This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in…

This dissertation examines the impact of state educational programs on the economics of education and labor, focusing on the New York State (NYS) STEM Incentive Program and China's tuition-free policy for vocational secondary education (VSE). The first two Chapters analyze the effects of the NYS STEM Incentive Program, an initiative implemented in…

This dissertation studies the effects of China's higher education expansion reform on workers' labor market outcomes. In Chapter 1, I investigate how China's higher education expansion reform affects young workers' labor market outcomes. Using data from the 2005 China Population Survey, I estimate the effects of the reform using a diff-in-diff…

In Chapter 1, I investigate the migration response of college students to tuition differences between states, using variation introduced by tuition regional reciprocity agreements. Out-of-state students generally pay higher tuition than in-state students, but reciprocity agreements reduce the premium paid by students from other states in the…

In this dissertation, I investigate three barriers that students in China face when pursuing higher education: the unequal distribution of college enrollment quotas, the complexity of the college application process and financial constraints. These barriers exist worldwide, but the unique characteristics of the Chinese higher education system make…

This study aims to explore the impact of college quality on early labor market outcomes in China, including the fresh college graduates' initial employment status and starting wages for students who graduated in 2011. The main data source is the College Student Labor Market (CSLM) survey conducted by Tsinghua University. Distinguished from…

About 75% of U.S.-trained, non-citizen PhDs in science and engineering work in the U.S. after graduation, and 54% of those who stay take postdoctoral positions. The probability of postdoctoral participation is substantially higher for temporary visa holders than for permanent visa holders because of visa-related restrictions in the U.S. labor…