Research

Working Papers

• "Gender Segregation and Hiring in Japanese Labor Markets over the Business Cycle"

Abstract: Japanese employment is characterized by strong norms for employment protections; however, these “regular” jobs are primarily held by men. Women are concentrated in temporary, part-time, and contract positions (“non-regular” jobs), which offer significantly fewer employment protections. I investigate how female and male hiring rates evolve differently over the business cycle in Japan. First, I find that the overall cyclicality of hiring is driven by hiring into regular employment, as firms adjust their hiring practices strategically in response to business cycle conditions. Second, I find that hiring rates for women are more cyclical than for men, driven by hiring into non-regular employment. I further investigate the channel that drives the gender difference in hiring cyclicality. I find that the non-regular share of new hires for men is more counter-cyclical than for women, suggesting that men crowd women out of non-regular employment when labor markets are slack. Finally, I study the role of labor supply decisions and show that married women significantly influence the gender difference in hiring cyclicality. These results indicate that Japanese women face greater job security uncertainties and more fluid labor markets than men, especially during economic recessions, despite increasing female employment and labor participation. 

• Why Don’t Eligible Workers Receive Unemployment Insurance?", with Eliza Forsythe  

Abstract: The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system is plagued by under-receipt. Using data from 2018 and during the Covid-19 pandemic, we investigate the reasons likely-eligible individuals do not receive benefits. We find this is largely driven by erroneous beliefs about ineligibility, which are correlated with proxies for worker sophistication and information access. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we find misinformation about eligibility increased dramatically surrounding the expiration of the extra weekly UI payments in August 2020, suggesting uncertainty about UI program extensions contributes to misinformation and suppresses program take-up.

Working In Progress 

• "A Composite Approach to Quantifying Clean Energy Jobs in Illinois'' (with Peter J. Fugiel and Abhinav Banthiya)

• "How does Local Renewable Energy Development Affect Household Electricity Costs in Illinois?" (with Zichang Liu)

• "The Long-Lasting Wage Effects of Unemployment Rate at Graduation in Japan"

Reports and Other Writing

• Forsythe, Eliza and Hesong Yang. “Understanding Unemployment Insurance Recipiency during the Covid-19 Pandemic” (2021) [Report prepared for the Department of Labor]

Report prepared for the Department of Labor Chief Evaluation Office Summer Data Challenge on Equity and Underserved Communities. Blog from DOL: https://blog.dol.gov/2022/02/10/were-using-data-to-better-understand-our-work-and-create-more-equitable-programs-and-policies

http://publish.illinois.edu/elizaforsythe/files/2022/04/ForsytheYang_DOL.pdf

Publications

Chinese-language Journal Articles

• 卞亚斌, 房茂涛, & 杨鹤松. (2019). “互联网+” 背景下中国制造业转型升级的微观路径——基于微笑曲线的分析. 东岳论丛, (8), 62-73.