Faculty Members

64 64
Dr. Yang YANG, Leo

Research Assistant Professor
Economics Discipline
Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance

leoyang@hkbu.edu.hk
3411 6612
WLB 533
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1393-5417
https://leoyang.org
View Scopus Profile

Leo Y. Yang is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Baptist University. He studies the political economy of digital transformation. His research examines how artificial intelligence and large-scale digital data reshape labor markets, institutional dynamics, and the production of empirical knowledge. He combines substantive empirical analysis with the development of scalable AI-driven infrastructures to improve measurement, transparency, and accountability in data-rich environments, with a focus on China.

He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science with a specialization in Computational Social Science from the University of California, San Diego (2023), an M.Phil in Social Science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2016), and a Master in Finance from Xiamen University (2014). Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions (SCCEI).

  • Digital Political Economy
  • Labor Markets and Institutional Change
  • AI-Driven Empirical Infrastructure

  • ESG and Sustainability in Economics and Finance
  • Computational Social Science and Programming
  • Artificial Intelligence in Social Science

  • Ph.D. in Political Science (with a Specialization in Computational Social Science), University of California, San Diego, 2023
  • M.Phil in Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2016
  • Master in Finance, Xiamen University, 2014
  • BSc in International Business and Trade, Xiamen University, Tan Kah Kee College, 2010

Biting the hand that teaches: Unraveling the economic impact of banning private tutoring in China

Huang, Z., Liu, Y., Ma, M. &Yang, L. Y.,Dec 2025,In:Journal of Comparative Economics.53,4,p. 954-97623 p.
Research output : Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

Robot adoption and corporate pollution emissions: Evidence from China

Xu, R., Zhang, H., Han, M. &Yang, L. Y.,Apr 2025,In:Pacific Basin Finance Journal.90,15 p., 102647.
Research output : Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

A Silent Silencing Industry: Unveiling the Labor Market of Chinese Censorship

Zhao, A., Yang, D. Y.,Yang, Y. L.& Yang, E.,5 Sept 2024.
Research output : Contribution to conference › Conference paper

Do winners spread more words? Factional competition and local media reports on corruption investigation in China

Hong, J. Y. &Yang, L. Y.,Apr 2024,In:Political Science Research and Methods.12,2,p. 372-38918 p.
Research output : Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

China's consumer spending e-commerce: facts and evidence from JD's festival online sales

Tian, W.,Yang, Y.& Yu, M.,12 Aug 2019,Handbook of US Consumer Economics.1st ed.Elsevier,p. 233-25624 p.
Research output : Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

IGCC Computational Social Science Fellowship

University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, 2022
Research output: Fellowship

Ichimore Student Research Award

University of California San Diego, 2020
Research output: Award

Sanford Lakoff Research Fellowship

University of California San Diego, 2020
Research output: Fellowship

Proof of Replication: Certified Once Before Publication—Checkable by Anyone, Anywhere, in Seconds, Forever

with Gary King and Yiqing Xu

Interpretable Discriminative Text Representations via Agreement and Label Disentanglement

with Tong Wang and Yiqing Xu

Outside the Magistrate's Shadow: Media Beyond Local Authority and Cadre Promotion in China

 

Scaling Reproducibility: An AI-Assisted Workflow for Large-Scale Reanalysis

with Yiqing Xu

User Location Disclosure Fails to Deter Overseas Criticism but Amplifies Regional Divisions on Chinese Social Media

with Yiqing Xu

Bias and Trust in LLM-Driven Screening Automation: Experimental Insights from FinTech Lending

with Xiqian Cai, Yurou Wang and Wenchao Xu

From Visibility to Shadows: The Impact of Police Discretion on Prostitution in Response to Legal Changes

with Yutian An, Yingjie Fan and Xuancheng Qian

Gaslighting: Comment Moderation on Chinese Social Media

with Thomas Cao and Yiqing Xu