MinSub Kim

MinSub Kim

Associate Research Fellow

Korea Development Institute (KDI)

Biography

I am an associate research fellow at Korea Development Institute (KDI). As a labor economist, my main research interests include the role of social networks in labor market outcomes, economic gender disparities, and policy evaluation via causal inference.

Interests

  • Labor Economics
  • Personnel Economics
  • Applied Microeconometrics
  • Social Networks & Inequality
  • Data Science

Education

  • Ph.D. in Economics, 2021

    The Ohio State University

  • M.A. in Economics, 2016

    The Ohio State University

  • M.A. in Economics, 2015

    Yonsei University

  • B.A. in Economics & Applied Statistics, 2013

    Yonsei University

Skills

Stata

R

Python

Latex

Language

Korean, English

Working Papers

Opening the Door for Others? Female Leadership and Gender Disparities (Job Market Paper)

Do empowered women empower women? In order to answer this question, I seek causal evidence for the role of female leadership in redressing gender disparities in academia. Employing a unique dataset on faculty members at 14 public universities in the United States over the years 2000-2018, this paper examines whether the gender of academic heads, i.e. department chairs and/or college deans, affects (1) the gender pay gap, and (2) the share of female professors within a given academic organization, thereby bettering female representation. I also explore the trickle-down effect of female heads from deans to chairs, and from chairs to faculty members. To estimate the causal effect of an academic head’s gender, I adopt an event study design which compares gender-constant head transitions to transitions that involve changes in the gender of the head. On the one hand, when institution- and field-specific effects are controlled for, empirical evidence does not support the hypothesis that female chairs or deans open the door for faculty members of the same gender, at least in terms of wage and female share. On the other hand, male chairs and deans neither favor male faculty over female colleagues nor hinder female faculty’s career outcomes. This study thus implies that the mere appointment of female leaders is not a sufficient means of promoting women’s advancement and representation in the workplace.
PDF
Opening the Door for Others? Female Leadership and Gender Disparities (Job Market Paper)

Social Network and Inequality in Career Outcomes: Evidence from Prosecutors in Korea

Although a myriad of studies have examined the role of social networks in employment, little attention has been paid to their impact on career outcomes, such as promotion. This paper therefore examines how connections with senior prosecutors with a successful career outcome affect the probability of promotion for junior prosecutors in South Korea. To identify a causal network effect, I exploit exogenous variation in networks arising from personnel transfer assignments. The result shows a positive effect from connections with successful seniors: a one standard deviation increase in the number of connections with successful seniors increases the probability of being promoted for a junior by 10.1 percentage points. Here, I evaluate the importance of three potential mechanisms: (1) skill spillovers from a senior to a junior, (2) transmission of information on a junior’s performance between seniors, and (3) nepotism based on alma-mater connections. Empirical evidence consistently points to transmission of information as a major potential mechanism facilitating network effect. Skill spillovers and nepotism also play a meaningful role in determining a junior prosecutor’s promotion. My findings thus suggest that matching a successful senior with a junior in minority groups is an effective way of supporting advancement and representation of minority groups within organizations.
Social Network and Inequality in Career Outcomes: Evidence from Prosecutors in Korea

Teaching

 

Instructor

ECON2002 Principles of Macroeconomics, Spring 2020

ECON3400 The Analysis and Display of Data, Fall 2019

 

Teaching Assistant

ECON2001 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017

ECON2002 Principles of Macroeconomics, Fall 2018, Fall 2016

 

Teaching Award

L. Edwin Smart Departmental Citation for Excellence in Teaching, 2020

 

Comments from Students on Teaching Evaluation Forms

  • MinSub was very flexible and understanding with all students no matter their skill level. He was clearly devoted to the subject matter and constantly made an effort to provide assistance and resources for anyone who needed it. He was always very well prepared and passionate about the content. He did a fantastic job communicating the material despite language difficulties which are completely understandable.

  • Last semester, I took microeconomics to fulfill a requirement for my business major and felt very unprepared throughout the entirety of the course. So, coming into this semester I was a little bit hesitant. Thankfully, you really changed the way I viewed the study of economics and presented all of our course material in an organized and thorough manner. I genuinely enjoyed your class because I was given so many resources to understand each topic. I never felt stressed or overwhelmed with material and felt completely comfortable approaching you for help. I just want to thank you for being understanding and supportive of your students throughout the entire semester; you were never condescending or agitated when people did not perform well or did not understand information. Instead, you communicated clearly and offered your help and extra resources. Thank you for being an exemplary teacher!

  • I appreciated MinSub’s enthusiastic attitude and how he was always willing to help. I went to his office hours after the first exam, and he helped me understand what I got wrong and do better on the next exam. I found it hard to watch lecture videos for all of my classes when we switched to online, but I liked how MinSub gave us a To Do List each week.

  • MinSub was a very good teacher. He made the class material easy to understand and gave me every opportunity to learn the material. He also quickly adjusted his leading plan due to this pandemic and made learning accessible at home.

  • The way the material was presented in the class slides was very beneficial. I also liked doing the recitation quizzes so I could study them for exams, that was very helpful as well. Switching to online lecture was easy, as the videos were posted along with the class slides which made it convenient to watch on my own time. It was hard for me to retain the information presented in lecture, which was another reason why I liked having the recitation quizzes on paper to study on my own time.

  • Overall, MinSub was very good at teaching the material. Although he taught from slides frequently, he made sure to go into more depth concerning the subject matter when it seemed too vague. He was also always courteous and understanding, both in person and over email, and he was able to transition to online teaching quite well. I would definitely recommend MinSub as an instructor to any future students.

  • The professor really demonstrated that he only wanted the best for his students. His teaching was a bit rocky at first, but as the course proceeded he learned how to better himself.

  • He truly cared about economics and looks to be a great person. No complaints with Mr.Kim!

  • MinSub clearly cared about us as students and our learning. I know he would try his best whenever I asked him for help.

  • Minsub did everything he could to help any student who asked and I appreciated that tremendously even if I never need the extra help.

  • The instructor was very helpful and was well prepared.

  • I felt like my professor really cared about his students which made me feel comfortable asking for help when i needed it.

  • I thought Professor Kim did a great job for his first class teaching, he catered to the students who needed help very well.

  • Great instructor who always willing to improve his teaching

  • MinSub is a super nice teacher! Students would line up after class for help, and he’d openly encourage it. I wish the class was a bit more rigorous, but I feel like I understand stats and coding much better than before the course. I like how the lectures were organized (with examples and step–by–step explanations) and how the classes were divided into stats on Wednesdays and coding on Fridays.

  • Minsub always tried to adapt his teaching methods to make them more understandable for his class. He is committed to both his students and the subject he is teaching

  • Good luck in your future endeavors, you have a lot of potential.

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