The University of Hong Kong
We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Hong Kong Labor Symposium. The conference will be held on May 29-30, 2026, aiming to foster connections among researchers in the region who work on topics related to labor and development economics.
Prof. Petra Todd (Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics @ University of Pennsylvania)
Prof. Jeffrey Smith ( Paul T. Heyne Distinguished Chair in Economics and the Richard Meese Chair in Applied Econometrics @ University of Wisconsin–Madison)
Day 1: 29 May 2026
8:45 – 9:00 am
Registration
9:00 – 10:00 am
Keynote
“Pronatalist Policies and Household Decisions: A Dynamic Model of Fertility, Labor Supply and Child Care”
Petra Todd
10:00 – 10:15 am
Coffee Break
10:15 – 11:15 am
Session: RCT
“The Impacts of Negative Income Tax on Labor Market and Health Outcomes:
Evidence from a Large Scale Field Experiment”
Sangyoon Park
“Model-Aided Identification of Policy Effects Using RCTs”
Zejin Shi
11:15 – 11:30 am
Coffee Break
11:30 – 12:30 pm
Session: Gig Economy
“How Do Gig Workers Respond to Unanticipated Income Shocks? Evidence from Food Delivery Riders in China”
Dandan Zhang
“Gig Jobs as a Buffer: How Employment Contract and Production Evolve in Firms”
Ruixin Wang
12:30 – 2:00 pm
Lunch : Cafe 1951
2:00 – 3:30 pm
Session: Marriage and Fertility
“Outside Options, Inside Power:
Marriage Prospects and Female Suicide in Rural China”
Li Han
“Mandated Paternity Leave Policy and Fertility”
Jungmin Lee
“Parenthood Timing And Gender Inequality”
Julious Ilciukas
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Coffee Break
4:00 – 5:30 pm
Session: Labor Supply and Geographic Opportunities
“Assessing the Use of Hypothetical Scenarios to Estimate Labor Supply Responses:Evidence from Pension Reform”
Pinchuan Ong
“Whose Land of Opportunity? Informative Place Effects for Heterogeneous Populations”
John Klopfer
“Decomposing the Gender Productivity Gap in Science: Selection, Sorting and Within-Institution Inequality”
Yifan Zhang
5:30 pm
Dinner: The Square
Day 2: 30-May, 2026
8:45 – 9:00
Registration
9:00 – 10:00 am
Keynote
“How Many Children Left Behind? A Meta-Analysis of Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Developing Country Education Programs”
Jeffrey Smith
10:00 – 10:15 am
Coffee Break
10:15 – 11:15 am
Session: Education
“Parental Presence and Children’s Human Capital Inequality: Evidence from China during the Pandemic”
Zibin Huang
“Misaligned Calendars, Missed Internships: Labor Market Costs of Coordination Frictions in Higher Education”
Xinyao Qiu
11:15 – 11:30 am
11:30 – 12:30 am
Session: Gender
“Do female CEOs reduce workplace sexual harassment? Evidence from employee reviews”
Ning Zhang
“Mixed Groups, Mixed Effects: Gender Diversity Improves Performance but Reinforces Gendered Roles”
Xiaoyue Shan
12:30 – 2:00 pm
Lunch: Ming Pavilion
Transportation
- By MTR: Get onto the Campus from HKU Station (Exit A2) and take the lift to the Upper Level of University Street.
- By Taxi: From Admiralty or Central to Cotton Tree Drive to Robinson Road to Kotewall Road. Turn right onto University Drive.
Conference: Room 315, 3/F, K.K. Leung Building, University of Hong Kong
Hotel Jen Hong Kong by Shangri-La
Address:
508 Queen’s Road West, Western District, Hong Kong
Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong
Address:
167 Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
Address
K.K. Leung Building,
The University of Hong Kong,
Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Organizing Committee
Prof. Uta Schoenberg
schoenbe@hku.hk
Prof. Juan Pantano
jpanta@hku.hk
Prof. Naijia Guo
njguo@hku.hk
Email
aaaevent@hku.hk