Wenchen Wang
- Industry Assistant Professor of Business Economics
Wenchen Wang is an industry assistant professor of business economics at Illinois Tech’s Stuart School of Business. Before joining Stuart, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Labor Employment and Relations, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, from 2023–24. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2023 with a graduate minor in applied economics. She also has a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) focusing on advanced policy analysis from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a B.A. in English from Sichuan International Studies University.
Wang’s research focuses on:
- How labor market institutions, such as occupational licensing and unions, affect the labor market outcomes, including wages, hours worked, and employment
- How labor market institutions affect unconventional labor market outcomes such as employment quality
- Policies promoting equitable labor market outcomes among different gender and racial groups
She is also devoted to the collection of innovative datasets and worked with the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation (ISRDI) at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) to collect comprehensive occupational licensing requirements data from statutes and regulations from 2018–2023. She serves as an ad-hoc referee for journals, including American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Labour Economics, Economic Development Quarterly, etc.
Wang has diversified policy, experience on labor economics-related topics at different levels of public and governmental sectors, including:
- She collaborated with the Illinois Department of Labor in 2024 on a project relating to the Illinois Equal Pay Act.
- She received the 2022 Summer Fellowship from the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), Department of Labor to work on collective bargaining agreement (CBA) related research.
- She worked as a data and policy analyst at the Licensing and Background Studies divisions, Minnesota Department of Human Services from 2017–18.
- She collaborated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and evaluated the economic effects of the Humphrey-Hawkins Act (1975) from 2016–17.
She also worked with other governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations, including Hennepin County and the Volcker Alliance.
Education
Ph.D., Public Affairs, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
M.P.P., Advanced Policy Analysis, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
B.A., English, Sichuan International Studies University
Research Interests
Labor economics
Applied econometrics and causal inference
Public policy
Employment and industrial relations
Data analytics and data quality
Publications
Kleiner, M. M., & Wang, W. (2023). The Labor Market Effects of Occupational Licensing in the Public Sector (No. w31213). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Wang, W. (2023). Examining Illinois Wage Gaps 2018-2022, Gender and Race Differences Matter. Illinois Labor and Employment Relations.
Wang, W. (2024). Universal Licensing Recognition Law (ULR), Whether Illinois Should Adopt It. Illinois Labor and Employment Relations.
Bellisle, D., Bruno, R., Choi, H., Dickson, A., Golden, L., & Wang, W. (2024). What Makes A Good Job: Employment Quality in Illinois Wave 2.0 Report. Illinois Labor and Employment Relations.
Affiliations
