Professor You-il Lee

Professor You-il Lee is a political economist and Professor of International Business, currently serving as Dean of Programs (Management and Marketing) at UniSA Business, University of South Australia. He provides academic leadership across a wide-ranging portfolio that includes Arts and Cultural Management, Marketing, Digital Business, Human Resource Management, International Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and related fields. His work is defined by a strong commitment to global engagement, industry collaboration, and community connection in business education.

Professor Lee holds a BA (Honours) and a PhD in Politics from Murdoch University. His internationally recognised research centres on global political economy, international business, and East Asian development, particularly examining globalisation, regionalism, foreign direct investment (FDI), and state–market relations. His interdisciplinary work draws on institutional political economy, comparative regionalism, and critical perspectives on global capitalism, with a particular focus on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

He has published extensively in leading journals including International Business Review, International Marketing Review, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and International Journal of Bank Marketing. His work also features in volumes  published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Oxford University Press, Edward Elgar, and the London Financial Times. A regular conference contributor and peer reviewer, he remains actively engaged in advancing scholarship in political economy and international business.

Professor Lee’s recent notable publications include several co-authored research monographs with Routledge, for which he has served as first author on select volumes—demonstrating his leadership in conceptual framing and scholarly synthesis. These works include::

• The Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment in Korea: Evolution, Dynamics and Contradictions (Routledge, 2025) – a first-authored, in-depth study of Korea’s FDI regime and institutional evolution;

• Cross-Cultural Challenges of Managing 'One Belt One Road' Projects (Routledge, 2022) – an analysis of intercultural complexities in China’s global infrastructure strategy;

• The Korean Economy: From Growth to Maturity (Routledge, 2019) – a first-authored, critical account of Korea’s economic transformation; and

• The Political Economy of New Regionalism in Northeast Asia (Routledge, 2018) – an exploration of the institutional and geopolitical underpinnings of regional cooperation.

Beyond academia, Professor Lee has advised governments, multinational corporations, and policy think tanks on international investment, geopolitical risk, education diplomacy, and trade governance. He served as President of the Korean Studies Association of Australasia (2011–2015) and as a Board Member of the Australia-Korea Business Council (2018–2024), contributing strategic insights into bilateral economic and cultural relations.

A strong advocate for globally engaged and socially responsible business education, Professor Lee has led major curriculum reforms, established international articulation partnerships, and promoted inclusive, industry-relevant, and experiential learning. His teaching and mentorship have shaped the academic and professional paths of emerging scholars and practitioners in international business and political economy across Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy Murdoch University