Yiwen Zhang

Thesis: 'Can the Welfare State Break Free from the Inequality Trap?'

I am investigating a central puzzle in political economy: how can public policy overcome the constraints imposed by rising economic inequality? I focus on key dimensions of welfare state design and examine how citizens’ support for redistribution is shaped by their perceptions of the welfare state and their underlying motivations.

• Political Economy of Inequality
• Political Psychology
• Public Opinion
• Social Policy
• Computational Social Science