RONG HAI
https://sites.google.com/site/ronghaiecon/
ronghai@uchicago.edu
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
MANOVSKI@ECON.UPENN.EDU
Placement Director: Iourii Manovskii
Placement Director: Andrew Postlewaite
Graduate Student Coordinator: Kelly Quinn
APOSTLEW@ECON.UPENN.EDU
KQUINN@ECON.UPENN.EDU
Office Contact Information
5740 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Room 172
Chicago, IL, 60637
Mobile: (+1) 267-254-8866
Personal Information: Sex: Female
215-898-6880
215-898-7350
215-898-5691
Home Contact Information
5514 S. Blackstone Ave., Apt H
Chicago, IL, 60637
Citizenship: China
US Visa Status: H1B.
Academic Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar, 05/2013-Present
Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics and The Center for the Economics of Human
Development, University of Chicago
Education:
Ph.D., Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 2013
M.A., Economics, Peking University, 2007
B.A., Economics, Fudan University, 2004
References:
Professor James J. Heckman
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637
(773) 702-0634
jheckman@uchicago.edu
Professor Petra Todd
Department of Economics
University of Pennsylvania
3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 898-4084
ptodd@econ.upenn.edu
Professor Dirk Krueger
Department of Economics
University of Pennsylvania
3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 573-1424
dkrueger@econ.upenn.edu
Professor Kenneth Wolpin
Department of Economics
Rice University
P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX
(713) 348-2522
Kenneth.I.Wolpin@rice.edu
Research Fields:
Applied Economics, Labor Economics, Health Economics, Public Economics, Household Finance
Teaching Fields:
Econometrics, Labor Economics, Health Economics, Public Economics
Teaching Experience:
Summer 2010
Econometrics, Instructor
Spring 2012
Public Finance, Teaching Assistant for Dr. Francesca Acacia
Fall 2011
Introductory Economics for Business Students, Recitation Instructor for Dr. Uriel
Spiegel
Spring 2011
International Finance, Teaching Assistant for Prof. Wilfred Ethier
Fall 2010
Labor Economics, Teaching Assistant for Prof. Kenneth Burdett
Fall 2009-10
Advanced Microeconometrics, Teaching Assistant for Prof. Petra Todd
Spring 2009-10
Time Series Analysis (Ph.D.), Recitation Instructor for Prof. Francis Diebold
Fall 2008
Statistics for Economists, Review Session Instructor for Prof. Aureo de Paula, and
Dr. Suleyman Ozmucur
Referee:
Journal of Political Economy; Review of Economic Studies; International Economic Review; European
Economic Review; LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations
Presentations:
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference on Public Policy
Royal Economic Society Conference at University of Sussex
University of Chicago Economics; University of Chicago Harris; University of
Miami Economics; University of Miami Finance; Chinese University of Hong
Kong; Florida International University; Peking University; Annual Conference of
the Royal Economic Society (x2); Fourth SOLE/EALE World Meeting; 11th
World Congress of Econometric Society (x2); National Tax Association's Annual
Meeting; Human Capital and Inequality Conference at UChicago
University of Cornell; University of Miami; Annual Health Econometrics
Workshop at UToronto; Cowles Summer Conference: Structural Microeconomics
at Yale; Conference on the Affordable Care Act and the Labor Market at Chicago
Fed; Fifth Biennial Meeting of the American Society of Health Economists at USC;
Launch Event of the Center for the Economics of Human Development; Southern
Economic Association Annual Meeting
Ohio State University; Syracuse University; University of Chicago; University of
South Florida; North American Summer Meetings of the Econometric Society;
Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; University of Pennsylvania
Other Professional Activities:
2015
NBER Summer Institute Labor Studies, Health Economics, Health Care, Aging;
NBER Summer Institute Macro Public Finance (2014-2015); NBER Summer
Institute Economic Fluctuations and Growth Working Group on Aggregate
Implications of Microeconomic Consumption Behavior
2014
Fifth Biennial Meeting of the American Society of Health Economists
(Discussant); Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting (Discussant);
Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting (Session Chair); NBER Summer
Institute Macro Public Finance
2009-2012
Coordinator at Graduate Student Housing Community Services at University of
Pennsylvania
2009-2010
Co-organizer of Econometrics Lunch at University of Pennsylvania
Research Experience and Other Employment:
Summer 2012
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Summer Fellow
Winter 2008
The World Bank, Office of VP for Chief Economist, Short Term Consultant
Honors, Scholarships, and Fellowships:
2012
CSWEP Dissertation Fellowship, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
2007 - 12
International Economic Review Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
2011 - 12
Xinmei Zhang Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
20010
Price Theory Summer Camp, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
2009 - 10
Judith Rodin Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
Research Papers:
“A Dynamic Model of Health, Education and Wealth with Credit Constraints and Rational Addiction”,
with James J. Heckman (University of Chicago) (Job Market Paper)
This paper develops and structurally estimates a life-cycle model where health, education, and wealth are
endogenous accumulated processes depending on the history of an individual's optimal behaviors, on
parental factors, and on cognitive and noncognitive abilities. The model investigates many different
pathways between education, health, and wealth by introducing endogenous health capital production and
addictive preferences of unhealthy behavior in the presence of credit constraints. Using data from National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97, we estimate the model using a two-step estimation procedure based on
factor analysis and simulated method of moments. The estimated model decomposes the causal effects of
education on health into the direct benefits of improving health production efficiency and the indirect
benefits of reducing unhealthy behavior and raising earnings. We show that rational addiction has important
quantitative implication on predicted patterns of unhealthy behavior by socioeconomic status and over the
life-cycle. We find sizable impacts of both health and parental transfers on individuals' college decisions. We
find that relaxing credit constraints improves education while its effects on healthy behavior and health
evolves nonlinearly over the life cycle. Finally, we show that both cognitive and noncognitive factors are
important determinants of health, education, and wealth.
“The Determinants of Rising Inequality in Health Insurance and Wages”, July 2015
Revision Requested by Review of Economic Studies
Over the last 30 years in the U.S., less educated workers have experienced a sharp decline in health
insurance coverage rate and stagnant wage growth. In contrast, more educated workers’ health insurance
coverage rate has stayed relatively stable and their wages have rapidly grown. This paper investigates the
determinants of the increase in inequality in health insurance coverage and wages by estimating an
overlapping generations equilibrium model of labor and health insurance markets’ demand and supply. The
estimated model is used to quantify the effects of changes in aggregate factors (including rising cost of
medical care services, Medicaid eligibility expansion, skill-biased technological changes in the labor market,
and changes in the labor force composition) on the inequality of health insurance coverage and wages. I find
that the interaction between the rising cost of medical services and labor market technological change is the
most important determinant of the widening gap of health insurance coverage.
“The Real Effects of Financial (Dis)integration: A Spatial Equilibrium Analysis of Europe”, with
Indraneel Chakraborty (University of Miami), Hans Holter (University of Oslo), and Serhiy Stepanchuk
(Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne).
Accepted in Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference on Public Policy April 2016. Accepted papers are
intended for publications in the January 2017 issue of the Journal of Monetary Economics.
Using data from 15 Euro area economies, we quantify the real effects of supply side frictions in bank lending
due to financial separation of European countries since the crisis. We develop a spatial equilibrium model
with heterogeneous countries. Banks allocate capital endogenously across countries, which in turn
determines firms' cost of capital and nations' wealth. Costs of financial segmentation include reduction in
access to capital for firms and resulting output reduction; and reduction in households' wages and
consumption. We show that financial segmentation can explain between a quarter and a third of the
reduction in firm output since the crisis. We also estimate the benefits of further financial integration to the
European economy.
“On the Welfare Cost of Consumption Fluctuations in the Presence of Memorable Goods”, with Dirk
Krueger (University of Pennsylvania) and Andrew Postlewaite (University of Pennsylvania), Jan 2015
Under Revision.
We propose a new category of consumption goods, memorable goods, that generate a flow of utility after
consumption. We analyze an otherwise standard consumption model that distinguishes memorable goods
from other nondurable goods. Consumers optimally choose lumpy consumption of memorable goods. We
empirically document differences between levels and volatilities of memorable and other goods
expenditures. Memorable goods expenditures are about twice durable goods expenditures and half the
volatility. The welfare cost of consumption fluctuations driven by income shocks is overstated if memorable
goods are not accounted for and estimates of excess sensitivity of consumption might be due to memorable
goods.
“Human Capital Inequality and Endogenous Credit Constraints”, with James J. Heckman (University of
Chicago).
Solicited by Review of Economic Dynamics, special issue on Human Capital and Inequality January
2017. In preparation for submission.
This paper studies a lifecycle human capital model in the presence of endogenous borrowing constraints and
precautionary savings motives. In the model, risk-averse individuals are subject to uninsured human capital
risk and choose to invest in education, accumulate work experience, accumulate assets, and smooth
consumption. Borrowing is permitted up to an endogenous limit, which is explicitly derived from private
lending under full commitment and government student loan (GSL) programs. We use the model to
investigate the determinants of human capital inequality and examine the relationship between educational
attainment, cognitive and noncogntive abilities, and parental education and wealth. We conduct
counterfactual experiments with respect to different loan schedules and evaluate their effects on educational
attainment and human capital inequality.
“Income Inequality, Tax Policy, and Economic Growth”, with Siddhartha Biswas (UNC) and Indraneel
Chakraborty (University of Miami), July 2015
We investigate how reduction of income inequality through tax policy affects economic growth. Taxation at
different points of the income distribution has heterogeneous impacts on households’ incentives to invest,
work, and consume. Using U.S. state-level data and micro-level household tax returns over the last three
decades, we find that reduction of income inequality between low and median income households improves
economic growth. However, reduction of income inequality through taxation between median and high
income households reduces economic growth. These economic growth effects are attributable both to
supply-side factors (changes in small business activity and labor supply) and to consumption demand.
“The Impact of an Early Career Recession on Health and Health-Related Behaviors”, with Naijia
Guo (Chines University of Hong Kong), June 2015
Under Review
Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we estimate the long-term impact of an early career
recession on various health outcomes and health-related behaviors. The early career recession is measured by
the state-specific unemployment rate in the year of labor market entry. Using an instrumental variable
approach, we address the potential selection issues on the timing of labor market entry. We find that first, an
early career recession has an adverse impact on health status, depression, smoking, heavy drinking, illicit
drug use, exercise, and fruit intake; and second, these adverse effects are especially pronounced among loweducated individuals.
Research Papers in Progress:
“Equality of Educational Opportunity in China”, with James J. Heckman (University of Chicago), Sha Tao
(Beijing Normal University), and Yike Wang (University of Chicago)
Using a new and nationally representative large sample of children in China aged six to fifteen, we study
socioeconomic determinants of children's cognitive and noncognitive ability development. Building upon the
recent development on factor analysis and interactive fixed effect model, we estimate the causal effects of
various school inputs and family inputs (as well as their interactions) on children's human capital
development. Our estimator is consistent and allows for flexible correlations between individual level
unobservables and observed inputs. Using estimated human capital production function, we then decompose
the inequality of children's skill development into variations in the family inputs and school inputs.
Programming Skills:
Extensive experience with C++ (including OpenMP & MPI), Fortran, Matlab, SAS, Stata, R, Latex