Weineng Xu, Ph.D.

"Geographic Differences in the Earnings of Economics Majors." The Journal of Economic Education 45.3 (2014): 262-276. with John V. Winters

 

Abstract: Economics has been shown to be a relatively high-earning college major, but geographic differences in earnings have been largely overlooked. The authors of this article use the American Community Survey to examine geographic differences in both absolute earnings and relative earnings for economics majors. They find that there are substantial geographic differences in both the absolute and relative earnings of economics majors, even when controlling for individual characteristics such as age, education, occupation, and industry. They argue that mean earnings in specific labor markets are a better measure of the benefits of majoring in economics than simply looking at national averages.

 

"Social Comparison and Wealth Inequality in a Leveraged Asset Market." Journal of Behavioral Finance (2020): 1-21

 

Abstract: We hypothesize that upward social comparison of asset holdings among traders exacerbates leveraged asset bubbles because traders shift their frame of reference from profit maximization toward quantity maximization, increasing price momentum. In addition, asset prices should inflate even more in markets with wealth inequality because the relative reference shift becomes stronger. We test this theory within the standard asset market experiment environment, where we introduce the ability to borrow using leverage and treatments encouraging social comparison and manipulation of wealth inequality. We find that social comparison leads to asset overpricing, and its impact is the greatest when combined with wealth inequality. On the other hand, wealth inequality alone does not lead to greater asset price bubbles. These findings are consistent with housing market patterns prior to the financial crisis.