The Economics of Targeted Sanctions

About the Lecture: While broad economic sanctions have long been used as instruments of foreign policy, targeted sanctions focusing on specific individuals, entities, and transactions are relatively new and less understood. Dr. Ahn will present some of his recent assessing the economic impact of targeted sanctions, using big data/machine-learning techniques on a unique database of firm and individual-level data. He shall focus on sanctions deployed by the United States and the European Union against primarily Russian targets after the crisis in Ukraine in 2014 as a natural experiment. Dr. Ahn has been able to identify specific impacts on targeted companies by category and by industry and to ascertain the extent to which ‘strategic’ companies received special support (“shielding”) from the Russian state. His work is particularly relevant for anyone who wishes to understand the policy effects of sanctions at both the micro and macro levels, and the extent to which a target state is able or unable to avoid the intended impacts of sanctions. About the Speaker: Dr. Daniel P. Ahn is currently a Professorial Lecturer at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he teaches graduate courses on energy economics and conflict, a Senior Advisor at the Rapidan Energy Group, and an advisor for the U.S. government. He was previously the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised the Secretary and senior principals on a wide range of international economic and security topics relevant to U.S. foreign policy, including global macroeconomic growth, financial stability, economic sanctions, counter-terrorist financing, international trade, and energy security. Prior to public service, Dr. Ahn was the chief economist for commodities at Citigroup in New York and also held senior positions at Citadel, Barclays Capital, and Lehman Brothers. He has also held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Columbia University, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the International Monetary Fund. He is the author of multiple research articles, Congressional testimony, and a forthcoming economics textbook. He was featured in Forbes Magazine as one of 30 under 30 in Finance. He completed his A.B. in economics and finance with honors from Princeton University, and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.