Research
Labor Markets · Technology · Institutions · Inequality

My research examines how labor market and welfare institutions mediate technological and global change. Across projects on automation, platform work, and migration, I study how employment structures and social protections distribute risk and opportunity across workers—and what policy arrangements can make those transitions more equitable.

Job Market Paper
Dissertation chapter · Full draft available

From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea

The dominant account of automation predicts polarization between high- and low-skill work. This paper shows instead that technological shocks are filtered through Korea’s segmented employment institutions. Combining longitudinal panel data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study with institutional analysis, I examine how automation reallocates risk across standard and nonstandard employment relations—and why apparent reductions in wage inequality can coexist with deepening labor market dualization.

Methods Longitudinal panel analysis · institutional analysisRecognition 2026 David Marsden Best Paper Prize · 2026 LERA/AILR Best Paper Competition
Dissertation: Rethinking Labor Market Inequality in South Korea: Automation, Institutions, and Stratification
Committee: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (Chair), Will Milberg, Ying Chen
Research Projects
01

Technology and Labor Market Stratification

I examine how automation and AI interact with employment protections, bargaining arrangements, and labor market segmentation to redistribute risk and opportunity.

Current paperFrom Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in KoreaApproachLongitudinal panel data · institutional analysis · interviewsSelected presentationsSASE · LERA · World Inequality Conference · KALS, 2026
02

Platform Work and Institutional Change

I study platforms as privately governed labor market institutions, connecting algorithmic control and worker autonomy with the employment and welfare gaps that generate demand for platform work.

Current papersProgramming Apps, Programming WorkersThe Political Economy of Flexibility as NecessityFieldworkKerala, India · Starr Student FellowshipSelected presentationsWINIR · ISA RC21, 2026
ISA World Congress, 2027
03

Migration and Informal Institutions

I investigate how moral economies and informal institutions shape migrant workers’ incorporation into labor markets and help normalize the endurance of exploitative work.

Current paperInstitutional Void, Moral Economy, and Consented Endurance: How Educated Young Korean Women Migrant Workers Accept ExploitationSupportWilliam R. Waters Research GrantSelected outputs & venuesIAFFE, 2026 · ASE/ASSA, 2027
Routledge book chapter, forthcoming
Collaborative Research

Research Fellow (Working Group Member)AI and Its Social Impacts Research Project

Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI)

Contribute to a five-pillar cross-national study of how institutional conditions—including government quality—shape the economic and social effects of AI diffusion. Responsible for Pillars 2 and 3, developing comparative indicators and panel data on labor market adjustment, human-capital transition, social protection, and redistribution.

Period2026–PresentProject scopeFive institutional pillars · Cross-national panel, early 2000s–2025My focusLabor market adjustment & human-capital transition · Social protection & redistribution

Graphical Literacy, Misinformation, and Public Interpretation

With Debasmita Basu, I study how prior beliefs and confirmation bias shape the interpretation of graphs and quantitative claims, with implications for data literacy and public reasoning.

Current workAn article under review at the Journal of Mathematical BehaviorNew projectWhy accuracy-only data-literacy training fails
Publications and Manuscripts
  • Working Paper
    From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea Job Market Paper
    Lee, Hoyeon. Dissertation chapter. Full draft available.
  • Working Paper
    Programming Apps, Programming Workers: Algorithmic Control and the Institutionalization of Autonomy
    Lee, Hoyeon. Fieldwork in Kerala, India; presented at ISA RC21 and WINIR.
  • Working Paper
    The Political Economy of Flexibility as Necessity: How Labor Market and Welfare Failures Create Demand for Platform Work
    Lee, Hoyeon. Accepted for the XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology, 2027.
  • Forthcoming
    Institutional Void, Moral Economy, and Consented Endurance: How Educated Young Korean Women Migrant Workers Accept Exploitation Book Chapter
    Lee, Hoyeon. In John B. Davis (ed.), Stratification Economics in the Global Economy. Routledge.
  • Under Review
    When Beliefs Shape Literacy: An Examination of Confirmation Bias in Students’ Interpretation of Misleading Graphs
    Basu, Debasmita, Hoyeon Lee, and Annie Hua. Journal of Mathematical Behavior.
  • 2019
    Persistence and Change in Local Government Welfare Policy: Evidence from School Meal Programs in South Korea
    Lee, Hoyeon. Policy Research, 3(1): 1–31.
  • 2018
    Quality of Labor Market and Quality of Life in South Korea Book Chapter
    Lee, Hoyeon, and Jae-jin Yang. In MJ Moon (ed.), Government Quality and Quality of Life.
  • 2017
    Who Are Outsiders in the South Korean Labor Market?
    Lee, Hoyeon, and Jae-jin Yang. Korean Policy Studies Review, 26(2): 65–104.
  • 2016
    Life Satisfaction and Inequality of Opportunity for Happiness among the Elderly in Korea
    Yang, Jae-jin, Hoyeon Lee, and Jung-ju Lee. Social Science Review, 47(2).
Conference Presentations

The Political Economy of Flexibility as Necessity: How Labor Market and Welfare Failures Create Demand for Platform Work

XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology · Gwangju, South Korea · Accepted, invited session

Institutional Voids, Moral Economy, and Consented Endurance: Why Highly Educated Migrants Remain in Exploitative Work

Allied Social Science Associations Annual Meeting · Washington, D.C. · Accepted

From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea

Korean Association of Labor Studies · Seoul

Programming Apps, Programming Workers: Algorithmic Control and the Institutionalization of Autonomy

ISA RC21 Conference on Sociology of Urban and Regional Development · Vienna

Programming Apps, Programming Workers: Algorithmic Control and the Institutionalization of Autonomy

WINIR Young Scholars Pre-Conference Workshop · Rome · Selected young scholar

Institutional Void, Moral Economy, and Consented Endurance: How Highly Educated Women Migrant Workers Come to Accept Exploitation

International Association for Feminist Economics Annual Conference · Cali

From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea

Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Annual Conference · Bordeaux · David Marsden Best Paper Prize

From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea

World Inequality Conference, Paris School of Economics · Paris

From Polarization to Dualization: How Labor Market Stratification Filters Automation Shocks in Korea

Labor and Employment Relations Association Annual Meeting · Minneapolis · LERA/AILR Best Paper Competition

The Role of Confirmation Bias in Interpreting Political Graphs

National Numeracy Network Annual Meeting · With Debasmita Basu

The Effect of Technological Changes on the Youth Labor Market

Youth Hub and Seoul Metropolitan Government Annual Conference · Seoul

Who Are the Outsiders in the South Korean Labor Market?

Korean Academy of Social Welfare Spring Conference · Seoul · With Jae-jin Yang

Who Are the Outsiders in the South Korean Labor Market?

Korean Association for Governance Studies Winter Conference · With Jae-jin Yang

The Effects of Collaborative Governance on Policy Performance

Korean Association for Governance Studies Winter Conference

The Effects of Collaborative Governance on Policy Performance

Seoul Association for Public Administration Annual Conference

Persistence and Change in Universal Free School Meal Policy in South Korea: A Fuzzy-set Analysis of Government Partisanship

Korean Association for Local Government Studies International Summer Conference · Seongnam

Life Satisfaction and Inequality of Opportunity for Happiness among Older Adults in Korea

Korean Association for Policy Studies Annual Conference · With Jae-jin Yang and Jungjoo Lee

The Dynamics of the Expansion of Korea’s Earned Income Tax Credit and Changes in Its Beneficiary Groups

Korean Association for Public Administration Theory Annual Conference · Jeju · With Seo-eun (Grace) Jeong

The Effects of Minimum Wage Increases on Youth Employment

Korean Association for Governance Studies Annual Conference · Seoul · With Intae Choi

Research Experience
  • 2026–Present
    Research Fellow (Working Group Member), AI and Its Social Impacts Research Project
    Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI)
    Responsible for the labor market adjustment and social protection pillars, developing cross-national institutional indicators and datasets on workforce adaptation, redistribution, and inequality under AI-driven transformation.
  • 2023–Present
    Research Collaborator, Graphical Literacy & Misinformation Project
    Advisor: Debasmita Basu
    Research design, IRB protocols, interview and survey instrument development, literature review, data collection, qualitative analysis, and conceptual development.
  • 2021–2022
    Platform Cooperativism Research Fellow
    Platform Cooperativism Consortium
    Conducted research on platform labor, worker cooperatives, and digital labor institutions and contributed to manuscript development for Own This! (Verso, 2023).
  • 2020
    Principal Investigator, Technology and Youth Employment
    Youth Hub · Seoul Metropolitan Government
    Led an independent quantitative study on technological change and youth employment, from research design and data analysis to policy evaluation and final report preparation.
  • 2019–2022
    Research Assistant, Job Quality Project
    The New School for Social Research · Washington Center for Equitable Growth–funded project
    Constructed the Institutional Bargaining Power Index, harmonized cross-national labor-force data, and contributed empirical analyses on inequality, job quality, and labor market institutions.
  • 2015–2018
    Research Fellow, Institute for Welfare State Research
    Yonsei University · Advisor: Jae-Jin Yang
    Conducted empirical and policy-oriented research on labor markets, welfare systems, and inequality across government- and foundation-funded projects.

Additional details are available in the Curriculum Vitae.