We investigate how data technology influences vertical integration in China’s production network, using a dataset of 99.32 million job postings and firm registration records for 52.6 million companies (2017-2019). By leveraging machine learning algorithms, we precisely map job titles to their corresponding data processing requirements. Using OLS and shift-share instruments, we find: (1) increased data technology adoption in downstream sectors boosts vertical integration, particularly backward integration; (2) contract litigation predicts integration but doesn’t fully explain the effect of data technology; (3) producing firms target data-intensive industries, with most integration happening in software and information services sectors.
@unpublished{liu2026vertical,title={Data-Driven Vertical Integration: Evidence from Large-Scale Job Postings},author={Liu, Zexuan and Chen, Zhiyuan and Zhai, Fuxin and Chih, Yaoyu},note={Revise and Resubmit at Management Science},year={2026},}
Published Papers
2026
经济研究
中国专利质量的测度、变化机制与经济增长效应
Zhiyuan Chen, Yiran Zhang, Jie Zhang, and 1 more author
@article{liu2026patent_quality,title={中国专利质量的测度、变化机制与经济增长效应},author={Chen, Zhiyuan and Zhang, Yiran and Zhang, Jie and Liu, Zexuan},journal={经济研究},year={2026},number={03},}
2024
JHC
Computerization and the Decline of Unincorporated Self-Employment
We investigate the effect of the computer adoption rate, referred to as computerization, on the proportion of unincorporated self-employed individuals within the US labor markets. The conceptual framework suggests that computerization may either augment or diminish this share. Employing a Bartik instrument approach, we disentangle the causal effect of computerization on unincorporated self-employment from 1990 to 2010. Our empirical findings indicate that a 1% increase in computerization corresponds to a 0.79% reduction in the unincorporated self-employment share.
@article{liu2024computerization,title={Computerization and the Decline of Unincorporated Self-Employment},author={Liu, Zexuan and Lee, Sun and Chih, Yao-yu},journal={Journal of Human Capital},year={2024},}
2023
EmpEcon
The Puzzle of Changes in Employment and Wages in Routine Task-Intensive Occupations
Autor and Dorn (Am Econ Rev 103(5): 1553–1597, 2013) provide an explanation of the polarization of US employment and wages for the period 1980–2005. Using the 1980 Census and 2005 American Community Survey data, this study replicates the estimation results of Autor and Dorn (2013) for employment polarization in all major occupation groups and qualitatively matches the wage polarization results. Also, we investigate the puzzle of why employment and wages changed in opposite directions only in clerical and administrative support occupations among three high routine task-intensive occupations.
@article{liu2023puzzle,title={The Puzzle of Changes in Employment and Wages in Routine Task-Intensive Occupations},author={Ghosh, Pallab and Liu, Zexuan},journal={Empirical Economics},year={2023},}
2022
JATM
Incumbents’ Pricing and Non-pricing Responses to Entry in Vertically Differentiated Markets
We investigate incumbents’ pricing and nonpricing responses to product entry in market with vertical product differentiation. Using data from international airline markets, we observe price reductions by connecting incumbents in response to high-quality (nonstop) entry. We also find evidence of product repositioning (increases in total itinerary distance) by connecting incumbents. However, we do not observe significant policy changes by incumbents offering nonstop flights. Additional evidence suggests that the reason for the response by connecting incumbents is the opportunity cost of connecting at desirable airports such as airline hubs.
@article{liu2022incumbents,title={Incumbents' Pricing and Non-pricing Responses to Entry in Vertically Differentiated Markets},author={Bauner, Christoph and Liu, Zexuan},journal={Journal of Air Transport Management},year={2022},}
2021
EI
Heterogeneous Price Effects and Increased Price Dispersion from Quantity-based Congestion Management
We examine the effects of quantity-based approaches to airport congestion management such as slot restrictions on price dispersion and on-time performance. From the evidence at Newark Liberty International Airport, we find that slot restrictions increase price dispersion and improve on-time performance. Price dispersion originates from heterogeneous price effects, as ticket prices for high-value passengers increase more than that for low-value passengers.
@article{liu2021heterogeneous,title={Heterogeneous Price Effects and Increased Price Dispersion from Quantity-based Congestion Management},author={Lee, Sun and Liu, Zexuan and Yu, Haojun},journal={Economic Inquiry},year={2021},}
2020
WD
Effects of Motherhood Timing, Breast-milk Substitutes and Education on the Duration of Breastfeeding: Evidence from Egypt
Breastfeeding has significant health and human capital effects on both mothers and infants. However, breastfeeding rates vary significantly within and across countries as societal, political, economic and cultural factors along with individual choices shape the breastfeeding practices. Using data from the Egyptian Demographic and Health Surveys, this study examines the effects of first motherhood timing, availability of breastmilk substitutes, and mothers’ education levels on breastfeeding duration in a major developing country, Egypt. The empirical analysis, which corrects for the estimation errors that plagued previous research, shows that delaying the first motherhood timing and increasing the availability of infant formulas have statistically significant negative effects on breastfeeding duration. Furthermore, breastfeeding duration is found to be decreasing in mothers’ education levels.
@article{liu2020breastfeeding,title={Effects of Motherhood Timing, Breast-milk Substitutes and Education on the Duration of Breastfeeding: Evidence from Egypt},author={Demir, Firat and Ghosh, Pallab and Liu, Zexuan},journal={World Development},year={2020},}
I explore state-owned and privately-owned incumbents’ differential pricing responses to low cost carrier (LCC) entry in the international airline market. I find that privately-owned incumbents substantively cut prices in response to LCC entry, whereas state-owned incumbents do not. The differential responses of state-owned vs. privately-owned is more considerable on the slot-restricted routes, where incumbents have monopolistic power. In addition, Chinese airlines and Gulf carriers who are aggressively expanding behave differently from other state-owned carriers.
@article{liu2019ownership,title={Ownership and Pricing Response to Entry},author={Liu, Zexuan},journal={Economics Letters},year={2019},}
SEJ
Do State Minimum Wages Affect the Incarceration Rate?
Because of historically unprecedented increases in the prison population since the late 1970s, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Using Becker’s (1968) framework on crime, this study investigates the causal relationship between incarceration rates and state minimum wages. Our identification strategy consists of a state-level fixed effects model and Autor and Dorn’s (2013) two-stage least-squares (2SLS) approach. Using the historical local industry structure, we predict the change in employment shares of manual task-intensive occupations and use those as an instrument for state minimum wages. The fixed effects and 2SLS estimates suggest that a one-dollar increase in state minimum wage leads to approximately 12–25 fewer incarcerations per 100,000 state residents. Estimates of the heterogeneous impacts by race and gender indicate that the aggregate impact of state minimum wages is entirely driven by men.
@article{liu2019minimum,title={Do State Minimum Wages Affect the Incarceration Rate?},author={Ghosh, Pallab and Hoover, Gary and Liu, Zexuan},journal={Southern Economic Journal},year={2019},}
AEL
Coauthorship and the Gender Gap in Top Economics Journal Publications
Coauthorship has become the new norm in academics since the early 1970s because it enhances productivity. However, the gender gap in economics journal publication continues to persist, which explains why there are fewer women than men in the economics profession. This study investigates the role of coauthorship in the gender gap in top economics journals for untenured faculty members in the US. We construct a unique dataset from the CVs of academic economists from the top 96 PhD-granting economics departments in the US. Our results suggest that, compared to men, women are matched with less productive unique coauthors because women begin their academic careers in lower-ranked economics departments than men, which is associated with institutional gender bias. This poor-quality matching can explain approximately 0.60 fewer publications in the top 20 economics journals during the untenured period.
@article{liu2019coauthorship,title={Coauthorship and the Gender Gap in Top Economics Journal Publications},author={Ghosh, Pallab and Liu, Zexuan},journal={Applied Economics Letters},year={2019},}
Patent and Software Copyright
Register No.
Inventors
Type
Title
Status
202511435652.2
陈志远; 刘泽轩; 赵乡阳
发明专利
基于专利文本相似度的专利质量测算方法及系统
实质审查
软著登字第13540339号
刘泽轩
软件著作权
基于大语言模型的招聘职位分类系统V1.0
已登记 (2024)
Funding and Award
The Impact of Automation and Artificial Intelligence on the Unincorporated Firm’s Market Entry National Science Foundation of China Principal Investigator, Grant #72103098, 2021–2024
