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Core faculty

Dean Yang

Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Ford School; Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSA; Research Professor, Population Studies Center

(734) 764-6158 [email protected]

Dean Yang is a professor of public policy and economics. His research is on the economic problems of developing countries. His specific areas of interest include: international migration, microfinance, health, corruption, political economy, and the economics of disasters. Dean teaches a Ford School course on the economics of developing countries, as well as a PhD course in development economics. He received his undergraduate and PhD degrees in economics from Harvard University.

Educational background

PhD in economics, Harvard University
BA in economics, Harvard University

Current research

The economics of health decision-making in Mozambique

Recent publications

Carter, Michael, Rachid Laajaj, and Dean Yang, “Subsidies and the African Green Revolution: Direct Effects and Social Network Spillovers of Randomized Input Subsidies in Mozambique,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 2021, pp. 206-229.
Mahajan, Parag and Dean Yang, “Taken by Storm: Hurricanes, Migrant Networks, and U.S. Immigration,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 2020, pp. 250-77.

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PubPol 534
PubPol 534: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PubPol 534
PubPol 534: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PUBPOL 534
PUBPOL 534: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PUBPOL 534
PUBPOL 534: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PUBPOL 534
PUBPOL 534.001: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PUBPOL 558
PUBPOL 558.003: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth
Dean Yang
This course aims to teach students how to use and conduct benefit-cost analysis. To do this, students must possess the ability to model economic behavior in the real...
PUBPOL 558
PUBPOL 558.003: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth
Dean Yang
This course aims to teach students how to use and conduct benefit-cost analysis. To do this, students must possess the ability to model economic behavior in the real...
PUBPOL 534
PUBPOL 534.001: Economics of Developing Countries
Dean Yang
This course surveys what we do and don't know about economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. We begin by discussing alternative perspectives on the goals of...
PUBPOL 558.002
PUBPOL 558.002: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth
Dean Yang
This course aims to teach students how to use and conduct benefit-cost analysis. To do this, students must possess the ability to model economic behavior in the real...

Publication
Yang conceives new framework for examining migration policies
May 23, 2023
How can individual researchers, NGOs and governments accurately assess how to improve migration policies, given the fraught international and sometimes nationalist political environment? While migration from a poorer to a richer country can have the...
State & Hill
Faculty News, spring 2023
May 3, 2023
Dominique Adams-Santos, Celeste Watkins-Hayes, and PhD candidate Kayonne Christy contributed a chapter, "Narratives in Context: Locating Racism and Sexism in Black Women's Health Experiences," to The Routledge Companion to...
Publication
Yang’s remittances study has implications for survey design and empirical analyses
Feb 1, 2023
Researchers working with measuring remittance data often run into one big problem — misreporting. To provide better guidance for their own and their colleagues’ work, Dean Yang, professor of public policy and economics, and co-authors Giuseppe De...
Publication
Yang provides insight into the mistreatment of migrant workers
Jan 20, 2023
International migrant workers are at major risk of suffering abuses from their employers. Migrants who work for private households as domestic workers (DWs) are considered especially vulnerable given that they live in their employers’ homes where...
News
Seeking inspiring scholar and changemaker—please apply
Dec 15, 2022
The University of Michigan has officially launched its invitation to apply to be the next Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. The job description calls for “an experienced and inventive...

In the Media
Raising aspirations for poor entrepreneurs may backfire - Yang
Sep 21, 2021 VoxDev
Can setting larger, more ambitious goals and financial self-help books aid poor entrepreneurs in decision-making? In a new study, Dean Yang, professor of economics and public policy, and Aakash Mohpal, a U-M PhD alum, found that the two variables...
In the Media
Yang on remittance disruptions in Afghanistan
Sep 2, 2021 Wall Street Journal
As the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan it became more and more disconnected from global financial systems, cutting off ways Afghans living abroad send money home. Dean Yang, who studies the role of remittances in developing countries...

CFLP Blue Bag Lunches
The myth of the "millionaire mindset": Experimental evidence from Filipino entrepreneurs

Apr 1, 2021, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT

Professor Dean Yang will discuss the recent paper, “Aspirations and Financial Decisions: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines” and the myth of the “millionaire mindset.”
Designing Better Microfinance

Mar 16, 2006, 4:00-5:30 pm EST
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
A symposium designed to explore the latest thinking from microfinance practitioners and academics on improving microfinance programs. Jonathan Morduch, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University presented the keynote address. The conference focused on designing microfinance to address education and health goals and addressing behavioral issues in microfinance. This symposium was funded through the generosity of the Hudak family. James B.

Dean Yang: The myth of the "millionaire mindset": Experimental evidence from Filipino entrepreneurs
Apr 1, 2021 0:53:30

Professor Dean Yang talks about the recent paper, "Aspirations and Financial Decisions: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines." April 2021.
Abundance from abroad: migrant income and long run economic development
Nov 12, 2020 1:01:52

When international migrant incomes improve, what are the consequences for global income (from international and domestic sources) in migrant-origin economies?
Information and the Acquisition of Social Network Connections by Dean Yang
Jun 25, 2020 0:55:10

Information and the Acquisition of Social Network Connections: A Randomized Experiment among New U.S. Immigrants with Toman Barsbai, Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr and Erwin Tiongson.
Dean Yang: Motivating migrants leads to better savings
Apr 3, 2014 0:02:08

Dean Yang is an associate professor of public policy at the Ford School and in the department of economics.
Dean Yang: Fingerprinting helps lenders in Africa
Oct 9, 2012 0:01:43

Dean Yang is an associate professor of public policy at the Ford School and in the department of economics.

Dean Yang

Educational background

Current research

The economics of health decision-making in Mozambique

Recent publications

PubPol 534: Economics of Developing Countries

PubPol 534: Economics of Developing Countries

PUBPOL 534: Economics of Developing Countries

PUBPOL 534: Economics of Developing Countries

PUBPOL 534.001: Economics of Developing Countries

PUBPOL 558.003: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth

PUBPOL 558.003: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth

PUBPOL 534.001: Economics of Developing Countries

PUBPOL 558.002: Microeconomics B: Economic Decision-Making in depth

News

Yang conceives new framework for examining migration policies

Faculty News, spring 2023

Yang’s remittances study has implications for survey design and empirical analyses

Yang provides insight into the mistreatment of migrant workers

Seeking inspiring scholar and changemaker—please apply

In the Media

Raising aspirations for poor entrepreneurs may backfire - Yang

Yang on remittance disruptions in Afghanistan

Events

The myth of the "millionaire mindset": Experimental evidence from Filipino entrepreneurs

Designing Better Microfinance

Videos

Dean Yang: The myth of the "millionaire mindset": Experimental evidence from Filipino entrepreneurs

Abundance from abroad: migrant income and long run economic development

Information and the Acquisition of Social Network Connections by Dean Yang

Dean Yang: Motivating migrants leads to better savings

Dean Yang: Fingerprinting helps lenders in Africa

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