Research
Job Market Paper
The effects of Colorado’s Pay Transparency among Older Workers
This paper studies how cross-firm pay transparency affects labor market outcomes of mid- to late-career workers. Using Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA) and a difference-in-differences design, I find that pay transparency increases weekly earnings and hourly wages. The gains are larger for women, more-educated workers, and workers closer to retirement; the law also narrows the gender wage gap. Wage gains among both job changers and stayers, together with larger effects where occupational wage dispersion and employer concentration are greater, are potentially consistent with pay transparency improving mid- to late-career workers’ bargaining position in wage setting. The policy also increases employment and hours worked. By contrast, its effects among younger workers are limited. Survey evidence on workers’ beliefs further shows that pay transparency leads mid- to late-career workers to revise their expectations about outside options and their reservation wages. Overall, the findings suggest that cross-firm wage information is particularly valuable for mid- to late-career workers, who may face greater search frictions and rely on outdated wage information.
Publications
Balancing Efficiency and Equity in Classroom Assignment under Endogenous Peer Effects
with Lei Bill Wang, Zhenbang Jiao, and Om Prakash Bedant
Published in Journal of Applied Economics
This paper develops a three-step empirical framework to optimize classroom assignments under endogenous peer effects. First, we design PeerNN, a neural network modeling friendship formation, generating a linkage-intensity matrix (Ω) that captures student popularity. Second, using quasi-random classroom assignments as an instrument, we estimate peer effects: a 10% increase in friends’ 6th-grade class rank (weighted by Ω) increases 8th-grade test scores by 0.13 SD. Third, we simulate assignment policies. A genetic algorithm (GA) maximizing average peer effect yields a 1.9% gain but exacerbates inequality, disproportionately harming students with lower 6th-grade class ranks. We propose a variance-penalizing approach named Algorithmically Fair GA (AFGA), which achieves a 1.2% improvement while ensuring equitable outcomes. Our findings highlight the trade-off between efficiency and equity in classroom assignment policies and underscore the need for fairness-aware algorithms when designing group assignment policies.
First place, 2024 Hayes Forum Poster Competition.
Working Papers
The Effect of Public Long-term Care Insurance on Adult Children’s Labor Supply in China
This study examines how China’s public long-term care insurance (LTCI) affects adult children’s labor supply. Leveraging staggered city-level policy implementation and variation in older parents’ eligibility, I employ a triple-differences framework. I find that parental LTCI eligibility increases adult children’s probability of working by 3.9 percentage points, with effects concentrated among daughters. However, LTCI does not increase the probability of working among children whose parents have severe health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence on mechanisms suggests that adult children spend less time providing care while offering more financial support to parents. Transfers from parents to children also increase, although this effect weakens during the pandemic. Regarding policy design, compared with strictly in-kind LTCI, programs combining in-kind and cash benefits lead to larger increases in adult children’s probability of working and greater reductions in caregiving time, but lower life satisfaction among parents.
The Effects of SNAP Work Requirements on Self-Employment
This study examines the impact of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements on self-employment and SNAP participation among able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). Using individual-level data from IPUMS USA with a panel of policy histories compiled by Han (2022), the findings show that while work requirements do not affect self-employment rates in the broader population, but they discourage self-employed ABAWDs from participating in SNAP and push ABAWDs to work longer hours to maintain SNAP eligibility. In contrast, work requirements have no effect on waged employed ABAWDs. Gender analysis reveals limited positive effects on men’s self-employment but negative effects on women’s self-employment rate. During economic downturns, remaining work requirements reduce SNAP participation when food security is at its weakest. During recoveries, emerging work requirements hinder women’s self-employment just as new opportunities surface. In summary, SNAP work requirements deter participation when assistance is most needed and disproportionately discourage women’s self-employment.
Paper coming soon
Works in Progress
The Effects of SNAP Work Requirements on Immigrants
How Does Family Structure Influence Women’s Bargaining Power in the Labor Market?
The Intergenerational Effects of China’s Public Long-Term Care Insurance: Grandparental Childcare and Grandchildren’s Health with Weihao Lu