Bio


Yong Suk Lee is the SK Center Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and is affiliated with the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the Center for Global Poverty and Development, and the Center for East Asian Studies.

Lee's research is in the fields of labor economics, technology and entrepreneurship, and urban economics. His current research examines digital technology and labor, focusing on how new technologies will affect labor and how societies react to new technologies. In relation to technology and labor, Lee's research also examines various aspects of entrepreneurship, e.g., entrepreneurship and economic growth, entrepreneurship education, and factors that promote productive entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining Stanford, Lee was an assistant professor of economics at Williams College in Massachusetts. He received his PhD in Economics from Brown University, a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and bachelor's degree and master's degree in architecture from Seoul National University. Lee also worked as a real estate development consultant and architecture designer as he transitioned from architecture to economics.

Administrative Appointments


  • Deputy Director, Korea Program, S-APARC (2016 - Present)

Honors & Awards


  • Research Award - Digital technologies and the labor market in Korea, S-APARC, Stanford (2018-2019)
  • Research Award- Technology adoption in an aging society, Stanford Japan Fund (2018-2019)
  • Cyber Initiative Grant, Stanford Cyber Initiative (2017-2018)
  • Center for Development Economics Research Grant, Center for Development Economics, Williams College (2014)
  • Lincoln Institute Scholar, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (2014)
  • Korea Foundation-Mansfield Foundation Scholar, US-Korea Scholar-Policy Maker Nexus (2013-2014)
  • Hazeltine Fellowship, Brown University (2012)

Program Affiliations


  • Center for East Asian Studies

Professional Education


  • PhD, Brown University, Economics (2012)
  • MPP, Duke University, Public Policy (2007)
  • MS, Seoul National University, Architecture (2001)
  • BS, Seoul National University, Architecture (1999)

2020-21 Courses


All Publications


  • Information technology in the property market INFORMATION ECONOMICS AND POLICY Lee, Y., Sasaki, Y. 2018; 44: 1–7
  • The persistence of entrepreneurship and innovative immigrants RESEARCH POLICY Lee, Y., Eesley, C. 2018; 47 (6): 1032–44
  • Government guaranteed small business loans and regional growth JOURNAL OF BUSINESS VENTURING Lee, Y. 2018; 33 (1): 70–83
  • International isolation and regional inequality: Evidence from sanctions on North Korea JOURNAL OF URBAN ECONOMICS Lee, Y. 2018; 103: 34–51
  • Entrepreneurship, small businesses and economic growth in cities JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY Lee, Y. S. 2017; 17 (2): 311-343

    View details for DOI 10.1093/jeg/lbw021

    View details for Web of Science ID 000397990700003

  • Organization of Disaster Aid Delivery: Spending Your Donations ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL CHANGE Henderson, J. V., Lee, Y. S. 2015; 63 (4): 617-664

    View details for DOI 10.1086/681277

    View details for Web of Science ID 000355827200001

  • School districting and the origins of residential land price inequality JOURNAL OF HOUSING ECONOMICS Lee, Y. S. 2015; 28: 1-17
  • Staffing subsidies and the quality of care in nursing homes JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICS Foster, A. D., Lee, Y. S. 2015; 41: 133-147

    Abstract

    Concerns about the quality of state-financed nursing home care has led to the wide-scale adoption by states of pass-through subsidies, in which Medicaid reimbursement rates are directly tied to staffing expenditure. We examine the effects of Medicaid pass-through on nursing home staffing and quality of care by adapting a two-step FGLS method that addresses clustering and state-level temporal autocorrelation. We find that pass-through subsidies increases staffing by about 1% on average and 2.7% in nursing homes with a low share of Medicaid patients. Furthermore, pass-through subsidies reduce the incidences of pressure ulcer worsening by about 0.9%.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.02.002

    View details for Web of Science ID 000354585100010

    View details for PubMedID 25814437

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4417439

  • Exams, districts, and intergenerational mobility: Evidence from South Korea LABOUR ECONOMICS Lee, Y. S. 2014; 29: 62-71
  • Do Medicaid Wage Pass-through Payments Increase Nursing Home Staffing? HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH Feng, Z., Lee, Y. S., Kuo, S., Intrator, O., Foster, A., Mor, V. 2010; 45 (3): 728-747

    Abstract

    To assess the impact of state Medicaid wage pass-through policy on direct-care staffing levels in U.S. nursing homes.Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data, and state Medicaid nursing home reimbursement policies over the period 1996-2004.A fixed-effects panel model with two-step feasible-generalized least squares estimates is used to examine the effect of pass-through adoption on direct-care staff hours per resident day (HPRD) in nursing homes.A panel data file tracking annual OSCAR surveys per facility over the study period is linked with annual information on state Medicaid wage pass-through and related policies.Among the states introducing wage pass-through over the study period, the policy is associated with between 3.0 and 4.0 percent net increases in certified nurse aide (CNA) HPRD in the years following adoption. No discernable pass-through effect is observed on either registered nurse or licensed practical nurse HPRD.State Medicaid wage pass-through programs offer a potentially effective policy tool to boost direct-care CNA staffing in nursing homes, at least in the short term.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2010.01109.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000277291400008

    View details for PubMedID 20403054

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2875757

  • Political Influence and Trade Uncertainty: Evidence from Sanction Threats and Impositions ECONOMICS BULLETIN Lee, S., Lee, Y. 2018; 38 (1): 367-+