aisbett and Ralf Steinhauser

Australian Research Council: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. DE120100635

Research engagement and outreach

A. Short-Term Consultant

  1. International Monetary Fund: Strategy, Policy and Review Department. Background paper "National Income and Inequality" (2013)

  2. World Bank: Oil, Gas and Mining Policy Division. Background paper "Does Ownership Matter? State Owned and Controlled Mining Companies in Minerals Based Economies: An Empirical Analysis" (2013-2014)

  3. World Bank: Latin America Economic Policy Sector. Regional report "Beyond Commodities: The Growth Challenge of Latin America and the Caribbean" (2013-2014)

  4. World Bank: Macro and Fiscal Mgmt – GM. Background paper "The Effects of Volatility, Fiscal Policy Volatility and Financial Development on Growth: Evidence for the Eastern Caribbean" (2015)

  5. World Bank: GMF-Latin America. Background paper "The Commodity-Price Super Cycle and Growth in Brazil" (2015)

  6. World Bank: World Bank Office Moscow. Background paper "Drivers of Growth in Russia" (2015)

  7. Australian Treasury: Macroeconomic Modelling and Policy Division. Macroeconomic Advisor (2016)

  8. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund's Africa Training Institute. Lectures on "Macroeconomic Management of Natural Resources" (2017)

  9. World Bank: GMF – East Asia and Pacific 2. Background paper "Drivers of Growth in the Philippines" (2017-2018)

  10. World Bank: Office of the Chief Economist – MENA. Project title "State Fragility, Debt, and Commodity Price Shocks" (2017-2018)

  11. World Bank: Kenya Macro Fiscal Work Program and Systematic Country Diagnostic. Background paper: "Drivers of Growth in Kenya" (2018)

  12. World Bank: Poverty Global Practice World Bank Office Manila. Background paper: "Economic Growth and the Middle Class in the Philippines" (2019)

  13. World Bank: Office of the Chief Economist – MENA. Background paper: "Natural Resources and Civil Conflict: The Role of Military Expenditures" (2019)

  14. World Bank: EFI-MTI-Macro/Fiscal-Tax. Background paper update "Does Ownership Matter? State Owned and Controlled Mining Companies in Minerals Based Economies: An Empirical Analysis" (2022)

  15. UNDP: Bangkok Regional Hub. Background paper for a chapter in the Regional Human Development Report Asia-Pacific "Natural disasters, debt, and development" (2022-2023)

B. Visiting Scholar

  1. International Monetary Fund, Research Department. (2017)

  2. World Bank, Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Malaysia. (2019, 2020)

C. Speeches at Public Policy Conferences

  1. Bank of Korea - International Monetary Fund. Conference Title: "Asia: Challenges of Stability and Growth." Seoul, 2013.

  2. International Monetary Fund. Conference Title: "Institutions for Fiscal Credibility—Fiscal Policy Rules and Fiscal Councils: Experience and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region." Tokyo, 2014.

  3. World Bank. Conference Title: "The Economic Challenges of Rising (and Falling) Inequality." Madrid, 2015.

  4. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Conference Title: "Evolving Finance, Trade, and Investment in Asia." Singapore, 2016.

  5. Korea Institute of Public Finance – East-West Centre. Conference Title: "The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy." Honolulu, 2016.

  6. Otago Foreign Policy School. Conference Title: "Economic Policies in a 21st Century World: Challenges and Opportunities." Dunedin, 2019.

D. Miscellaneous

  1. Parliamentary Library. "Pre-Budget Seminar." Canberra, 2020.

  2. ADC Forum Australian Leadership Summit. "Economy, Turmoil, and The Future." Brisbane, 2022.

 

 

Teaching

A. Courses Taught

  1. Advanced Macroeconomic Analysis: masters course, taught at the Australian National University in 2022 and 2023

  2. International Monetary Economics: masters course, taught at the Australian National University in 2022 and 2023

  3. Applied Econometrics: PhD course, taught at the Technical University of Dresden in 2020

  4. Macroeconomics: second year undergraduate course, taught at the Australian National University in 2020 and 2021

  5. Topics in Macro: masters course, taught at the Australian National University in 2018 and 2019

  6. Macroeconomic Theory: second year undergraduate course, taught at the University of Queensland in 2015

  7. Economic Development and Growth: honours course taught at the University of Queensland in 2014

  8. Advanced Development Economics: Phd course, taught at the National University of Singapore in 2014, 2013, and 2012

  9. Economic Growth and Development: masters course, taught at the National University of Singapore in 2014, 2013, and 2012

  10. Development Economics: third year undergraduate course, taught at the National University of Singapore in 2012

  11. Economic Development: honours course taught at the University of Adelaide in 2011

  12. Econometrics and Statistics: Phd course, teaching assistant at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in 2009

  13. Macroeconomics: second year undergraduate course, teaching assistant at University of Heidelberg in 2007

  14. Microeconomics: third year undergraduate course, teaching assistant at the University of Mannheim in 2007

  15. Economic Policy: third year undergraduate course, teaching assistant at the University of Mannheim in 2006

B. Supervision of Honours Students

Maia Alfonzetti (ANU, 2020); Emma Greenland (ANU, 2016); Sangiita Yoong (NUS, 2012); Tan Hui Hui (NUS, 2012); Neo Shi Ming (NUS, 2012)

C. Supervision of PhD Students

Van Anh Pham (2020 - ), Zem Wang (2020 - ), Haiyan Lin (2019 - ), Haidi Hong (2018 - 2022), Claire Hollweg (2011-2013)