Ongoing Research Projects

Grant Period : Dec 2023 - Jun 2025

Faculty : Zeren, LI

This study proposes a data-driven approach to investigate the rise of party-state capitalism in China. Through this research, I aim to accomplish two main objectives:
(1) Develop precise indicators of state-connectedness by analyzing comprehensive ownership network data.
(2) Estimate the causal impact of state-connectedness on public resource outcomes, such as government procurement, subsidies, and effective tax rates.

Exploring the revival of China's state sector holds significant importance. Not only does it shed light on the political and economic dynamics within China, but it also offers valuable insights for foreign investors, businesspersons, and policymakers across Asia and the globe, including those in Singapore.

I am seeking HSS funding to perform an exploratory analysis on a sample of publicly listed companies. Preliminary assessments of these firms will illustrate the viability and potential scalability of the project, potentially leading to a larger external grant for a more extensive investigation encompassing all firm samples.

Grant Period : Feb 2022 - Feb 2026

Faculty : THAKUR, Ashutosh Dinesh

In many organizations, members need to be assigned to certain positions, whether these are civil servants to states, legislators to committees, or executives to roles. Who gets what position crucially affects the performance of the organization, the efficacy of its operations, the synergies/conflicts generated, and the resulting satisfaction/aspiration of its members. I use tools from market design and matching theory to i) empirically evaluate, ii) theoretically understand, and iii) practically improve the design of these assignment procedures.

I explore new applications of matching theory in public administration, e.g., allocating Indian civil servants to states and assigning US Senators to legislative committees. My empirical analysis leverages the institutional knowledge of the underlying matching mechanisms along with new preference data of US Senators and Indian Civil servants to evaluate the efficacy of the procedures and their impact on outcomes (e.g., American legislative policymaking and party discipline, and India’s state capacity and development outcomes).

Theoretically, my projects shed light on institutional stability and organizational culture: why organizations endogenously change their assignment procedures over time, which coalitions lobby for change, and when are they successful. Lastly, my work delivers practical design improvements for Indian civil service allocation procedures and other two-sided market platforms.

Grant Period : Sep 2021 - Aug 2025

Faculty : JIN, Lawrence

I investigate the role of behavioral biases in decision-making, and explore behavioral interventions (“nudges”) that can help improve public welfare. Specifically, I study decision-making in two settings: medicine and transportation.

The first setting is medical decision-making. For example, I study the behavior of diabetes patients in Singapore. Diabetes is a major public health problem in Singapore, costing over $1 billion annually to manage as a nation. The first step is to use data from SingHealth’s diabetes patient registry to empirically investigate behavioral & medical anomalies, and generate insights on the types of behavioral interventions that could help patients with glycemic control. Using the insights, I will design a comprehensive behavioral intervention program for the patients and test its effectiveness in the field.

The second setting is taxi drivers’ decision-making. In an earlier work, I found that taxi drivers tend to drive unnecessarily at the airport, which lowers their earnings and generates unnecessary air pollution.I will use the data from Singapore’s LTA to investigate other locations at which drivers often make similar mistakes, as well as other potential behavioral biases. Then, we will design and conduct a field experiment to “nudge” drivers to reduce their mistakes, which would in turn increase their income and reduce unnecessary air pollution in Singapore.

Grant Period : Nov 2020 - Oct 2025

Faculty : RAVINDRAN, Saravana

The question of how to build human capital with limited resources remains a key policy problem worldwide. This project seeks to understand new challenges to the supply and demand of early childhood development services in Asia during the post-COVID-19 period. The proposed study will take place in multiple countries, drawing from unique policies implemented across Asia. First, through surveys with workers of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program in India, the largest early childhood development program in the world, I seek to understand challenges related to the delivery of maternal and child health services. This project also seeks to understand the effectiveness of potential policy solutions to address these challenges, including performance feedback and monitoring of ICDS workers. Second, I seek to understand the medium-term impacts of a unique early childhood intervention shown to have positive short-run impacts in Bangladesh. This program was implemented using the existing government infrastructure and National Nutritional Services. I propose to conduct surveys of health workers, parents, and children to understand the medium-term impacts of the intervention and the extent to which recipients of the program were able to cushion the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.