Song Yunlong

SONG YUNLONG

Ph.D Candidate in Economics

I am a job market candidate and I will be available for interviews.

REFERENCES

Professor Lin Ma
Email: linma@smu.edu.sg
Tel: +65 68280876

Professor Yuan Mei
Email: yuanmei@smu.edu.sg
Tel: +65 68085212


Professor Jing Li
Email: lijing@smu.edu.sg
Tel: +65 68085454




WORKING PAPERS

"Physical and Human Capital Accumulation in a Spatial Economy",  with Lin Ma and Yang Tang  (Job Market Paper)

We study how spatial factor accumulation responds to economic shocks and its implication for quantifying aggregate and distributional impacts. To examine its response and implications, we develop a dynamic spatial model that incorporates capital accumulation and skill acquisition. Focusing on China’s trade liberalization and infrastructure expansion in the early 2000s, we show that allowing for capital accumulation amplifies welfare gains and intensifies inequality across skill types, while skill acquisition attenuates impacts on skill premiums by balancing skill supply in response to shocks. Our findings highlight the critical role of capital-skill interactions in shaping aggregate and spatial impacts, suggesting that both capital and skill adjustments are essential to understanding the full impacts of economic shocks on welfare and inequality.

RESEARCH PAPERS

"The Spatial General Equilibrium Impacts of Inward FDI", with Lin Ma

We study the spatial general equilibrium impacts of inward FDI using a dynamic spatial model with capital being allowed to move across borders. Focusing on China, we explicitly estimate FDI barriers at prefectural level, FDI elasticity, and FDI knowledge spillover elasticity. Using IV constructed from China’s early 2000s FDI policy liberalization, we find a positive knowledge spillover of inward FDI. In quantitative analysis, we show that inward FDI has a substantial positive impact on welfare in China due to FDI knowledge spillover, with coastal cities gaining more. We also explore the role of local FDI barriers in explaining regional inequality in China: eliminating the barriers reduces China’s regional inequality but also decreases its total income.