Peer-reviewed Journals
"Why Don't Trade Preferences Reflect Economic Self-Interest?" with Michael Tomz.
International Organization 71, Issue S1, April 2017, pp. S85-S108
This study tests the effects of economic ignorance on voters' preferences for trade policies. We argue that one of the reasons why voters do not express self-interested attitudes toward trade protection is that a majority of voters are uninformed about the consequences of trade policies. We utilize survey experiments that manipulate the level of information given to the survey respondents to analyze how information changes voters' responses. The study finds that informed respondents are more likely to express self-interested policy preferences, but they also become more sensitive to the interests of society.
Working Papers
"Industry, Self-Interest, and Individual Preferences over Trade Policy" with Michael Tomz
(Revise and Resubmit)
This paper utilizes an innovative survey design that measures public preferences over industry-specific trade policies. We posit that the industry-specific approach, instead of analyzing the public sentiment toward free trade in general, generates new insights about how individuals think about trade. The study concludes that public attitudes toward trade protection do not fit the predictions of economic trade models. We tested both standard models such as Stolper-Samuelson, Ricardo-Viner, or the "New-New trade model," which takes firm heterogeneity into account.
Atomized Incorporation: Politicization of Labor Discontent in Contemporary China (under review)
Unlike the assumption in the comparative literature that authoritarian regimes have a strong incentive to suppress labor mobilization, some authoritarian regimes allow workers to engage in popular contention as long as they demand short-term economic gains. In contemporary China, the central government has tolerated limited forms of popular contention among marginalized workers such as labor strike at a single workplace. Yet we have limited understanding of its effect on political resilience in the long run. In this paper, I theorize the regime's approach as atomized incorporation as a tool for blame avoidance and investigate whether workers' discontent can be contained within the firm boundary. Atomized incorporation could be a blame avoidance strategy for the central government because it frames workers' everyday struggles as isolated economic matters internal to a specific workplace. Using an original survey dataset of industrial workers in South China, I demonstrate that atomized incorporation has only been partially successful in diverting blame away from the central government. While those who participate in labor contention blame the firm rather than the central government, those who are exposed to alternative sources of information eventually attribute blame to the central government. These findings imply that the divide between economics and politics might not be sustainable in the long run in an environment where citizens are able to access alternative sources of information.
Anti-Foreign Sentiment and Labor Protest: Evidence from a Survey-Experiment in South China
(work in progress)
The series of labor protests that took place in Japanese-owned factories in China after the Diaoyu/Senkaku island dispute raise the question of how anti-foreign sentiment begets collective action among Chinese workers. Unlike the prevailing assumption that high levels of nationalism leads to Chinese workers' strong emotional reaction to international disputes, this paper shows that international disputes often provide an opportunity for Chinese workers to pursue their goals in a politically safe way. Utilizing a novel randomized experiment with Chinese workers in South China, the study finds that workers' increased propensity to protest at foreign-invested enterprises after international disputes originates mainly from their rational calculations that the local government become more incentivized to cooperate with Chinese workers. Case studies demonstrate how protest leaders utilize anti-foreign slogans to discipline local government officials and create public opinion to pressure them via online platforms.
Working Projects
"Why Don't Trade Preferences Reflect Economic Self-Interest?" with Michael Tomz.
International Organization 71, Issue S1, April 2017, pp. S85-S108
This study tests the effects of economic ignorance on voters' preferences for trade policies. We argue that one of the reasons why voters do not express self-interested attitudes toward trade protection is that a majority of voters are uninformed about the consequences of trade policies. We utilize survey experiments that manipulate the level of information given to the survey respondents to analyze how information changes voters' responses. The study finds that informed respondents are more likely to express self-interested policy preferences, but they also become more sensitive to the interests of society.
Working Papers
"Industry, Self-Interest, and Individual Preferences over Trade Policy" with Michael Tomz
(Revise and Resubmit)
This paper utilizes an innovative survey design that measures public preferences over industry-specific trade policies. We posit that the industry-specific approach, instead of analyzing the public sentiment toward free trade in general, generates new insights about how individuals think about trade. The study concludes that public attitudes toward trade protection do not fit the predictions of economic trade models. We tested both standard models such as Stolper-Samuelson, Ricardo-Viner, or the "New-New trade model," which takes firm heterogeneity into account.
Atomized Incorporation: Politicization of Labor Discontent in Contemporary China (under review)
Unlike the assumption in the comparative literature that authoritarian regimes have a strong incentive to suppress labor mobilization, some authoritarian regimes allow workers to engage in popular contention as long as they demand short-term economic gains. In contemporary China, the central government has tolerated limited forms of popular contention among marginalized workers such as labor strike at a single workplace. Yet we have limited understanding of its effect on political resilience in the long run. In this paper, I theorize the regime's approach as atomized incorporation as a tool for blame avoidance and investigate whether workers' discontent can be contained within the firm boundary. Atomized incorporation could be a blame avoidance strategy for the central government because it frames workers' everyday struggles as isolated economic matters internal to a specific workplace. Using an original survey dataset of industrial workers in South China, I demonstrate that atomized incorporation has only been partially successful in diverting blame away from the central government. While those who participate in labor contention blame the firm rather than the central government, those who are exposed to alternative sources of information eventually attribute blame to the central government. These findings imply that the divide between economics and politics might not be sustainable in the long run in an environment where citizens are able to access alternative sources of information.
Anti-Foreign Sentiment and Labor Protest: Evidence from a Survey-Experiment in South China
(work in progress)
The series of labor protests that took place in Japanese-owned factories in China after the Diaoyu/Senkaku island dispute raise the question of how anti-foreign sentiment begets collective action among Chinese workers. Unlike the prevailing assumption that high levels of nationalism leads to Chinese workers' strong emotional reaction to international disputes, this paper shows that international disputes often provide an opportunity for Chinese workers to pursue their goals in a politically safe way. Utilizing a novel randomized experiment with Chinese workers in South China, the study finds that workers' increased propensity to protest at foreign-invested enterprises after international disputes originates mainly from their rational calculations that the local government become more incentivized to cooperate with Chinese workers. Case studies demonstrate how protest leaders utilize anti-foreign slogans to discipline local government officials and create public opinion to pressure them via online platforms.
Working Projects
- Challenging Atomization: Gender and Labor Activism in South Korea and China
- Social Dialogue and Worker Satisfaction: Evidence from Garment Industries in Indonesia during COVID-19 (in collaboration with International Labor Organization)
- Labor Market Changes and Gender Gap in Political Attitudes
