Laurent Pauwels received his PhD in International Economics jointly from the Graduate Institute and the University of Geneva. His main areas of research include inference in time series and panel models, forecast combinations, international macroeconomics, structural change and economic networks. His interests also include monetary policy and exchange rate issues in China and other economies. During his doctoral studies, Laurent held positions at the European Central Bank (ECB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Before joining the University of Sydney, he worked as an economist in the research department of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), conducting research and monitoring both economies of Mainland China and Hong Kong.