Yikun Jiang
Ph.D. Candidate
Hello! I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. My research focuses on understanding individuals' decisions on digital platforms to inform platform strategies.
I combine the design and implementation of large-scale field experiments, causal inference, structural modeling, machine learning, and the analysis of unstructured data to answer research questions. In my job market paper, I design and implement a large-scale field experiment on a leading question-and-answer platform, where I experimentally vary the recognition among 12,182 contributing individuals. I present the first field experimental evidence in content contribution decisions that quantifies the relative importance of social motivation versus instrumental motivation with a structural model. Using counterfactual simulations, I then explore platform strategies that encourage contributions. Understanding individuals’ content contribution decisions has important managerial implications for various user-generated content platforms.
Working Papers
Dynamics in Online Knowledge Contributions - Evidence from a Field Experiment. (Job Market Paper)
Engagement Dynamics in mHealth, with Kosuke Uetake and Nathan Yang. (Under Second Round Revision at Marketing Science)
Victim of Your (Customer's) Own Success, with Nathan Yang. (Reject & Resubmit at Journal of Marketing Research)
Ongoing Projects
Available Upon Request