Dayea Oh

Biography

Dayea Oh is an applied microeconomist studying political economy, labor economics, and development economics. Her works commonly study the causal impacts of desirable social changes and policy designs. In one line of work, Oh focuses on gender by studying the impact of women running for office on her competitors' campaign finances as well as their voting patterns later in Congress. She also studies how newly exporting Chilean firms change their labor structure and gender composition around the time of entry into the export market, given the gender pay gap. In a different research study with Professor Reshmaan Hussam, she uses a field experiment to find negative behavioral transmission from school to home and home to school among school-aged children in rural Bangladesh. Most recently, Oh is exploring the patterns of campaign donations in the local and state government. 

Oh was born in South Korea and grew up in different countries including the US, Bulgaria, Canada, and New Zealand, before coming back to the States for college. She also spent some time in China, which is still her favorite travel destination to this day. In her free time, she likes to take a walk, read a book, or cook Korean food. Both she and her husband are avid travelers and especially enjoy visiting national parks across the country. Oh graduated with a BA in economics from Rice University and holds a MA in applied economics from Cornell University. She received a PhD in public policy from Harvard in May and joins the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University in August 2023.

Education

• PhD, Public Policy, Harvard
• MA, Applied Economics, Cornell University
• BA, Economics, Rice University