Professor Murray Chilvers Kemp

In an academic career that spans over 50 years, Professor Murray Kemp has been Australia’s pre-eminent economic theorist, internationally recognised for his contributions to knowledge on international trade and microeconomics. Professor Kemp began his studies in economics at University of Melbourne where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce in 1946, and a Master of Arts in 1949. He undertook graduate study at Johns Hopkins completing a PhD in 1955. Most of his academic career was spent at University of New South Wales where he was appointed as a Professor in 1962. Professor Kemp is currently Visiting Research Professor of Economics at Macquarie University. During his career he has held many distinguished visiting positions including as Hill Foundation Professor at University of Minnesota, Keynes Professor of Economics at University of Essex, Ford Foundation Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and Wesley Mitchell Visiting Professor at Columbia University, as well as positions as MIT, LSE, the Institute for International Economic Studies, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Kemp is the author of 18 books and over 250 journal articles and book chapters, including publications in every leading international economics journal – Econometrica, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Journal of International Economics. A major focus of his research has been on analysing the gains from trade between nations in goods and investment when the economies have very general characteristics. This major contribution to basic trade theory includes the famous Kemp-Wan theorem that demonstrates the potential optimality of regional piece-wise trade reform. Professor Kemp’s research has been very highly cited – No other Australian economist has been more cited in the period since 1980.

Professor Kemp is the author of the classic text, The Pure Theory of International Trade and Investment, that was used around the world in advanced undergraduate and graduate classes for over two decades. Professor Kemp is well-known as a dedicated and inspiring research supervisor, having supervised and done joint research with a very large number of students, many of whom travelled from Asia to work with him.

Professor Kemp’s contributions to economics have been recognised through his election as a Fellow of the Econometric Society (one of only 5 current Fellows in Australia), and as the Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia in 1989. He has held many important editorial positions including as Associate Editor of the International Economic Review, Journal of International Economics, and Bulletin of Economic Research.