Wenjun Wang

Wenjun Wang is a PhD student in Economics at SOAS, University of London. Her research lies at the intersection of income inequality and social mobility, with a particular focus on intergenerational mobility in China and comparative perspectives across East Asia and developing regions. She is especially interested in understanding how institutional environments such as education systems, labor markets, and policy frameworks, shape mobility opportunities and constraints.

Her current doctoral research examines the mobility trajectories of “small-town exam takers” in China, a group that has attracted increasing attention in discussions of meritocracy and structural inequality. Using a multidimensional analytical framework, her work investigates both the structural barriers these individuals face and the strategies they adopt to navigate them. The project also incorporates comparative insights from countries such as Japan and South Korea to situate China’s experience within a broader global context.

Methodologically, Wenjun specializes in quantitative analysis, with a strong emphasis on causal inference. She has experience working with large-scale household survey data, including the China Household Income Project (CHIP) and the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Her research applies advanced econometric techniques to explore dynamic relationships between inequality and mobility, including questions of causality, time lags, and nonlinear effects.

Prior to her PhD, Wenjun completed an MSc in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. She has conducted research on the upward mobility of rural migrant workers in urban China, contributing new empirical evidence on long-term mobility trends and the evolving returns to migration. She has also undertaken cross-country research on nonlinear growth–inequality relationships, highlighting the limitations of conventional linear models.

In addition to her academic work, Wenjun has professional experience as a research assistant at the Youth Futures Foundation, where she contributed to systematic reviews and evidence synthesis on youth employment policies. She has also worked as a field interviewer for the China Family Panel Studies, conducting in-depth household surveys in rural China.

Her broader research agenda aims to contribute to policy-relevant debates on inequality, education, and social mobility, with the goal of identifying pathways toward more inclusive economic development.

• Intergenerational Mobility
• Income Inequality
• Poverty Trap