SUMMARY:
During my graduate study at Tulane University, I cultivate my interest in applying econometrics methods in policy/program evaluation. My primary research fields are public economics and corporate finance. Specifically, I study the dividend tax policy changes in China, and the Chinese Value Added Tax reform. Besides, I also researched the field of health economics.
WORKING PAPERS
Did dividend tax policy changes increase Chinese financial market stability? (Job Market Paper)
Abstract: The dividend tax rate dropped dramatically (20% to 0%) for long-term investors (holding a stock for over one year) in China since 2005. However, after changing to a differentiated tax system, for short-term investors, the rate stays at 20%. These policies aimed to encourage long-term investment and increase the stability of the stock market. Previous studies have focused primarily on dividend payout policy changes. However, whether these policies affected the stability of the Chinese financial market remains an open question. I use a difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of the 2005 policy change on stocks’ turnover rates and trading volumes. Furthermore, to mitigate the concern that firms’ characteristics might affect distribution decisions, I use a variety of matching methods (One-to-One Matching, k-Nearest-Neighbor Matching, Radius Match, Kernel Matching, Local Linear Matching, and Mahalanobis Distance Matching ) to re-construct control and treatment groups to improve the accuracy of estimation. I find that, after the 2005 policy change, lowering the dividend tax decreased the trading volumes by 11.7%, and the turnover rates declined over 18%. However, when I extend this analysis to the 2012 dividend tax policy change, I find that the differentiated dividend tax has nearly contrary effects. The results also indicate that firms with a higher percentage of shares owned by top executives or government have experienced stronger effects in lowering turnover rates and trading volumes.
How did value-added tax policy affect firms’ performance?
Abstract: China reformed the value-added tax (VAT) system in the northeast region provinces in 2004, a reform that removed fixed asset investment from the VAT base. This paper uses data from listed firms to explore the effects of this policy change on firms? Fixed assets investment and profit by implementing a difference-in-difference model. I find that the reform increase fixed asset investment and total profit by 9.31% and 2.37% respectively. However, the effects are only positive and significant for firms in the transportation industry. Firms in the manufacturing industry, even suffered a 6.88% loss in profit after the reform.
Impact of health on education and employment: evidence from the NLSY97(with Daniela Rivero Bryant, Lu Yao, Under Review)
Abstract: The interrelationship between health, education, employment and income has been widely studied. In this paper, We study the relationship between self-reported health status and educational attainment and employment stability. By utilizing the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLYS97) and implementing OLS, Logit model and Hazard model (survival analysis), we find that the impact of health status on dropout rates is strong and negative for black men, and that higher cognitive ability, parental education and good health are correlated with positive outcomes in educational attainment and employment stability.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Dividend Tax Policy: Firms' Reaction and Heterogeneity Analysis
Firms' Value and Shareholders' Wealth with the changing dividend tax policy.
Will heat wave affect infants’ long-term outcomes? Evidence from the 1936 North America Heat Wave
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
2022 American Economic Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA(Scheduled)
2021 Southern Economic Association 91st Annual Meeting, Houston, TX(Scheduled)
2020 Shanghai Ocean University Fourth Young Scholar Forum (November, 2020)
2019 Chinese Economist Society North America Meeting, Lawrence, KS (April, 2019)
2019 American Economic Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (January, 2019)
2018 National Tax Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (November, 2018)
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Session Chair:
2020 National Tax Association Annual Meeting (November, 2020)
2019 Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (October, 2019)
2019 Chinese Economist Society North America Meeting, Lawrence, KS (April, 2019)
Discussant:
2020 National Tax Association Annual Meeting (November, 2020)
2019 Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (October, 2019)
PUBLICATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS
Estimating Effects of Dividend Tax Policy Changes in China, National Tax Association, Proceedings of the 111th Annual Conference on Taxation, 2018, New Orleans, LA (2019)
REFEREE
Applied Economics, Applied Economics Letters, Applied Financial Economics Letters
CODING
Please visit my Github and Stack Overflow for coding. I am actively learning and sharing my coding experience.