Timothy Dunne |

Senior Economic Advisor

Timothy Dunne, Senior Economic Advisor

Timothy Dunne is a senior economic advisor in the Research Department. His primary fields of interest are applied industrial economics and labor economics.

Before joining the Bank, Dr. Dunne was the Chong K. Liew Professor of Economics at the University of Oklahoma, and earlier he served as the director of research in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

He earned his B.A. in economics and history from the College of William and Mary in 1981 and his Ph.D. in economics from Pennsylvania State University in 1987.

  • Fed Publications
  • Other Publications
Title Date Publication Author(s) Type
Investment Spikes and Uncertainty in the Petroleum Refining Industry

 

 July, 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Working Paper 08-05 Timothy Dunne; Xiaoyi Mu; Working Papers
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of uncertainty on the investment decisions of petroleum refineries in the US. We construct uncertainty measures from commodity futures market and use data on actual capacity changes to measure investment episodes. Capacity changes in US refineries occur infrequently and a small number of investment spikes account for a large fraction of the change in industry capacity. Given the lumpy nature of investment adjustment in this industry, we empirically model the investment process using hazard models. An increase in uncertainty decreases the probability a refinery adjusts its capacity. The results are robust to various investment thresholds. Our findings lend support to theories that emphasize the role of irreversibility in investment decisions.
top
The Dynamics of Market Structure and Market Size in Two Health Services Industries

 

 October, 2007 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Working Paper, no. 07-12 Timothy Dunne; Shawn D Klimek; Mark J Roberts; Yi Xu; Working Papers
Abstract: The relationship between the size of a market and the competitiveness of the market has been of long-standing interest to IO economists. Empirical studies have used the relationship between the size of the geographic market and both the number of firms in the market and the average sales of the firms to draw inferences about the degree of competition in the market. This paper extends this framework to incorporate the analysis of entry and exit flows. A key implication of recent entry and exit models is that current market structure will likely depend upon the history of past participation. The paper explores these issues empirically by examining producer dynamics for two health service industries, dentistry and chiropractic services. We find that the number of potential entrants and past number of incumbent firms are correlated with current market structure. The empirical results also show that as market size increases the number of firms rises less than proportionately, firm size increases, and average productivity increases. However, the magnitude of the correlations are sensitive to the inclusion of the market history variables.
top
The Growth of Cities in the Fourth District

 

 August, 2007 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Economic Commentary Timothy Dunne; Economic Commentary
Abstract: Many Fourth District cities have experienced relatively weak population growth over the past half century. One possible reason some cities have recently grown more is because they have better educated workforces. Recent research suggests that the educational attainment of residents is critical to population growth, particularly for cities in the Northeast and Midwest.
top
Title Date Publication Author(s) Type
Technology Adoption and the Skill Mix of US Manufacturing Plants

 

 July, 2005 Scottish Journal of Political Economy, July 2005, v. 52, iss. 3, pp. 387-405 Timothy Dunne; Kenneth Troske; Journal Article
top