“Why Land Titling is Always Hard: Land Reallocation and Path Dependence” with Tonglong Zhang, Liang Zhao, Yujin Pan, and Linxiu Zhang, 2026, Journal of Development Studies, pp.1-23.
“Exploring the Impacts of Education Inequality on Income Inequality among American States” with Yue Yin, 2026, Review of Development Economics, 30(1), pp.354-372.
“Delinking Social Identity from Rural-urban Stereotypes: The Labor Market Effects of Abolishing Agricultural Hukou in China” with Yue Yin, 2025, Journal of Regional Science.
“When Economic Downturn Hits Bottom Workers: Labor Market Entry Conditions and Long-term Career Effects” with Tonglong Zhang, 2025, China Economic Review, 91, 102379.
“Digital Revolution and Lower-class Workers’ Job Quality: Quasi-experimental Evidence from the Broadband China Program” with Xiumei Wang and Famin Yi, 2024, China & World Economy, 32(4), pp. 146-178.
“The Impact of the Dialect Diversity on Rent-free Farmland Transfers: Evidence from Chinese Rural Household Surveys” with Shangpu Li, Biliang Luo, and Xiaodan Zheng, 2024, Land, 13(2), 251.
“Fertility Effects of Labor Market Conditions at Graduation” with Yue Yin, 2023, China & World Economy, 31(4), pp.120-152.
“Connected Workers: Broadband Expansion and Labor Mobilization in China” with Huiyi Chen, Shamma Adeeb Alam and Claus C Pörtner.
Abstract: Can modern digital communication technologies facilitate worker mobilization and collective action? This paper examines whether the expansion of high-speed internet affect worker strikes and formal labor disputes in China. Exploiting the staggered rollout of the Broadband China Program across 117 pilot cities between 2014 and 2016, we use a difference-in-differences framework to estimate the impact of expanding fiber-optic broadband and 4G networks on city-level labor dynamics. We find that broadband expansion significantly increases both strikes and labor disputes, with persistent effects lasting for up to four years following implementation. This surge is primarily driven by small-scale actions involving under 100 participants, with no observable impact on large-scale strikes. We find that the treatment effects are heavily concentrated in cities with high pre-reform social media engagement. Individual microdata further suggests enhanced social connectedness among migrant workers following expansion. Overall, the results suggest that fast internet facilitates labor mobilization by reducing coordination frictions.
“Fast Internet and Welfare Effects in China” with Shamma Adeeb Alam and Xiumei Wang, Revise and Resubmit at World Bank Economic Review.
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of fast internet on workers’ labor market outcomes and standard of living in China. Using a large-scale survey and the staggered rollout of the Broadband China Program, we provide quasi-experimental evidence on its welfare impact on domestic migrants. Unlike prior studies, we find that while fast internet did not affect employment likelihood, it reduced work hours and increased earnings, leading to higher consumption and savings. The benefits were largest for high-skilled workers and those in major cities. Greater macroeconomic development and a structural shift towards high-skilled jobs explain the effects.
“The Short- and Long-Term Obesity Penalty: Persistence and Heterogeneity in the Market for Obese Workers” with Yue Yin, Revise and Resubmit at Journal of Economic Issues.
Abstract: This paper applies a step-wise estimation framework to shed light on the short- and long-term obesity effects on workers’ labor market outcomes. Empirical challenges including endogeneity of the obesity status, selection to the labor force, and individual fixed effects are addressed. Based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), this paper reveals robust evidence that female obese workers bear stronger negative wage effects of obesity when entering the labor market. From the long-term perspective, both male and female obese workers suffer from a persistent and worsening wage gap compared to nonobese coworkers. Among them, more educated workers with richer work experience are punished more heavily and gradually reduce their annual labor supply. Heterogeneous forms of the obesity penalty are also explored across workers’ races and industries.
“Job Displacement and Economic Resilience: The Role of Family Background” with Yue Yin and Md Shahadath Hossai.
Abstract: This paper examines the long-term impacts of job displacement on displaced workers’ annual earnings, utilizing longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The analysis reveals heterogeneous recovery patterns in post-displacement earnings, influenced by various parental and sibling characteristics, such as parental education, number of siblings, birth order, and sibling gender. The empirical results suggest that parental education acts as a proxy for unobservable human capital and labor market network support. Consequently, displaced workers with higher-educated parents or parents-in-law experience smaller long-term earnings losses. When considering the displaced workers’ own education, those with a middle level of education suffer the most significant earnings losses. These workers tend to accumulate more occupation- or industry-specific human capital compared to their less-educated counterparts, yet they are less able to transfer this capital to new jobs as quickly as highly educated workers. Regarding sibling characteristics, the estimated earnings effects are shaped by the positive impact of sibling support and the negative impact of family resource competition. Displaced workers with a small number of siblings, older siblings, or siblings only of the same gender tend to experience smaller earnings losses.
“The COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescent Eating Disorder in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Scoping Review” with Shamma Adeeb Alam, James Manley, An Hoang, Laena Brody, Phuong Hoang, and Malabika Sarker.
Abstract: Evidence from high-income contexts indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic increased eating disorders among adolescents. However, evidence remains limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), despite adolescence being a critical developmental window and adolescent eating disorders representing a major public health concern. To address this gap, this systematic scoping review examines the impact of the pandemic and containment measures on adolescent eating disorder symptomatology in LMICs.
“Integrating Generative AI into Applied Economics Education: Evidence From a Mixed-Methods Classroom Intervention” with Yue Yin.
Abstract: This paper examines the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into an undergraduate applied economics course designed to develop skills in financial data analysis, modelling, and R programming. The intervention embedded ChatGPT across R instruction, data handling, debugging, and applied empirical tasks, and required student groups to submit an AI reflection report alongside their project presentation and written report. Evidence is drawn from two waves of in-class student surveys and six one-to-one online interviews. Survey results show consistently positive perceptions of AI-supported learning: the share of students reporting at least moderate programming confidence increased from 52% before the unit to 76% at the end of term, while the share with moderate-or-higher interest in AI-supported learning rose from 84% to 95%. Agreement was especially strong for coding and homework support (88% and 90% across the two waves), and the share in the presentation-and-report category increased from 58% to 81%. Interview evidence shows that students valued AI as a coding troubleshooter, explanation partner, and source of self-paced support, while also emphasizing the need for explicit scaffolding around prompting, verification, and responsible reliance. The paper contributes to the growing literature on AI in higher education by providing evidence from a discipline-specific intervention and identifying design principles for supporting technical skill development while preserving students’ analytical independence.
“Connecting in the City: Internet access and migrant settlement in China” with Samantha A. Vortherms and Shamma Adeeb Alam.
“From College Access to Family Formation: Long-term Evidence from China’s Gaokao Reinstatement” with Kexin Zhang.
“Economic Fluctuations and Fertility of Developing Countries’ Workers” with Kexin Zhang.
“Children’s Education and Parental Health: Evidence from China’s Higher Education Expansion Program” with Yue Yin.