CHUNYANG   (JUSTIN)   WANG

 

                                                              Department of Economics

                                                                 University of Minnesota

                                                       1035 Heller Hall, 271 19th Ave S

                                                                Minneapolis, MN 55455

                                                               Email:wangx891@umn.edu

                                                                  Phone:  612-625-6353

 

 

Personal Information

Age: 21                                                          Sex: Male                                                    Nationality: China

 

Undergraduate Studies

B.A., Economics, Peking University                                                                                                July  2006

Thesis Title: “Institutions, Demographic Transition, and Industrial Revolution: A Unified Theory”

Reference: Gregory Clark, Omer Moav, Henry Wan

 

Graduate Studies

PhD in Economics, University of Minnesota                                                                    Fall 2006 to Present

 

Honors and Awards

Summer Fellowship, Department of Economics, University of Minnesota                                 Summer 2007

Silverman Fellowship, Department of Economics, University of Minnesota                                   2006-2007

Peking University Fellowship (Highest Honor)                                                                                2002-2006

 

 

Teaching Experience

Recitation Leader of Principles of Microeconomics                                                                            Fall 2007

 

Conference Presentation

Econometric Society Far Eastern Meeting                                                                                          July 2006

 

Research

Institutions, Demographic Transition, and Industrial Revolution: A Unified Theory

Abstract:  This paper explores the process of development from an epoch of Malthusian stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth. My paper unites the interests of economists, economic historians and demographers in studying the role of institutions improvement two centuries ago in launching the modern economic growth. The unified theory I develop captures many crucial phenomena emerging with industrial revolution, such as the rise of the saving rate, three phases accompanying demographic transition, human capital accumulation, bimodal distribution of income per capita. In addition, a question puzzling economic historians for a long time, that why industrial revolution was a European phenomenon, not happened in China, which was highly advanced in both technological level and industrial development as early as in the fourteenth century, is also solved as one of historical evidence to buttress my theory. In contrast to previous literature, I model this process with two novel factors, from the perspectives of both institutions and the value of children. Stripped to essentials it states that in the original development phase of human life, since there were no social security or public pensions, and capital market was highly imperfect, people always chose high fertility as an alternative way of saving, expecting material support from children in their old age. As institutions improved, physical capital began to be accumulated. Due to capital-skill complementarity, the accumulation of physical capital is high enough, to some extent, to induce the emergence of human capital. Then, modern era, dominated by human capital accumulation, comes. Historical evidence from ancient China, and Britain during Industrial Revolution is employed to investigate the hypotheses.