People

Dr. Stephen Y CHIU received his undergraduate education in Physics at the Hong Kong Baptist College, and graduate education in Economics at the Pennsylvania State University, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1995.  He had since taught at The Chinese University of Hong Kong until he joined The University of Hong Kong in 2002.  He has been the principal investigator of seven competitive earmarked grants, and was a Research Fellow in the Hong Kong Institute of Monetary Research during the summer of 2001.

Steve is a theorist and has written papers in different areas of Economics.  He likes models in which decision makers have non-negligible effects on the environment where they situate. He has published a few papers on bargaining.  In one paper, the widely used solution concept Shapley value is implemented as the unique outcome in a non-cooperative game under the least restrictive conditions.  Two other papers clear up the profession’s confusion on two concepts in bargaining theory — threat point and outside option, providing important insights into the implications of the now influential property rights approach of firm theory.  He has also written papers on the micro-foundations of currency crisis, examining the issue of multiple equilibria in more realistic models of currency attacks.  More recently, he has worked on problems such as contract design, college admissions, and demography and political economy of reform, motivated by a contrast between China and Russia in their demography and reform experience.

For leisure, Steve enjoys hiking, reading and tai chi.