Research

My research spans Child Development, Education, Climate, AI, and Computational Social Science.

Research Areas

Four research sets: an outer AI and CSS circle encloses overlapping circles for Child Development, Education, and Climate. The outer-only region represents standalone AI and CSS research.

Child Development

I examine socioeconomic and gender disparities in child development and how families, institutions, and neighborhoods shape these disparities.

  • Socioeconomic status and inequalities in early development of non-cognitive skills: Evidence from China. Published, 2026
  • Socioeconomic Gaps in Early Childhood Development in China: A Generalized Decomposition. Revise and resubmit
  • The Granddaughter Penalty: Grandparental Lineage and Gendered Gaps in Early Social-Emotional Development in Urban China. Under review
  • Gender Differentials in Early Childhood Development. Working paper
  • Kindergarten Segregation and Early Childhood Development in China. Work in progress

Education, Inequality, and Meritocracy

I study educational inequality, meritocracy, and China’s National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao).

Climate

I study inequalities in heat exposure and heat effects.

  • Early-Life Environmental Conditions and Child Development: Socioeconomic Disparities in Exposures and Adaptations among Families with Young Children. Working paper
  • Early Life Heat Exposure and Child Development: Evidence from China. Work in progress
  • Inequality in Early Children’s Heat Exposure. Work in progress

Urban Life and Wellbeing

I investigate how neighborhoods shape social life and wellbeing, from urban vitality and collective efficacy to cultural infrastructure and public open space.

  • Decomposing Urban Vitality: Neighborhood Attractiveness, Neighborhood Engagement, and Collective Efficacy in Shanghai. Revise and resubmit
  • Neighborhood Cultural Infrastructure and Late-Life Mental Health: Evidence from Hong Kong. Under review
  • Beyond Density and Diversity: Locality and the Dual Dimensions of Urban Vitality in Shanghai. Working paper
  • Public Open Space and Early Childhood Development in Hong Kong. Working paper

Family, Population, and Health

This strand examines family relationships and health across the life course, including intergenerational support, smoking and drinking, and physical activity after retirement.

  • The Quantity–Quality Trade-off in the Long Run: Number of Children and Intergenerational Support in China. Working paper
  • Socioeconomic Differentials in Smoking and Drinking in China, 1991–2015. Work in progress
  • Retirement and Physical Activity in Urban China. Work in progress

AI and Computational Social Science

I develop and teach AI tools and computational methods for social scientists.

  • The Network Structure of Occupational Skills in Hong Kong. Work in progress

Related resources: Software and tools · Talks