'Genius' Economist to Lead Hyundai Motor Group's Think Tank

Recruiting External Expert Ted Shin
Appointed as Head of Think Tank HMG Management Research Institute
Remembered as a "Genius" by Seoul National University Classmates

Hyundai Motor Group is set to appoint Ted Shin, Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, as the new head of its think tank, the HMG Management Research Institute. With the global automotive market undergoing a period of major transformation, the group is expected to actively recruit external experts and continue its long-term research on the global finished vehicle market and industry.

Ted Shin, Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. Screenshot from the university website

On December 18, during Hyundai Motor Group's regular executive reshuffle, Kim Gyeon, the current head (Vice President, age 63) of the HMG Management Research Institute, stepped down, and Professor Shin was nominated as his successor. Professor Shin is regarded as the most favored student of Thomas Sargent, the recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics. When Professor Sargent moved to New York University, Shin also joined him there to continue his studies under Sargent’s guidance. After earning his doctorate, Shin taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to Washington University in St. Louis. He has also worked as a researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His classmates from the Seoul National University Department of Economics, class of 1993, remember him as a genius.

He has focused on research into long-term economic growth rather than short-term economic fluctuations. His 2011 paper, "Financial Markets and Economic Development: An Analysis Using Differences in Industry-Level Financial Dependence," published in the American Economic Review, has been cited over 1,600 times to date. More recently, he published a study titled "The Labor Market Impact of Digital Technology," which analyzes how digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data affect employment patterns in Korean companies.

With Professor Shin taking over as head of the HMG Management Research Institute, it is expected that the organization will concentrate its research on the global finished vehicle market and industry. This think tank was established by Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, immediately after he took office at the end of 2020.