# Daniel Trefler > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Daniel_Trefler > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Daniel_Trefler.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Trefler > Source revision: 1347682545 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Daniel Trefler** (born 1959) is a [Canadian](/source/Canadian) [economist](/source/Economist) who is currently the J. Douglas and Ruth Grant Chair in Competitiveness and Prosperity at the [Rotman School of Management](/source/Rotman_School_of_Management), [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto). He is among the most influential and frequently cited economists worldwide.[1] ## Background Born and raised in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Trefler graduated from the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto) in 1982 with a [B.A.](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in [economics](/source/Economics) and [mathematics](/source/Mathematics). He then attended [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University) and [UCLA](/source/University_of_California,_Los_Angeles), receiving his [M.Phil.](/source/M.Phil.) from the former (1983) and [Ph.D.](/source/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](/source/University_of_Chicago), before deciding to return home permanently to Toronto to serve as a professor at the [Rotman School](/source/Rotman_School_of_Management) in the University of Toronto. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious [Canada Research Chair](/source/Canada_Research_Chair).[2] ## 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"](/source/Heckscher%E2%80%93Ohlin_model), the impact of exporting on [firm productivity](/source/Total_factor_productivity), and the relationship between a country's [income](/source/Income) and the products it [exports](/source/Exports). His studies have brought deep insights into how [international trade](/source/International_trade) can fundamentally alter [societal institutions](/source/Institution): for example, how changes in the relative power of [special interest groups](/source/Special_interest_groups) can impact [innovation](/source/Innovation), [constitutional arrangements](/source/Constitution), [worker rights](/source/Worker_rights), and the [distribution of wealth](/source/Distribution_of_wealth).[3] Currently, he has been studying the impact of [artificial intelligence](/source/Artificial_intelligence) on trade. Trefler is renowned for his ground-breaking contributions to [public policy](/source/Public_policy) formation in [Canada](/source/Canada), and he has been given full scope to pursue his many policy initiatives, including in the [Ontario](/source/Ontario) Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress, as well as in [Global Affairs Canada](/source/Global_Affairs_Canada). His research has been instrumental in the design of [trade agreements](/source/Trade_agreements) that promote [productivity](/source/Productivity), [innovation](/source/Innovation), and [investment](/source/Investment) while minimizing harmful effects on workers. In recent years, he helped frame the document that launched the [Canada-EU trade agreement](/source/Comprehensive_Economic_and_Trade_Agreement).[4] In Canada, Trefler is a Senior [Research Fellow](/source/Research_Fellow) at the [Canadian Institute for Advanced Studies](/source/Canadian_Institute_for_Advanced_Research), a research fellow at the [C.D. Howe Institute](/source/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](/source/Department_of_Foreign_Affairs_and_International_Trade). Internationally, he is a research fellow at the [National Bureau of Economic Research](/source/National_Bureau_of_Economic_Research) and the [Centre for Policy Research](/source/Centre_for_Policy_Research). He gives public lectures and seminars across the world, including at [Harvard](/source/Harvard), [Princeton](/source/Princeton_University), [MIT](/source/MIT), [Stanford](/source/Stanford), [Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Yale](/source/Yale), [LSE](/source/London_School_of_Economics) and [Peking University](/source/Peking_University). He makes frequent media appearances within Canada and abroad, including a term as an invited [columnist](/source/Columnist) at [The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail).[5] Trefler was a long-standing co-editor at the [Journal of International Economics](/source/Journal_of_International_Economics), the top-ranked journal in his field, and served on the [Editorial Board](/source/Editorial_Board) of the [American Economic Association's](/source/American_Economic_Association) [Journal of Economic Literature](/source/Journal_of_Economic_Literature). He has received all three major awards of the [Canadian Economics Association](/source/Canadian_Economics_Association): the [Harry Johnson Prize](/source/Harry_Gordon_Johnson), [John Rae Prize](/source/John_Rae_(economist)), and the [Innis Lecture](/source/Harold_Innis), the latter of which is awarded in recognition of contributions to economics in the broadest sense.[1] He was awarded Canada's [Killam Prize](/source/Killam_Prize) in 2016. Dubbed Canada's [Nobel](/source/Nobel_Prize), the Killam Prize is awarded annually to "academic titans" for "pushing the boundaries of their fields" [6] His advocacy on behalf of children earned him the [Noni MacDonald](/source/Noni_MacDonald) Award from the [Canadian Paediatric Society](/source/Canadian_Paediatric_Society). He is the recipient of the [Bank of Canada](/source/Bank_of_Canada) Fellowship Award and was the 2011 [Ohlin Lecture](/source/Bertil_Ohlin), the most internationally celebrated lecture in his core field of [international economics](/source/International_economics).[7] ## 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. ## See also - [Rotman School of Management](/source/Rotman_School_of_Management) - [Canadian Institute for Advanced Research](/source/Canadian_Institute_for_Advanced_Research) - [Journal of International Economics](/source/Journal_of_International_Economics) - [Journal of Economic Literature](/source/Journal_of_Economic_Literature) - [Canadian Economics Association](/source/Canadian_Economics_Association) - [Izaak-Walton-Killam Award](/source/Izaak-Walton-Killam_Award) ## References 1. "[Top 10% Authors, as of December 2017](https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.person.all.html)." IDEAS. 1. "[Daniel Trefler](https://www.competeprosper.ca/about/about/-the-institute/ontarios-panel-on-economic-growth-prosperity/daniel_trefler_1)." Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity. 1. ["Bio - Daniel Trefler"](https://www.cifar.ca/bio/daniel-trefler). *CIFAR*. Retrieved December 14, 2018. 1. "Biographical Note: Daniel Trefler." Bank of Canada. [http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fellowship-2016-bio-note-daniel-trefler.pdf](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fellowship-2016-bio-note-daniel-trefler.pdf) 1. "Bio: Daniel Trefler." Rotman School of Management. [http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~dtrefler/](http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~dtrefler/) 1. ["The 2016 Killam Prize"](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-2016-killam-prize-1.3591240). *CBC*. May 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2018. 1. ["Ohlin Lectures - Stockholm School of Economics"](https://www.hhs.se/sv/forskning/departments/department-of-economics/ohlin-lectures). *www.hhs.se*. Retrieved December 14, 2018. ## External links - [Homepage at Rotman School of Management](http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~dtrefler/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Daniel Trefler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Trefler) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Trefler?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.