John F. Helliwell studied at the University of British Columbia and Oxford University, and taught at Oxford before returning to UBC, which has been his base since 1967. His early research was mainly in applied macroeconomics, with special emphasis on
energy and natural resource issues from the 1970s onwards. His main macroeconometric modelling projects have included the RDX1, RDX2 and MACE (=macro+energy) models of Canada, the INTERMOD model of the G7 and world economies, and contributions to the OECD's INTERLINK and other international models. He has also participated in Project LINK and the network for empirical research in international macroeconomics based at the Brookings Institution.
His recent research has emphasized comparative macroeconomics and growth, including especially the influence of openness and institutions. He is also involved in several interdisciplinary research projects involving the linkages among economic, social
and human health, and especially on the determinants and consequences of different measures of social capital. He is also continuing his research evaluating and explaining the strikingly large importance of national borders.
From 1991 to 1994 he was Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Harvard, and in 1995-96 was back at Harvard as a Fulbright Fellow. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Fellow of the
Royal Society of canada, and an Officer of the Order of Canada. His book for the Brookings Institution called "How Much Do National Borders Matter?" was published in August 1998.
