Kyle Feinstein

Kyle is a junior from North Carolina studying economics (BS) and computer science (MS), pursuing an honors thesis in international trade. Kyle is thrilled to be conducting field research in Brazil this summer with the support of the Ronald I. McKinnon Memorial Fellowship. Kyle is interested in how developing economies respond to trade shocks and the important role they play in global trade reallocation. After studying economic jurisprudence abroad at Oxford, Kyle is excited about applying economics to interdisciplinary global challenges. On campus, Kyle is a senior staff writer for Stanford Economic Review and serves on the leadership board of the Stanford Economics Association.

Ronald I. McKinnon Memorial Fellowship for Undergraduates | 2024 - 2025 Academic Year

Positive Trade Shocks and Adaptive Policy: Analyzing the Response of Developing Economies to Tariffs through the Case of Parana

Kyle investigates how developing economies respond to positive demand shocks triggered by trade diversion, focusing on Brazil in the last two decades. While existing literature has examined responses to trade liberalization and negative demand shocks, little attention has been paid to how developing countries absorb positive shocks. To investigate this, Kyle evaluates how US-China tariffs impact Brazilian production, exports, and prices of high-volume goods, such as coffee, soybeans, and iron. Deploying a mixed-methods approach, Kyle combines qualitative policy analysis with quantitative econometric tools, including regression modeling. Ultimately, Kyle contributes new insights on how emerging markets respond to global trade realignments.