ABOUT ME
I am a Data Analyst III at the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. I am affiliated with the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research at Saint Louis University.
I completed my Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in June 2021 with guidance and mentorship from Professors Peter Kuhn, Emanuel Vespa, and Gary Charness. From 2021 to 2023, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Finance at Saint Louis University under the supervision of Professors Marc Painter and Michael Podgursky.
My research employs both empirical and experimental methodologies, with a particular emphasis on making use of various datasets like surveys, choice-processing, geospatial, and textual data across several ongoing projects.
EMAIL: guangli@wustl.edu and guangli.zhang@slu.edu,
RESEARCH
PUBLICATION
Previously titled, "Paying for Integers"
Presentations: Saint Louis University Sinquefield Center (SCAER) Research Workshop 2021, UC Santa Barbara Applied Workshop 2021
WORKING PAPERS
Unemployment Insurance Monthly Benefits, Pay Frequency, and Claimants' Job Search Behavior [preparing for submission]
Draft (2023, Oct).
Previously titles, "The Effect of Unemployment Benefit Pay Frequency on UI Claimants’ Job Search Behaviors", "Pay Frequency Matters: Evidence from Unemployment Insurance"
Presentations: American Economic Association Poster Session 2025, Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2024 Annual Conference, Saint Louis University Sinquefield Center (SCAER) Research Workshop 2022, National Tax Association Annual Meeting 2021, Peking University NSD 2021, UC Santa Barbara Applied Workshop 2020
(with Hakan Özyılmaz) The Debt Payment Puzzle: An Experimental Investigation [preparing for submission]
Draft (2023, Oct).
Presentations: American Finance Association Poster Session 2023, Financial Management Association 2022, Saint Louis University 2022, Society of Experimental Finance 2021*, Western Economic Association International (WEAI) 2021*, Economic Science Association (ESA) JMC Series 2020*, Southwest Experimental and Behavioral Economics Workshop (SWEBE) 2019*, Washington University St. Louis EGSC 2019*, Economic Science Association (ESA) North America 2019, UC Santa Barbara Experimental Economics Workshop 2019
Draft (2024, Feb).
Presentations: Boulder Summer Conference in Consumer Financial Decision Making 2024 (scheduled), 12th FDIC Consumer Research Symposium Poster Session 2024, National Tax Association Annual Meeting 2023, the 79th Annual Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance 2023, Society of Experimental Finance 2022*, Economic Science Association North America 2022
Draft (2024, Jul).
Presentations: Saint Louis University Sinquefield Center (SCAER) Research Workshop 2022, Hamilton College 2022*
(with Mike Farrell, Dermot Murphy, and Marc Painter) The Complexity Yield Puzzle: A Textual Analysis of Municipal Bond Disclosures [preparing for submission]
Draft (2023, Nov).
Presentations: Eastern Finance Association 2024, Midwest Finance Association 2024*, Hawai’i Accounting Research Conference 2024*, University of Nevada Reno 2023*, University of Illinois Chicago 2023*, the Brookings Municipal Finance Conference 2023*, Oklahoma State University 2023*, Dayton Summer Finance Workshop 2022*, Queens College of CUNY 2022*, Southern Illinois University*, the Virtual Municipal Finance Conference*
(with Will Gerken, Steve Irlbeck, and Marc Painter) Watching the Watchdogs: Tracking SEC Inquiries using Geolocation Data [preparing for submission]
Draft (2024, Aug).
Presentations: American Economic Association Lightning Session 2025, Financial Research Association 2024, Financial Management Association 2024*, INFORMS Annual Meeting 2023*, University of New Hampshire 2023*
Media Coverage: Financial Times, MoneyStuff, Fast Company
SELECTED WORK IN PROGRESS
Intra-Monthly Time-Use Patterns: Evidence from Unemployed Workers in New Jersey
* presentation by co-author
TEACHING
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor [Maryville University of St. Louis]:
Econ 203, Principles of Economics
Teaching Assistant [UC Santa Barbara]:
ECON 1. Principles of Economics-Micro
ECON 2. Principles of Economics-Macro
ECON 10A. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory I
ECON 100B. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory II
ECON 101. Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
Recorded Sections (Spring 2021): link
ECON 134A. Financial Management
ECON 134C. Behavioral Finance
Exam Review (Winter 2019): slides, present-bias exercise
ECON 152. Personnel Economics
PSTAT 109. Statistics for Economics