Dr Ben CHENG

Associate Professor
Director of Centre for Teaching and Learning
Department of Economics and Finance

Academic & Professional Qualifications

PhD (Auburn University)
MSc (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
MEd (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
PGDE (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
BSc (The University of Alabama)

Biography

Dr Cheng joined the Department of Economics and Finance in 2010.  Currently, he also serves as the Director of Centre for Teaching and Learning. Dr Cheng teaches a range of courses, including Business Economics, Financial Management, International Finance, Money and Banking, Introduction to Econometrics, and International Financial Management.

Dr Cheng’s research expertise lies in developing and applying theoretical and empirical models across several interconnected areas: international trade in services (particularly tourism and financial/insurance services), medical tourism, the relationship between tourism and economic growth, and unemployment dynamics.

His significant publications include investigations into the impact of currency devaluation on the US services trade balance, analyses of demand factors (income, prices, visa policies) for Hong Kong tourism, studies on Chinese maternity tourism to Hong Kong, and critical examinations of unemployment models, including challenging the concept of the Natural Rate of Unemployment and exploring hysteresis. His research has been published in leading journals such as Economic Inquiry, Economic Modelling, Journal of Policy Modeling, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Tourism Economics, Current Issues in Tourism, and International Review of Economics & Finance.

Research and Teaching Interests

  • Applied Econometrics, Tourism Economics, International Trade, Economic Growth and Development, Unemployment Dynamics

Intellectual Contributions (Publications, Conferences, Books, Book Chapters, etc.)

  • Cheng, K. M. (2022). Doubts on Natural Rate of Unemployment: Evidence and Policy Implications. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 86, 230-239.10.1016/j.qref.2022.07.006

Research Grants and Awards

  • Principal Investigator, “Doubts on Natural Rate of Unemployment: Evidence from Asian and OECD Countries”, Faculty Development Scheme (HK$404,325), Research Grant Council (RGC), 2019 – 2020 (UGC/FDS14/B06/18)