Welcome to my homepage!

I’m an Econ PhD student at PKU-iGHD. Find me at the website of my institute here.

I earned my Bachelor Degree at China Academy of Finance and Development, Central University of Finance and Economics. For more than ten years prior to this, I majored in violin and composition (though most of my undergrad time I just show the singing skills).

My pre-PhD research interest includes labor, health and politics. And I’m gonna cultivate in these fields for years. Moreover, I’m also familiar with banking and corporate finance.

I’m seeking opportunities for collaboration. If possible, feel free to contact me at mdwang25@stu.pku.edu.cn or wmdplato@163.com.

I’m trying to organize a mentorship program for potential PhD student in China Mainland. If you want to join us as a mentor or a mentee, please also contact me. We are committed to supporting underrepresented groups (based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, geographical location, gender identity, socioeconomic status, etc.).

兄弟登山各自努力

📝 Publications

Pollution, Information and Migration Asian Development Review, Vol. 42, No. 01, pp. 31-56 (2025). First Author & Corresponding Author. (With my research assistant Zikun Ding.)
- Abstract: This paper exploits the staggered roll-out of a landmark Air Quality Monitoring Program in the People’s Republic of China to study the migration response to pollution information disclosure and labor market outcomes. Using two nationally representative individual-level datasets, we show that information mitigates the negative pollution–settlement relationship, contrary to intuition. These results are attributable to (i) information effects—that is, increased life satisfaction from information accessibility and governance efforts; and (ii) health effects—including improved health conditions and reduced hospital costs. Further evidence suggests that income growth is more pronounced for individuals with better internet or mobile device access and in regions with stronger economic development and health-care resources. We also rule out alternative explanations related to labor supply and selection issues. Our findings highlight the benefits of improving public access to pollution information in developing economies where information blockades are widespread.

📝 Pre-PhD Working Papers

A Tale of Blue Sky Submitted. Solo-Authored.
How Does Capital Market Respond to Justice? Submitted. Solo-Authored.
The Environmental Impacts of Stimulus Policy with Yu Luo, Ming-ang Zhang & Hui Zhou.
Conservatism Solo-Authored.

📝 Works in Progress

Foreign Aid
Feminism

📝 Public Goods

My coauthors and I are collecting various micro-datasets of various countries and regions. Feel free to contact us for more information.
Current progress: Brazil, Japan, Korea, Peru, Spain, Taiwan…

🎖 Honors and Awards

📖 Educations

2025.09 - , Ph.D., Economics, Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University.
2021.09 - 2025.06, B.A. Finance, China Academy of Finance and Development, Central University of Finance and Economics.