Associate Professor Kailing Shen | Research School of Economics

RSE

Research School of Economics

Position

Associate Professor

kailing.shen@anu.edu.au

Phone number

+61 2 612 53903

Office

Room 2090, LF Crisp Bld (26)

Research areas

I specialize in empirically analyzing the labor market, focusing on diverse aspects such as unemployment insurance, discrimination, gender disparities, income inequality, education, migration, aging, job search, and matching. My research primarily utilizes data sourced from online job boards.

Biography

Kailing Shen is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Australian National University, where she delves into empirical and policy-related labor market issues in her research. Her comprehensive exploration of labor economics includes critical areas such as the impact of information technology on the labor market, unemployment insurance, job search and matching behavior, discrimination, gender differentials, income inequality, higher education, migration, marriage, and intergenerational relationships.

Originating from Nanjing, China, Kailing completed her bachelor's degree at the University of International Business & Economics in China. Prior to pursuing her graduate studies and obtaining her PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada, she served as a program officer on UNDP initiatives with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation in China. With nine years of experience as a faculty member at Xiamen University, China, Kailing enriched her academic background before making the move to Australia.

Kailing's scholarly contributions are widely recognized, featuring in esteemed economics journals such as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Development Economics, and Journal of Comparative Economics. In 2021, she made a significant contribution by authoring a chapter on "Gender Discrimination" in the Handbook of Labor, Human Resources, and Population.

View ORCID profile

Research publications

1. Kuhn, Peter J., Kailing Shen, 2013. Gender discrimination in job ads: Evidence from China. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 128(1) 287–336.

2. Meng, Xin, Shen Kailing, Xue Sen, 2013. Economic reform, education expansion, and earnings inequality for urban males in China, 1988-2009. Journal of Comparative Economics 41(1) 227–244.

3. Shen, Kailing, Peter J. Kuhn, 2013. Do Chinese employers avoid hiring overqualified workers? Evidence from an internet job board. in Corrado Giulietti, Konstantinos Tatsiramos and Klaus F. Zimmermann (eds.) Research in Labor Economics 37 Labor Market Issues in China, Emerald.

4. Kuhn, Peter J., Kailing Shen, 2015. Do employers prefer migrant workers? Evidence from a Chinese job board. IZA Journal of Labor Economics 4(1) 1–31.

5. Bodvarsson, Orn B., Jack W. Hou, Kailing Shen, 2016. Aging and migration: Micro and macro evidence from China. Frontiers of Economics in China 11(4) 548–580.

6. Helleseter, Miguel Delgado, Peter J. Kuhn, Kailing Shen, 2020. The age twist in employers’ gender requests: Evidence from four job boards. Journal of Human Resources 55(2) 428–469.

7. Kuhn, Peter J., Kailing Shen, Shuo Zhang, 2020. Gender-targeted job ads in the recruitment process: Facts from a Chinese job board. Journal of Development Economics 147 102531.

8. Shen, Kailing, Bledi Taska, 2020. Measuring the impacts of COVID-19 on job postings in Australia using a reweighting-estimation-transformation approach. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, COVID-19 Special Issue 23(2) 153–172.

9. Shen, Kailing, 2022. Gender discrimination. In Zimmermann K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham.

10. Kuhn, Peter J., Kailing Shen, 2023. What happens when employers can no longer discriminate in job ads? American Economic Review 113(4) 1013-1048.

11. Shen, Kailing, Yanran Zhu, forthcoming. Labor force transition dynamics: Unemployment rate or job posting counts? Research in Labor Economics.

Research grants and awards

2017-2018: “Self-Sorting or Enforcement? Disentangling the Roles of Job Seekers and Employers in Gender Segregation using Field Experiments,” ANU College of Business and Economics, Research Committee Grant, AUD$10,000.

2015-2016: “Elite University Graduates’ Job Search Advantages and the Heterogeneity of Application Profiles: Evidence from Online Job Board,” ANU College of Business and Economics, Research School Grant, AUD$13,000.

2013-2015: “Impacts of Hukou, Education and Wage on Job Search and Match: Evidence Based on Online Job Board Microdata, ” National Natural Science Foundation of China, (Grant No. 71203188, RMB$190,000 from NSF China and RMB$95,000 support fund from WISE/Xiamen University).

2009-2010: Research Start-up Fund, Xiamen University (RMB$25,000).

2008-2010: “Advertising for Jobs when Age and Gender Discrimination is Legal: Evidence from a Chinese Internet Job Board, ” Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research (ISBER), UC Santa Barbara, (with Peter J. Kuhn) ($6000).

2006-2009: Research Start-up Fund, Xiamen University (RMB$100,000).

Teaching

a. Courses Taught (*best teaching award)

Undergraduate:

Applied Micro Econometrics, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012*, 2013, 2014, 2016-2018;

Labor Economics, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013*, 2014, 2016-2018;

Microeconomics II, 2008; Microeconomics I, 2006, 2011;

Intermediate Microeconomics 2006; Introductory Game Theory 2006;

Southeast Asian Economic Policy and Development, 2015.

Graduate:

Labor Economics 2014, 2016-2018;

Applied Micro Econometrics 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012*, 2013, 2016-2018;

Microeconomics II 2006, 2007, 2008;

Research Methodology, 2007;

Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, 2007.

b. Students supervised (name and year of entrance)

Honours:

David Tian, Tunye Qiu, 2018; Michael Lv, 2017.

Master:

Tianyu Fu, Anqi Chen, 2017;Yushi Yang, Yang Zhang, 2016; Luping Zeng, 2015; Yang Yang, Yujia Peng,Chunnan Chen, 2012; Yang Li, Dan Liu, Fan Pan, Yue Chen, 2011; Jianhui Zhu, 2008; Zhenqing Zhang, Sen Xue, 2007; Jing Xie, 2006.

PhD or above:

Xingjie Shi, 2016; Dan Liu, 2016; Xiang Gao, 2009; Shangyi Mao, 2007; Zhong Wang (Post-doc), 2007; Guochang Zhao, Bo Zhou, 2006.