Profile

I am an Assistant Professor at Taipei School of Economics at National Tsing Hua University. I received my Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in May 2024. 

My research lies at the intersection of development economics, public economics, and political economy, with additional interest in labor economics and the economics of migration. My work examines how public institutions build, deploy, and lose the capacity to mobilize resources and serve their citizens. Current projects study how violence and conflict erode local state capacity, how bureaucratic training and citizen trust can strengthen the state, how large-scale public policies shape labor markets and welfare, and how adverse shocks affect human capital accumulation in fragile settings. My projects span settings including Mexico, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Haiti, and Korea, and are supported by grants from J-PAL and Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council.

Prior to my current position, I was a postdoctoral fellow at HKUST (July 2024 - June 2025). I was also a Bong and Sul Visiting Research Fellow at the Yonsei Institute of Population and Human Capital (Aug 2025 - July 2026).

Research Interests

• Development Economics
• Political Economy
• Public Economics
• Labor Economics

Awards and Honors

• Wueller Teaching Award Winner (for Undergraduate Core Subject), Columbia University, 2020
• Dean’s Fellowship, Columbia University, 2018-2023
• Doctoral Study Abroad Program, Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, 2018-2024

Selected Publication and Working Papers

• Lee S., "Organized crime, local poiticians, and state capacity," Journal of Development Economics, 182 (2026), 103817 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2026.103817)
• Childbirth Effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (Joint with Elizabeth Kayoon Hur), Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Forthcoming.
• The Illusion of Criminal Order: Institutional Trust and Municipal Finances in Mexico (Joint with Ana Isabel Lopez Garcia and Juan Pablo Figueroa Mansur), Revise and Resubmit at Studies in Comparative International Development
• Conflicts’ Long Shadow: The Decline of Local State Capacity in Burkina Faso (Joint with Ablam Estel Apeti, and Rose Camille Vincent)
• The Impacts of Negative Income Tax on Labor Market and Health Outcomes: Evidence from a Large Scale Field Experiment (Joint with Hyuncheol Bryant Kim, Minki Kim, Jungmin Lee, Sangyoon Park, and Hankyoung Sung)

Teaching

Conflict and Peace 
Semester: Fall 2025 | 11410TSED701200 | 3 Credits 

Conflicts encompass a broad range of violent events that disrupt the economic and social stability of individuals and states, including crime, political violence, civil wars, and inter-state wars. Peace refers to the absence or resolution of conflict and the institutional and economic progress that helps prevent it. The existence of capable states that can prevent and mitigate conflict is crucial for peace. With the global rise in conflicts, it is essential to understand their origins and explore pathways to peace.

This course covers topics in the political economy of development related to conflict and peace. The course will be organized around four key questions: What causes conflict? What are its consequences for individuals and states? How do individuals respond to conflicts? How can a state develop the capacities that allow it to maintain peace? This course ultimately aims to train students to critically engage with front-running scholarly work and to develop original research that addresses crucial gaps in the literature.