Lee G. Branstetter

Lee Branstetter, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, is professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, with a joint appointment at its Heinz College, School of Public Policy and Management, and its Dietrich College, Department of Social and Decision Sciences. Branstetter is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served as senior economist for international trade and investment at the Council of Economic Advisers in 2011–12. Before moving to Carnegie Mellon, Branstetter was the Daniel Stanton Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, where he directed the International Business Program and was affiliated with the Center on Japanese Economy and Business. He also served as associate editor of the Journal of International Economics from 2003 to 2011.

Branstetter has conducted highly cited and influential research in the areas of innovation, the economics of intellectual property, international technology transfer, and economic growth and development in Asia. His recent work examines the globalization of R&D, innovation, and trade conflict in clean energy technologies and the impact of changes in patent law on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Industrial Economics. Branstetter received his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1996 and his BA from Northwestern University in 1991.