Research and Publications

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This ranking encompasses both living and late economists, including Nobel laureates, and is based on metrics such as the number of citations and impact factors. IDEAS is the world’s largest bibliographic database dedicated to Economics, which indexes over 4.7 million journal articles, working papers, and other scholarly works.


Areas of Research Interest


Books

Scholarly books


Foreign Affairs published a book review by Barry Eichengreen at UC Berkeley, January/February, 2023. 

Pacific Affairs published another by Sunwoong Kim at UW-Milwaukee, September 2024.


Flagship publications at the IMF and OECD



REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

[1] “Whither South Korea’s Economic Growth? Growth Deceleration, Structural Issue, and Risk of Stagnation”, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, forthcoming in 2024 (published online May 12, 2023).  

[2] “Financial Crises and Inequality: New Evidence from a Panel of 17 Advanced Economies”, Journal of Economic Asymmetries, November 2023, volume 28 (November). 

[3] “Revisiting Okun’s Law in South Korea: Asymmetries, Crises, and Structural Changes”, Journal of Economic Asymmetries, June 2023, volume 27 (June).

[4] “South Korea’s Coming Era of Stagnation: Can Seoul Save Its Economy From Japanese-Style Paralysis?”, Foreign Affairs, May 17, 2023.

[5] “The Long-Run Determinants of Redistribution: Evidence from a Panel of 47 Countries in 1967-2014”, Empirical Economics, April 2023, 64(4), pp.1811-1860. 

[6] “Does It Matter for the Economy to Have a Conservative or Liberal Government in Korea? Political Parties and Business Cycle in South Korea, 1998-2019”, Asian Journal of Political Science, December 2021, 29(3), pp.359-395.

[7] “Inequality, Redistribution, and Growth: New Evidence on the Trade-off between Equality and Efficiency”, Empirical Economics, January 2020, 58(6), pp.2667-2707.

[8] “Distributional Consequences of Fiscal Adjustments: What Do the Data Say?” (with Elva Bova, Tidiane Kinda, and Sophia Zhang), IMF Economic Review, June 2017, 65(2), pp.273-307.  (Woo is the first and corresponding author.)

[9] “The Puzzle of Persistently Negative Interest Rate-Growth Differentials: Financial Repression or Income Catch-up” (with Julio Escolano and Anna Shabunina), Fiscal Studies, June 2017, 38(2), pp.179-217. Lead article.  (Woo is the corresponding author.)

[10] “Public Debt and Growth” (with Manmohan S. Kumar), Economica, October 2015, 82(328), pp.705-739.   (Woo is the first and corresponding author.)

[11] “Growth, Income Distribution, and Fiscal Policy Volatility”, Journal of Development Economics, November 2011, 96(2), pp.289-313.

[12] “Why Do More Polarized Countries Run More Procyclical Fiscal Policy?”, Review of Economics and Statistics, November 2009, 91(4), pp.850-870.

[13] “Productivity Growth and Technological Diffusion through Foreign Direct Investment”, Economic Inquiry, April 2009, 47(2), pp.226-248.

[14] “Social Polarization, Fiscal Instability and Growth”, European Economic Review, August 2005, 49(6), pp.1451-1477.

[15] “The Political Economy of Social Polarization and Macroeconomics: Fiscal Instability, Growth Collapse, and Inflation”, Korean Journal of Economics, Spring 2005, 12(1), pp.151-192. 

[16] “Social Polarization, Industrialization, and Fiscal Instability: Theory and Evidence”, Journal of Development Economics, October 2003, 72(1), pp.223-252. 

[17] “Economic, Political, and Institutional Determinants of Public Deficits”, Journal of Public Economics, March 2003, 87(3), pp.387-426. Lead article. The 6th most requested article in 2011.


PUBLISHED ARTICLES AT IMF, OECD, BANK OF KOREA, AND VoxEU

[18] “Austerity and Inequality: The Size and Composition of Fiscal Adjustment Matter” (with Elva Bova and Tidiane Kinda), VoxEU, February 7, 2018. By invitation from Editor-in-Chief Richard Baldwin (IMD Business School, Switzerland).

(VoxEU.org – CEPR’s policy portal – was set up in June 2007 to promote "research-based policy analysis and commentary by leading economists".)

[19] “Reassessing the Role and Modalities of Fiscal Policy in Advanced Economies” (with Nathaniel Arnold, Mark de Broeck, and others), IMF Policy Paper, September 2013.

[20] “Distributional Consequences of Fiscal Consolidation and the Role of Fiscal Policy: What Do the Data Say?” (with Elva Bova, Tidiane Kinda, and Sophia Zhang), IMF Working Paper, No.13/195, September 2013. 

[21] “Nigeria: 2012 Article IV Consultation—Staff Report” (with Trevor Alleyne, Mumtaz Hussain, Cheikh Anta Gueye, and Tetsuya Konuki), IMF Country Report No. 13/116, May 2013.

[22] “Nigeria: 2011 Article IV Consultation—Staff Report” (with Scott Rogers, Trevor Alleyne, Mumtaz Hussain, Gonzalo Salinas, Myrvin Anthony, and Tetsuya Konuki), IMF Country Report No. 12/194, July 2012.

[23] “Technological Upgrading in China and India: What Do We Know?” OECD Development Center Working Paper, No. 308, January 2012.

[24] “The Puzzle of Persistently Negative Interest Rate-Growth Differentials: Financial Repression or Income Catch-up” (with Julio Escolano and Anna Shabunina), IMF Working Paper, No. 11/260, November 2011.

[25] “Nigeria: 2010 Article IV Consultation—Staff Report” (with Scott Rogers, Mumtaz Hussain, Gonzalo Salinas, and Rob Gregory), IMF Country Report No. 11/57, February 2011.

[26] “Public Debt and Growth” (with Manmohan S. Kumar), IMF Working Paper, No. 10/174, July 2010.  

[27] “Public Expenditures on Social Programs and Household Consumption in China” (with Emanuele Baldacci, Giovanni Callegari, David Coady, Ding Ding, Manmohan Kumar, Pietro Tommasino) IMF Working Paper, No. 10/69, March 2010. 

[28] “Growth, Government Policies and Institutions in the Globalized World Economy” Bank of Korea, Institute for Monetary and Economic Research Paper, No.198, October 2004. 

[29] “The US Health System: An Assessment and Prospective Directions For Reform” (with Elizabeth Docteur and Hannes Suppanz), OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 350, February 2003.

[30] “The Role of Policy and Institutions for Productivity and Firm Dynamics: Evidence from Micro and Industry Data” (with Stefano Scarpetta, Philip Hemmings, and Thierry Tressel), OECD Economics Department Working Paper, No. 329, April 2002.

This paper was featured in the Economics Focus section of The Economist (a London-based weekly magazine), May 25, 2002.


BOOK CHAPTERS

[1] “Public Debt and Growth” (with Manmohan S. Kumar), in C. Checherita-Westphal (ed.), Debt and Economic Performance, London: Edward Elgar Publishing, March 2019. Reprint of Woo and Kumar (2015) which was published in Economica.

[2] “The Relationship between Debt Levels and Growth” (with Manmohan S. Kumar), in C. Cottarelli, P. Gerson and A. Senhadji (eds.), Post-Crisis Fiscal Policy, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, July 2014. Reprint of Kumar and Woo (2010) which was published as IMF Working Paper, No. 10/174, 2010.

[3] “The Evolution of Fiscal Developments and Policies in the Pacific Rim” (with Manmohan S. Kumar and Nirvikar Singh), in I. Kaur and N. Singh (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of the Pacific Rim, New York: Oxford University Press, January 2014.

[4] “Distributional Consequences of Alternative Fiscal Consolidation Measures: Readings from the Data” (with Elva Bova, Tidiane Kinda, and Sophia Zhang), in Fiscal Monitor, Washington DC: IMF, October 2012, pp. 50-58.

[5] “Public Expenditures on Social Programs and Household Consumption in China” (with Emanuele Baldacci, Giovanni Callegari, David Coady, Ding Ding, Manmohan Kumar, and Pietro Tommasino), in Effects of Social Policy on Domestic Demand, Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute, November 2010, pp. 171-201. Reprint of Baldacci et al. (2010) which was published as IMF Working Paper, No. 10/69, 2010.

[6] “Growth, Government Policies and Institutions in the Globalized World Economy” in Jeong-ho Hahm (ed.) Sustaining Korean Economic Growth – A Way Forward: Augmenting Growth Potential and Upgrading the Financial System, Seoul: Bank of Korea, December 2004, pp. 3-105. Reprint of Woo (2004) which was published as Bank of Korea Institute for Monetary and Economic Research Paper, No.198, 2004.