Paul S.H. Lau
Prof. Paul S.H. LAU
Economics
Honorary Professor

3917 1026

KK 306

Academic & Professional Qualification
  • Ph.D., Stanford University
  • M.S., London School of Economics
  • B.Soc.Sc., The University of Hong Kong
Biography

Professor S. H. Paul LAU received B.Soc.Sc from The University of Hong Kong, M.Sc from the London School of Economics, and Ph.D. from the Stanford University.  After teaching at the Texas A&M University, the Australian National University and the Hong Kong Baptist University, he joined the Faculty of Business and Economics (now HKU Business School) in 2000.

Paul began his career with research interests in macroeconomics and growth.  His work in providing microfoundations to staggered wage contracts widely observed in the United States and the United Kingdom has led him to develop a research interest in applied game theory.  His interest in economic growth has helped him pursue research questions linking growth with time series econometrics.  As a result, Paul has developed a unique research profile that combines macroeconomics and growth, applied game theory and time series econometrics.

In recent years, Paul has extended his research interest in economic growth to issues related to population aging, including effects of mortality decline on saving, retirement age and human capital investment.  His work on game-theoretical analysis has also led him to collaborate with his co-authors to conduct experiments on social identity and cooperation in inter-group games.

Research Interest
  • Economics of Population Aging
  • Economic Growth and Macroeconomics
  • Experimental Economics and Applied Game Theory
Selected Publications

Economics of population aging:

  • “A common thread linking the design of guarantee and nonescalating payments of public annuities,”

(with Q. Zhang), Journal of Risk and Insurance, Vol. 90, No. 3, September 2023, pp. 703–742.

  • “Mortality decline, retirement age and aggregate savings,”

(with Y. Chen), Macroeconomic Dynamics, Vol. 20, No. 3, April 2016, pp. 715-736.

  • “Mortality transition and differential incentives for early retirement,”

(with H. d’Albis and M. Sanchez-Romero), Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 147, No. 1, January 2012, pp. 261-283.

  • “Demographic structure and overlapping generations: A simpler proof with more general conditions,”

(with Z. Gan), Journal of Mathematical Economics, Vol. 46, No. 3 (May 2010), pp. 311-319.

  • “Demographic structure and capital accumulation: A quantitative assessment,”

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Vol. 33, No. 3, March 2009, pp. 554-567.

Empirical growth analysis:

  • “Using an error-correction model to test whether endogenous long-run growth exists,”

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2008, pp. 648-676.

  • “I(0) in, integration and cointegration out: Time series properties of endogenous growth models,”

Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 93, November 1999, pp. 1-24, (Lead article).

Experimental economics & applied game theory:

  • “Learning, teaching, and turn taking in the repeated assignment game,”

(with T. Cason and V.-L. Mui), Economic Theory, Vol. 54, No. 2, October 2013, pp. 335-357.

  • “Using turn taking to achieve intertemporal cooperation and symmetry in infinitely repeated 2 x 2 games,”

(with V.-L. Mui), Theory and Decision, Vol. 72, No. 2, February 2012, pp. 167-188.

  • “Estimating a parsimonious model of inequality aversion in Stackelberg duopoly experiments,”

(with F. Leung), Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 72, No. 5, October 2010, pp. 669-686.

  • “Aggregate pattern of time-dependent adjustment rules, II: Strategic complementarity and endogenous nonsynchronization,”

Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 98, No. 2 , June 2001, pp. 199-231, (Lead article).

Professional Activities
  • Visiting Scholar, Monash University, August 2015
  • Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellow, Cambridge University, August 2013
  • Visiting Scholar, National University of Singapore, October 2012
  • Associate Editor, Singapore Economic Review, 2010 – 2013
  • Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging, University of California, Berkeley, August 2006 – June 2007
Recent Publications
【公共年金】港大教授劉修謙﹕計劃參與率仍然偏低  可考慮引入新加坡遞增制解決通漲

香港年金計劃(公共年金)在2018年推出,截至去年12月底,計劃總共售出10,216份保單,保費總額為69.5億元。港大經管學院經濟學教授劉修謙教授認為,對比起現時長者人口數字,目前計劃參與率仍然偏低。