Brief Introduction
Education
- Ph.D University of Western Ontario, Canada, 1999
- B. Eng. Northern Jiaotong University, Beijing, 1986
Academic and Professional Experience
- 2008-present Associate Professor, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore.
- 2015-2016 Visiting professor, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario.
- 2008-2009 Visiting scholar, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.
- 1999-2008 Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore.
- 1998-1999 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of New South Wales.
Teaching Areas
- Labor Economics
- Health Economics
- Mathematical Economics
Graduate Supervision
Advisor to Ph.D students:
- Li, Li (2008-2013)
- Jiang, Wei (2008-2015)
- Yang, Songtao (2011-2016)
- Yang, Wanyu (2012-2017)
- Poco, Camille Ranoa Louisa (2018-)
Current Research
I: Environmental Economics and Socioeconomic Outcomes
- “Environment-Enhanced Momentum and the Demand for Environmental Quality” (Joint with Alberto Salvo and Jingfeng Lu, NUS Economics)
- “Discounting over the Very Long Run: Evidence from Singapore’s Property Market” (Joint with Eric Fesselmeyer and Alberto Salvo, NUS Economics)
II: Intergenerational Mobility and Family economics
- "Common Demographic and Education Trends but Opposite Fertility Differentials: Mechanics and Observations on Brazil and
Indonesia" (Joint with Jie Zhang)
- "Does Inequality Really Increase the Degree of Assorttive Mating? Evidence from Multi-country Census" (Joint with Wei Jiang)
- "The intergenerational effect of building new schools".
III: Others
- "Changes in Gender Earnings Gap in China: Causes and Implications"
- "Labor Tournament with Sabotage: on Equilibrium, Optimal Design and Experimental Evidence" (Joint with Jingfeng Lu, Yohanes E. Riyanto and Zhe Wang)
Research Interests
Labor and Enviromental Economics, Chinese Economy and Applied Microeconomics
Publications
OTHERS
-
Working papers:
- "Labor Tournament with Sabotage: on Equilibrium, Optimal Design and Experimental Evidence" (Joint with Jingfeng Lu, Yohanes E. Riyanto and Zhe Wang)
- "How Do Households Discount over Centuries? Evidence from Singapore‘s Private Housing Market" (Joint with Eric Fesselmeyer and Alberto Salvo, NUS Economics) http://ftp.iza.org/dp9862.pdf
- "Non-labor income and the age of marriage: Evidence from China’s heating policy" (Joint with Junhong Chu, and I.P.L. Png, NUS Business School) http://ftp.iza.org/dp11754.pdf
- "Superstition, Conspicuous Spending, and Housing Markets: Evidence from Singapore" (Joint with Sumit Agarwal, Jia He, I. P. L. Png, Tien Foo Sing, Wei-Kang Wong) http://ftp.iza.org/dp9899.pdf
-
Journal Articles:
- “Air Pollution as a Determinant of Food Delivery and Related Plastic Waste,” (with J. Chu and A. Salvo Nature Human Behaviour,
- Severe Air Pollution and Labor Productivity: Evidence from Industrial Towns in China, (with J. He and A. Salvo) AEJ: Applied Economics (2019), 11 (1), 173-201
- Non-labor income and the age of marriage: Evidence from China’s heating policy, (with Junhong Chu, and I.P.L. Png) Demography (2018), 55 (6), 2345-2370
- Superstition, Conspicuous Spending, and Housing Markets: Evidence from Singapore, (with Jia He, Tien Foo Sing, Changcheng Song and Wei Kang Wong) Management Science, (2019), 1-22.
- Severe Air Pollution and Child Absences When Schools and Parents Respond (with Alberto Salvo) Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, (2018), 92, 300-330
- How Much Do Users Value a Network Expansion? Evidence from the Public Transit System in Singapore. (with Eric Fesselmeyer), Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2018, vol 71, p. 46-61.
- The quantity–quality fertility–education trade-off, 2015, IZA World of Labor
- Is there a quality-quantity tradeoff: Evidence from the relaxation of China’s one-child policy, Journal of Population Economics, 2014, vol. 27, no. 2, p.565-602. Won the 2015 Kuznet Prize.
- Primary School Availability and Middle School Education in Rural China, (with Li Li) Labour Economics, 2014, vol. 28, p. 24-40.
- Dynamic pricing in the Singapore condominium market, (with Eric Fesselmeyer) Economics Letters, 2014, vol. 124 no.1 p.147- 150.
- Economic Reforms and Gender Inequality in Urban China, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2011 vol. 59, no. 4 p. 839-876.
- Genetic Ability and Intergenerational Earnings Mobility (with Jinli Zeng) Journal of Population Economics, 2009, vol. 22 no. 1 p. 75-95.
- Ownership of Property-Rights and the Allocation of Talents, (with Yohanes E. Riyanto) Applied Economics, 2009, vol. 41, no. 26, p. 3425-3436.
- The Impact of Women's Power on Child Quality in Rural China, China Economic Review, 2008 vol 19, no. 1 p. 101-15.
- Donations Revisited in A Recursive Dynamic Model, (with Jie Zhang) Canadian Journal of Economics 2008, vol 41, no. 2 p. 564-82.
- Determinants of Long-Run Unemployment, (with Jinli Zeng) Southern Economic Journal, 2008 vol. 19, no. 1 p. 775-93.
- Airline Passenger Fatality and the Demand for Air Travel, (with Jinli Zeng) Applied Economics, 2007, vol. 39, no. 14, p. 1773 - 1781.
- Measuring the Degree of Assortative Mating, (with Jingfeng Lu) Economics Letters, 2006 vol. 92, no 3, p. 317-322.
- The Evolution of the Graduation-Publication Process, (with Cheolsung Park) Economics of Education Review, 2004 vol. 23, no. 5, 519-531.
- A Cross-Country Comparison of the Cyclicality of Real Wages, Canadian Journal of Economics, 2003 vol. 36, no. 4, 923-948.
- The Role of Mobility in Offsetting Inequality: A Nonparametric Exploration of the CPS, (with Catherine De Fontenay and Tue Gørgens) Review of Income and Wealth, 2002 vol. 48, no. 3, 347-370.
- Marginal Income Tax Rates in the United States: A Nonparametric Approach, (with Hafiz Akhand) Journal of Monetary Economics, 2002 vol. 49, no. 2, 383-404.
- Measuring the Income Inequality from Tax Returns. (with Hafiz Akhand) Singapore Economic Review, vol. 45, no. 2, 183-193.
- Income Inequality in the United States: What the Individual Tax Files Say? (with Hafiz Akhand) Applied Economics Letters, 2002, vol. 9, no. 4, 255-259.
- Business Cycle Models, Aggregation, and Real Wage Cyclicality, (with Audra Bowlus and Chris Robinson) Journal of Labor Economics, 2002, vol. 20, no. 2, 308-335
Writing In The Popular Press
- 联合早报,人文亚洲专栏,7 January 2018 “迷信,炫耀,与房价” (joint with Dr. Changcheng Song)
- The Straits Times, Opinion, 14 September, 2016 "Measuring the gains of expanding the MRT system" (joint with Dr Eric Fesselmeyer)
- The Straits Times, Opinion, 08 April ,2015 "Using property prices to guide climate change policies" (joint with Dr Eric Fesselmeyer, and Assoc Prof Alberto Salvo
- The Straits Times, Opinion, 03 April 2014 "Traffic congestion affects commuting costs which impact on housing prices" (joint with Dr Eric Fesselmeyer)
- The Straits Times, 04 July 2013 "Raising productivity through wage rises"
- The Straits Times, Review, 8 November 2012 "Cutting wages may not be the best way to save costs?"
- The Straits Times, Review, 16 February 2010 "Don’t take ‘unlimited supply’ of Chinese workers for granted"