Professor Tyers is a specialist in applied international economics. He has a doctorate from Harvard University and is currently appointed to the UWA Business School, with an adjunct professorship at the Australian National University. His research applies economic modelling to issues in international economics and international finance, with emphasis on the global implications of Asian macroeconomic policies, growth performance and financial market behaviour.

Most important experiences while at UWA

I was appointed in 2009 after two decades at the Australian National University in Canberra, as well as a decade in the US and three years at the University of Adelaide. My family and I have found Perth to offer the best lifestyle of all the cities we have lived in, which includes excellent facilities for tennis, which is my family’s sporting passion. Indeed, my posted picture is at the memorial for my former tennis coach in Melbourne.

As for the UWA, it has the prettiest campus of all the universities I have been affiliated with. I commenced here under the vice chancellorship of Alan Robson, whom I found quite wonderful in the role. I have shared my department with some outstanding colleagues, who have kept me on my toes, and I remain proud and excited to continue as an active member of the UWA academic community.

Where did you think you would end up, when you began your career?

I trained initially at the University of Melbourne in engineering, but I longed to understand more of the world and made the transition to economics during my graduate study at Harvard. Since then, I have never doubted the importance of that discipline and my research and teaching journeys have been fulfilling.

What are some of your most significant achievements?

An early phase of my work was on international trade policy and understanding how trade distortions such as tariffs in one country affect the economic performance of others. The results of that work included papers and books that had influence over the course of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, the last effective round of negotiations under what is now the World Trade Organisation.

Later work focused on the labour market effects of globalization and the associated slowing of real wage growth in the advanced economies. More recently I have had a focus on the global implications of the rise of the Chinese economy, as well as its recent slowing. This remains an important aspect of my continuing research.

What has been the most interesting aspect of your career?

One great advantage of an academic career is that, while it does not lead to great wealth, it enables extensive travel, discourse and learning. Leaves at Cambridge University and at Harvard, in particular, expanded my understanding of the world well beyond its economic underpinnings.

Where are you planning to go from here? Are there new interests you are looking to get involved in?

As indicated above, I am continuing my research on the role of China in the global economy. I am also writing more about Australian economic policy and how it might be expected to change given policy shifts in the US, China and Europe.