Dean Yang is professor in the Department of Economics and the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. His research agenda spans a range of applied microeconomic topics, including international migration, microfinance, health, disasters, trade, religion, and political economy. Methodologically, much of his work involves randomized controlled trials in field settings, while other work involves unearthing and analyzing novel data sources.
His past and current field research locations include El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Philippines, as well as migrant populations of Filipinos in Italy and the UAE, Indians in Qatar, and Salvadorans and Kenyans in the US. He teaches courses in development economics at the PhD, master, and undergraduate levels.
A native of the Philippines, he received his undergraduate and PhD degrees in economics from Harvard University.