Olga A. Timoshenko
Dr. Timoshenko received her Economics degree at the University of Western Ontario in 2005. After receiving her masters there as well, she continued her education at Yale, receiving her Ph.D. in Economics.
In her time at Yale, she was a research assistant, and a Teaching Fellow for three different courses: international economics, intermediate microeconomics, and international trade. Her thesis for Yale was “Essays in Trade and Learning. She also received the Economic Growth Center Prize from 2006-2010.
Dr. Timoshenko has published her research in The Canadian Journal of Economics, Economics Letters, Journal of International Economics (From which she just won the Outstanding Reviewer Award), and others. She has also given many presentations, including presentations at the Canadian Economic Association, the Midwest International Trade Meeting, The European Trade Study Group.
Her research interest includes international trade, and macroeconomics, which for most of her works include trade.
She started teaching quite early by being a Teaching Assistant at the University of Western Ontario, later becoming an Assistant Professor at The George Washington University. This fall, Dr. Timoshenko is teaching an international trade course.
Questions
- Looking through your CV, I see you’re most interested in international trade. What are some of your favorite projects you have worked on dealing with this subject?
I often think about the role of information uncertainty in firms’ decisions. Due to a variety of reasons, firms do not always have complete information about the demand in foreign markets for their goods, about a potential popularity of their products in markets. Yet, firms need to decide whether to export or not, where to export, how much, which products to sell and at which prices. As a result, many of my projects focus on modeling the decisions of firms under uncertainty. For example, in my recent project entitled “Uncertainty and Trade Elasticities” co-authored with Erick Sager at the Federal Reserve Board we show that more firms enter more uncertain markets, but that those firms have on average smaller export sales compared to the behavior of the same firms in markets that could be characterized by a more complete information structure.
- Had you ever been to Philadelphia before arriving at Temple U, and are you excited to live here?
I have briefly visited Philadelphia on a number of occasions, but I have never lived in Philadelphia to truly enjoy what the city has to offer. I am looking forward to explore various museums, theaters, restaurants, and historical sites. My first stop will certainly be at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- What can students expect from your class?
Students can expect an energetic and motivated professor who is keen on educating them on topics of intentional trade. Students can expect a lot of active learning activities such as group projects and educational games; a lot of work at the start and a high intellectual reward at the end.
- Are you interested in teaching other economics courses in the future?
Yes. I hope that, over time, as I discover what interests Temple students, I would be able to design a course that could address those interests. I hope to earn students’ excitement for my classes such that by the end of the first course-registration day, my classes would get full and have a waiting list with many more students eager to register and learn.