Daniel Trefler (born 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who is currently the J. Douglas and Ruth Grant Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity at the Rotman School of Management,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He is among the most influential and frequently cited economists worldwide.Top 10% Authors, as of December 2017
" IDEAS.

Background

Born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Trefler graduated from the

in 1982 with a B.A. in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. He then attended

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, receiving his M.Phil. from the former (1983) and Ph.D. from the latter (1989). Starting that year, he worked at the University of Toronto's Department of Economics. He spent the two years from 1994 to 1996 at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, before deciding to return home permanently to Toronto to serve as a professor at the Rotman School in the University of Toronto. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Canada Research Chair.

Career

Trefler's work has provided academics, policymakers, and business leaders with invaluable observations on economic issues facing Canada and nations worldwide. Some of his most recognized academic contributions include his "case of the missing trade", the impact of exporting on firm productivity, and the relationship between a country's

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

and the products it exports. His studies have brought deep insights into how

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

can fundamentally alter societal institutions: for example, how changes in the relative power of

special interest groups A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular f ...

can impact

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

, constitutional arrangements, worker rights, and the

distribution of wealth The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or heterogeneity in economics, economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the i ...

. Currently, he has been studying the impact of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

on trade. Trefler is renowned for his ground-breaking contributions to

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

formation in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and he has been given full scope to pursue his many policy initiatives, including in the

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress, as well as in

Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

. His research has been instrumental in the design of

trade agreements A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tra ...

that promote

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

, and

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

while minimizing harmful effects on workers. In recent years, he helped frame the document that launched the Canada-EU trade agreement. In Canada, Trefler is a Senior Research Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Studies, a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, an advisor to the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, and served as a member of the academic advisory board in the

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

. Internationally, he is a research fellow at the

National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic co ...

and the Centre for Policy Research. He gives public lectures and seminars across the world, including at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Princeton, MIT, Stanford,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Yale, LSE and

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. He makes frequent media appearances within Canada and abroad, including a term as an invited

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

. Trefler was a long-standing co-editor at the Journal of International Economics, the top-ranked journal in his field, and served on the Editorial Board of the American Economic Association's

Journal of Economic Literature The ''Journal of Economic Literature'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal, published by the American Economic Association, that surveys the academic literature in economics. It was established by Arthur Smithies in 1963 as the ''Journal of Econo ...

. He has received all three major awards of the Canadian Economics Association: the Harry Johnson Prize, John Rae Prize, and the Innis Lecture, the latter of which is awarded in recognition of contributions to economics in the broadest sense. He was awarded Canada's Killam Prize in 2016. Dubbed Canada's Nobel, the Killam Prize is awarded annually to "academic titans" for "pushing the boundaries of their fields" His advocacy on behalf of children earned him the Noni MacDonald Award from the Canadian Paediatric Society. He is the recipient of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

Fellowship Award and was the 2011 Ohlin Lecture, the most internationally celebrated lecture in his core field of

international economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns an ...

Selected Articles for a General Audience

* "The Politics of Inequality." ''Rotman Magazine''. Fall 2017, pages 94–97. * "Canada Should Lead Development of Clean, Renewable Energy." ''Globe & Mail''. June 22, 2015. With Alan Bernstein and Ted Sargent. * "Canada: Oiled by Tar or Tarred by Oil." ''OpenCanada.org''. April 7, 2014. * "The One Percent in History." ''Rotman Magazine''. Fall 2013, pages 93–96. * "Loonacy of Parity: How a Strong Dollar Weakens Canada." ''Globe & Mail''. October 16, 2010, F9. * "A Time and Place for Free Trade." ''Harvard College Economic Review'', volume II, issue 2. Spring 2008. * "Think Globally, Invest Locally: Responding to the Rise of Offshoring." ''Rotman Magazine''. Fall 2005, pages 42–45. * "Treating Children Well Strengthens a Nation." ''The Ottawa Citizen''. September 4, 2004. * "Looking Back: How Childhood Experiences Impact a Nation’s Wealth." ''Rotman Magazine''. Spring/Summer 2004.

References

External links

Homepage at Rotman School of Management
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trefler, Daniel 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge International economists Innovation economists Trade economists University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto 20th-century Canadian economists 21st-century Canadian economists

Background

Career

Selected Articles for a General Audience

See also

References

External links