Projects

In-Progress

Power of the Past: Family Background and Subjective Social Status (SSS) among College Graduates

Parental SES, higher education, and young adults’ subjective social status in the U.S.

Research question: Does college attenuate or amplify the influence of parental SES on SSS?
Target population: Individuals in the United States during early adulthood (24-32)
Data: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) (Waves I, III, & IV)
Methods: Regression analysis with IPTW

Main finding: The influence of parental SES on subjective social status disappears once college selection is accounted for, but re-emerges strongly among PhD and professional degree holders.

SSS Education Inequality

Working paper Slides Code

Relative Income & Subjective Well-being (SWB)

Gendered income dynamics and subjective well-being in same-sex and different-sex marriages.

Research question: How does relative income within marriage shape SWB across gender and couple type?
Target population: Married adults in the U.S.
Data: National Couples’ Health and Time Study (2020–2021)
Methods: Regression analysis with IPTW

Main finding: In different-sex marriages, men gain SWB as breadwinners while women’s SWB declines when they outearn husbands. No such penalties are found in same-sex marriages.

SWB Gender Couples Income

Working paper

Lifetime Earnings & Subjective Social Status (SSS) in Older Adults

How cumulative earnings histories shape perceived status in later life.

Research question: Are lifetime earnings stronger predictors of SSS than current earnings among older workers?
Target population: Adults aged 50–64 in the U.S.
Data: Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2004–2022)
Methods: Panel models (FE/RE), growth-curve modeling

Preliminary finding: Lifetime earnings appear to explain SSS more robustly than current earnings, with stronger associations for men—consistent with gendered work histories.

SSS Aging Labor market Panel data

Working paper Slides

Previous Projects

Peer-Reviewed Articles

The Gender Gap in Earnings Growth at the Early Stage of Work Careers in Korea

Early-career earnings growth and promotion prospects among college-educated workers in South Korea.

Research question: Do women experience lower earnings growth than men net of initial job allocation and family formation?
Target population: Recent college graduates in South Korea
Data: Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey (2008–2010) + follow-ups
Methods: IPTW balancing + individual fixed-effects models

Main finding: Women face lower earnings growth and lower promotion prospects even after balancing initial job placement and family formation; penalties are largest in small/irregular-job segments and smallest in large/public sectors.

Gender Labor market IPTW Fixed effects

Journal PDF

How Do Children Self-Locate in the Social Hierarchy?

Educational homogamy, mothers’ economic role, and children’s subjective social status in Korea.

Research question: How do parental educational homogamy and mothers’ labor market participation shape children’s SSS?
Target population: Adolescents (ages 15–18) in Korea
Data: Korea Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS, 2005–2021)
Methods: OLS regression, family-level covariates, clustered standard errors

Main finding: Children’s perceptions of their social standing tend to align closely with their parents’ status. However, this association is shaped by family arrangements: children of educationally homogamous parents report higher SSS, whereas those from co-breadwinner families perceive themselves lower in the hierarchy compared to peers from sole male-breadwinner families.

Children Family SSS Gender

Journal

Slides

Admissions and Fairness: Family SES & Elite College Entry

How do different admissions tracks (exam-based vs. GPA-based) shape the link between family background and access to elite universities in South Korea?

Research question: Do admissions tracks moderate the effect of family SES on elite college entry?
Target population: South Korean 4-year college entrants (2009–2013)
Data: Graduate Occupational Mobility Survey (GOMS 2016–2017)
Methods: Linear probability models & multinomial logit

Main finding: Family SES strongly predicts elite college admission across all tracks, but the effect is stronger in exam-based and essay-based tracks than in GPA-based admissions, highlighting the “law of adaptation.”

Education Elite colleges Inequality South Korea

Full text (Korean)

Overwork and Organization: Overtime Hours & Women’s Managerial Attainment

Organizational work hours and gender inequality in Korea.

Research question: How do long working hours affect women’s chances of reaching managerial positions?
Target population: Korean firms & employees
Data: Workplace Panel Survey
Methods: Multilevel growth models (firm-year panel)

Main finding: Firms with longer average overtime hours not only start with fewer women in management, but also see women’s representation decline over time—especially in male-dominated manufacturing sectors. Organizations with more women employees show weaker negative effects.

Gender Workplace Overwork

PDF (Korean)

Policy Reports

Evaluation of Youth Entrepreneurship Support Programs

Comprehensive evaluation of Korean youth start-up support policies, combining quantitative and qualitative methods.

Research question: How effective are youth entrepreneurship support programs in fostering firm survival, job creation, and wage growth?
Target population: Young entrepreneurs (under 39) supported by Korean government programs
Data: Employment insurance DB, business survey, field interviews
Methods: Quasi-experimental (DiD, panel fixed effects), survey, in-depth interviews
Key insight:

Main finding: Programs modestly improve short-term firm survival and employment, but effects on wages and long-term sustainability remain limited.

Policy Evaluation Youth Entrepreneurship

Report Slides

COVID-19 Direct Job Creation Programs

Evaluation of Korean emergency direct job creation projects funded by supplementary budgets during the COVID-19 crisis.

Research question: Did COVID-19 supplementary direct job creation programs mitigate employment shocks among vulnerable groups?
Target population: Unemployed and vulnerable workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Data: Program administrative data, Employment Insurance DB, IO analysis
Methods: Program evaluation, descriptive analysis, input–output modeling

Main finding: The programs provided large-scale short-term employment to vulnerable groups, buffering labor market shocks, but raised concerns about overlap, sustainability, and long-term quality of jobs .

Policy Evaluation COVID-19 Labor Market

Full Report (KEIS) Slides

Support Services for Multicultural Adolescents

Journal of Family Welfare (2024). Examines how support services impact school adjustment among multicultural adolescents, focusing on the moderated mediation effect of bicultural attitudes and social support.

Research question: How do support services influence multicultural adolescents’ school adjustment, and how is this relationship mediated by bicultural attitudes and moderated by social support?
Target population: Multicultural adolescents in Korea
Data: Survey data (self-reported school adjustment, bicultural attitudes, and social support)
Methods: Moderated mediation analysis

Main finding: Support services improved school adjustment partly through bicultural attitudes, and this indirect effect was strengthened when adolescents had higher levels of social support.

Multicultural Adolescents School Adjustment Mediation

Selected Financial Research & Industry Reports

Global Financial History & Real Estate Investment Insight

Long-run housing price dynamics across advanced economies and implications for real estate investing.

Focus: 100+ years of housing price cycles and macro drivers
Data: Long-run international housing series, BIS/OECD, macro indicators
Methods: Comparative time-series analysis

Key insight: Real housing prices have trended up in most advanced economies (ex-Japan), with country-specific cycles; supply constraints and macro stability matter more than short-run sentiment.

Macro Real Estate Time Series

PDF

Shrinking Middle Class & Weak Consumption

Why confidence is up but spending is flat: distributional shifts in the middle class.

Focus: Middle-class share, income distribution, and aggregate demand
Data: US/intl surveys (confidence), PCE, CPS/IMF/Bloomberg
Methods: Distribution-aware macro analysis

Key insight: As the middle class shrinks, aggregate spending softens despite solid sentiment; rising middle classes in Asia offset some of the global demand drag.

Consumption Inequality Macro

PDF

4th Industrial Revolution: Does Productivity Growth Threaten Jobs?

Financial/industry research report analyzing labor productivity, employment, and sectoral shifts in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Research question: Does technological progress inevitably reduce employment?
Data: OECD, BLS, global productivity and employment statistics
Main finding: Productivity gains reduce manufacturing jobs but expand employment in services. Long-term risk of productivity slowdown exists, but growth in high-skilled service sectors can sustain both jobs and productivity.

Finance Productivity Employment

Report PDF