David Y. Yang is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. David’s research focuses on political economy, behavioral and experimental economics, economic history, and cultural economics. In particular, David studies the forces of stability and forces of changes in authoritarian regimes, drawing lessons from historical and contemporary China. David received a B.A. in Statistics and B.S. in Business Administration from University of California at Berkeley, and PhD in Economics from Stanford.
Recent work by David Yang
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China’s rise reshaped global entrepreneurship and expanded the benefits of innovation
The rise of a new hub for innovation and entrepreneurship can have large, global benefits by broadening the focus of technology and hence who benefits from it.
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How the surveillance state is exported through trade in AI
Autocracies and weak democracies are more likely to import facial recognition AI from China, particularly in years when they experience domestic unrest
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Autocratic AI dystopias: Science fiction or social science fact?
China's autocratic political regime and the rapid innovation in its AI sector mutually reinforce each other
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The political economy of policy learning: Evidence from China
While China’s bureaucracy and institutions allow large-scale policy experimentation, incentives in complex political environments can inhibit policy learning
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The impact of media censorship in China: 1984 or Brave New World?
Fostering an environment in which citizens do not demand uncensored information is critical to effective internet censorship in China