From August 5 to 6, the 2024 IESR Labor Conference was hosted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) at Jinan University.

Scholars from renowned institutions, such as Stanford University, Brigham Young University, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Maryland, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, ShanghaiTech University, and Jinan University, attended the conference.

Workshop Participants

At the beginning of the conference, Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR, and Professor Lars Lefgren from Brigham Young University delivered welcome speeches, expressing their warm welcome to all participants. They hope this conference will promote academic exchanges and cooperation in labor economics.

Welcome Speech by Professor Shuaizhang Feng

Welcome Speech by Professor Lars Lefgren

In the presentation session, twelve scholars presented their latest research in labor economics, with in-depth discussions on labor market policies, fertility policies, human capital, and relevant topics.

Professor Lars Lefgren from Brigham Young University presented a paper titled “Equilibrium Gender Discrimination and Disadvantage in Student Evaluations of Teaching.”

Professor Shuaizhang Feng from Jinan University presented a paper titled “How Being Raised by an Only Child Affects Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills Development.”

Professor Brian Viard from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business presented a paper titled “Evaluating Air Pollution Regulation: Separating Firm Competitiveness and Ambient Effects.”

Professor Justin Marion from the University of California, Santa Cruz, presented a paper titled “The Ratchet Effect and Government Performance Targets: Small Business Goals in U.S. Federal Procurement.”

Professor Nolan Pope from the University of Maryland presented a paper titled “Divorce, Family Arrangement, and Children’s Adult Outcomes.”

Professor Yangyang Zhang from Jinan University presented a paper titled “Who Wants the Second One? The Effect of the Relaxation of One-Child Policy in China.”

Professor Wei Lin from Jinan University presented a paper titled “From Law to Norm: The Destroying Impact of One-Child Policy on Fertility Norm in China.”

Professor Shu Cai from Jinan University presented a paper titled “Risk Behaviors of Only-Child Parents: Evidence from the One-Child Policy in China.”

Professor Eric Bettinger from Stanford University and NBER presented a paper titled “Fake Diplomas, Real Gains: Analyzing Wage Increases in Brazil’s Labor Market.”

Professor Jingliang Lu from Jinan University presented a paper titled “The Effects of Initial Economic Conditions on Wages for College Graduates in China.”

Professor Yi Chen from ShanghaiTech University presented a paper titled “Recovering Overlooked Information in Categorical Variables with LLMs: An Application to Labor Market Mismatch.”

Professor Siyu Chen from Jinan University presented a paper titled “Contagious Game App Usage and College Students’ Academic and Labor Market Outcomes.”

The event ended with a field trip to the production base of GAC Aion. All the participants were led to visit the production process, technological innovation, and market strategy of new energy vehicles, experiencing the vigorous development of China’s new energy vehicle industry.

The conference received positive feedback from all the participants. The successful hosting of this conference laid a solid foundation for further exchanges and cooperation between IESR and scholars worldwide. IESR will continue to enhance the international influence of labor economics research further.