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ACADEMIC POSITIONS
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2024 - Assistant Professor of Economics, Pennsylvania State University
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2024 - Research Affiliate, IZA (Institute of Labor Economics)
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2023 - 2024 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
(Louis A. Simpson Center for the Study of Macroeconomics and Department of Economics)
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EDUCATION
2023 Ph.D., Economics, University of Maryland
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2017 M.A., Economics, Seoul National University, South Korea
2015 B.A., Economics, Summa Cum Laude, Seoul National University, South Korea ​
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FIELDS OF SPECIALIZATION
​Macroeconomics, Firm Dynamics, Labor Economics, Innovation, Economic Growth
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WORKING PAPERS
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“Workers' Job Prospects and Young Firm Dynamics”
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“Competition, Firm Innovation, and Growth under Imperfect Technology Spillovers”, CES Working Paper No. 24-40, with Karam Jo
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"Mega Firms and Recent Trends in the U.S. Innovation: Empirical Evidence from the U.S. Patent Data", NBER Working Paper No. 31460, with Serguey Braguinsky, Joonkyu Choi, Yuheng Ding, and Karam Jo
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“Product Switching and Young Firm Dynamics over the Business Cycle”, with Karam Jo
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“Improving Patent Assignee-Firm Bridge with Web Search Results”, CES Working Paper No. 22-31, with Yuheng Ding and Karam Jo
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WORK IN PROGRESS
“Geospatial Heterogeneity in Inflation: The Role of Retailer Dynamics”, with Michael A. Navarrete
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"Measuring Real Sales and Inflation: Official Statistics vs Economics Transactions Data", with Gabriel Ehrlich, John Haltiwanger, David Johnson, Jake Kramer, Michael A. Navarrete, Edward Olivares, R. Benjamin Rodriguez, and Matthew Shapiro
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“Heterogeneity in Wage and Firm Dynamics: The Role of Worker Job Prospects”
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PUBLICATION
“Sectoral Heterogeneity in Nominal Rigidities in Korea: Implications for Monetary Policy”, with Jae Won Lee,
Korean Economic Review Volume 36, Number 1, Winter 2020, 59-99. (Predoctoral Research)
SHORT-TERM VISITS
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, July 2024
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, May 2024
CEMFI, March 2024
Dissertation Fellow, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, May-August 2022
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RESEARCH AND RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE
Doctoral Training Workshop on Economics of Executive Compensation, NBER, 2024
Special Sworn Status (SSS) Researcher, U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 -
PhD Fellow, Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation, 2021 - 2023
Research Assistant, Prof. John Haltiwanger, University of Maryland, 2020 - 2023
Entrepreneurship Research Boot Camp, NBER, 2020
PhD Intern, Fund Internship Program, International Monetary Fund, 2020
Research Associate, The Bank of Korea Economic Research Institute, 2017
Research Assistant, Prof. Jae Won Lee, Seoul National University, 2016
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GRANTS AND AWARDS
Doctoral Research Grant, Washington Center for Equitable Growth, 2023 - 2024
Best Job Market Paper Award, Korea-America Economic Association, 2022
Best Paper in Entrepreneurial Cognition, Finalist, Academy of Management and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 2022
American Economic Association Summer Dissertation Fellowship, 2022
BSOS Dean’s Research Initiative Doctoral Dissertation Award, University of Maryland, 2022
Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant, University of Maryland, 2022
Royal Economic Society Conference Award, 2021
International Conference Student Support Award, University of Maryland, 2021
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Assistance Funds, 2020 - 2023
Hayak Fund for Scholars, Institute for Human Studies, 2020
BSOS Dean’s Research Initiative Travel Grant, University of Maryland, 2020
Graduate Assistantship, Department of Economics, University of Maryland, 2017 - 2023
National Research Fellowship for Humanities, Korea Student Aid Foundation, 2016
Graduate Assistantship, Department of Economics, Seoul National University, 2015 - 2016
Brain Korea 21+ Scholarship, Seoul National University, 2015 - 2016
Merit-based Scholarship, Seoul National University, 2012 - 2014
Superior Academic Performance Scholarship, Seoul National University, 2010
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CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS
(*scheduled, †co-author presented, §virtual, Ç‚canceled due to travel restrictions)
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Seminars​
2025: Rice University*, Brookings Institution*, U.S. Census Bureau*, Halle Institute for Economic Research*
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2024: CEMFI, Princeton University, Clemson University, Bureau of Labor Statistics†§, Rutgers University, Technology and Policy Research Initiative Seminar (Boston University)§, Inha University†§, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, USDA†, BLS*, Drexel University*, Queen Mary University of London*, LSE*, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia*, Federal Reserve Bank of New York*, Tufts University*
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2023: University of Michigan, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Penn State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, SUNY at Buffalo, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, City University of Hong Kong§, Korea Development Institute§, OECD§, Hong Kong UniversityÇ‚, IMF§, Technology and Policy Research Initiative Seminar (Boston University)†§, Yonsei University, University of Toronto, Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation Seminar†§, Princeton University
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2022: U.S. Census CES Seminar§ x 2, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, University of Maryland, Smith School of Business
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2021: Sejong University†, University of Maryland
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2020: University of Maryland
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Conferences
2025: ASSA 2025 Annual Meeting (San Francisco)* x 2
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2024: ASSA 2024 Annual Meeting (San Antonio) x 2, STEG-CEPR Annual Conference 2024 (NYU Abu Dhabi), The BdE-BOC-ECB-FED Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central Banking (Bank of Spain)†, Northeast Labor Symposium for Early Career Economists (Princeton), DC Search and Matching Conference (Federal Reserve Board), West Coast Search and Matching Spring Workshop (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco), NBER Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program Meeting Spring 2024 (Boston), Washington DC Urban Economics Day Workshop 2024 (George Washington University)†, Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data Conference (PSU) x 3, Midwest Macro Spring 2024 Meeting (VCU and Richmond Fed), Junior Search and Matching Conference (virtual), Yale Cowles Summer Conference in Macroeconomics (Yale), North American Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society 2024 (Vanderbilt University), Barcelona School of Economics Summer Form (BSE)† x 2, Society for Economic Dynamics 2024 (Barcelona) x 2, Conference on Inequality and Mobility (University of Chicago), CRC TR Workshop on Labor Markets (University of Mannheim), SITE Conference 2024 (Stanford), Midwest Macro Fall 2024 (Purdue)†, CEPR Joint Workshop on Incentive Management Organization and Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Firm Dynamics (Imperial College London)*, OIGI Early Career Researcher Workshop (Minneapolis Fed)*, SEA Annual Meeting (Washington DC)*, NBER Competition in the U.S. Agricultural Sector Meeting (Boston)*
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2023: WEAI International Conference§, SOLE (Philadelphia), Midwest Macro Spring 2023 Meeting (Clemson) x 2, NBER Megafirms and the Economy Spring 2023 Meeting†, Society for Economic Dynamics 2023 (Cartagena), KER-KAEA International Conference (Yeosu), AIEA-NBER Conference (Taipei), 2023 FSRDC Annual Research Conference (Federal Reserve Board), Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation†§, 2023 FCSM Research and Policy Conference (College Park)†, CMA-Durham Workshop on Innovation, Business Dynamism, and Market Power (Durham University), Midwest Macro Fall 2023 Meeting (Texas Tech) x 2, CEPR Annual Meeting of Macroeconomics and Growth 2023 (Madrid), SEA Annual Meeting (New Orleans) x 3, NBER Innovation Information Initiative Technical Working Group (Boston)
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2022: MEA Annual Meeting (Minneapolis) x 2, U.S. Census CES Seminar†§, North American Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society 2022 (Miami), Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society 2022§, RES Symposium of Junior Researchers 2022§, WEAI Annual Conference§, Australasian Meeting of the Econometric Society 2022§, Academy of Management Annual Meeting (Seattle), Young Economist Symposium 2022 (Yale), 2022 FSRDC Annual Research Conference (Kansas City Fed)†, Korean Econometric Society 2022 Fall Conference (SNU)†, Economics Graduate Student Conference 2022 (WUSTL), KAEA Job Market Conference§, Midwest Macro Fall 2022 Meeting (SMU), SEA Annual Meeting (Fort Lauderdale), Minneapolis Fed Junior Scholar Conference, Korea International Economic Association 2022 Winter Conference (SNU)†
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2021: WEAI Virtual International Conference†§, RES 2021 Annual Meeting§, WEAI Annual Conference§, Economics Graduate Student Conference 2021 (WUSTL), European Winter Meeting of the Econometric Society 2021§
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DISCUSSIONS
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“Superstars or Supervillains? Large Firms in the South Korean Growth Miracle” by Jaedo Choi, Andrei A. Levchenko, Dimitrije Ruzic, and Younghun Shim, SNU-UC San Diego Joint Webinar (Virtual), 2024
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“Economic Growth through Diversity in Beliefs” by Christian Heyerdahl-Larsen, Philipp K. Illeditsch, and Howard Kung, SFS Cavalcade North America (Georgia State University), 2024
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“When do Firms Profit from Wage Setting Power?” by Justin Bloesch and Birthe Larsen, Northeast Labor Symposium for Early Career Economists (Princeton University), 2024
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“The Effect of Minority Bank Ownership on Minority” by Agustin Hurtado and Jung Sakong, The BdE-BOC-ECB-FED Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central Banking (Bank of Spain), 2024
“Productivity Slowdown and Firm Exit: The Ins and Outs of Banking Crises” by Andrea Rotarescu, ASSA Annual Meeting (San Antonio), 2024
“Bank Concentration, Product Market Competition, and Productivity Growth” by Lei Ye, MEA Annual Meeting (Minneapolis), 2022
“Specialization in a Knowledge Economy” by Yueyuan Ma, WEAI Annual Conference (virtual), 2021
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SERVICES
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Journal Referee Services
Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Journal of Monetary Economics, Research Policy, Review of Economic Dynamics, Review of Economics and Statistics
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Grant Referee Services
STEG Small Research Grants and PhD Research Grants​
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Other Professional Services
Session organizer of the ASSA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2025
Faculty Scholar of the Asia Innovation and Entrepreneurship Association (AIEA), 2024-
Co-organizer of the Student-led Workshop on Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation (SEFI), 2021 - 2023
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Departmental Services
Co-organizer of Macro Seminar at Penn State, Spring 2025
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TEACHING EXPERIENCE
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Penn State
Macroeconomic Analysis (Master), Fall 2024
Firm Dynamics: from Micro Data to Macro Models (PhD), Spring 20245
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University of Maryland
Principles of Macroeconomics (undergrad), Summer 2019 - 2020, Winter 2020
Macro Comprehensive Exam Session (Ph.D. core), Summer 2019 - 2020
Teaching Assistant, Macroeconomic Analysis II (Ph.D. core), Spring 2019 - 2020
Teaching Assistant, Macroeconomic Analysis I (Ph.D. core), Fall 2018 - 2019
Teaching Assistant, Money and Banking (undergrad), Spring 2018
Teaching Assistant, Intermediate Macroeconomics (undergrad), Fall 2017
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COMPUTATION SKILLS
Eviews, Fortran, MATLAB, SAS, Stata, R
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PERSONAL
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Nationality: South Korea
Languages: Korean (native), English (fluent)
김슬아 (Legal name in Korean); Married; Amateur Violinist
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