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Eddie Yang

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CDDRL/HAI Predoctoral Scholar, 2022-2023

Eddie Yang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at UC San Diego. His research focuses on repression and the politics of Artificial Intelligence. His dissertation studies how existing repressive institutions limit the usefulness of AI for authoritarian control, with a focus on China. His work has been published in both computer science and political science. 

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Keep it Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing Among Strangers

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SMS information campaigns are increasingly used for policy. We conduct a field experiment to study information sharing through mobile phone messages. Subjects are rural households in Mozambique who have access to mobile money. In the baseline intervention, subjects receive an SMS containing simple instructions on how to redeem a voucher for mobile money. They can share this non-rival information with other exogenously assigned subjects unknown to them. We find that few participants redeem the voucher. They nonetheless share it with others and many share information about the voucher they do not use themselves. Information is shared more when communication is anonymous and we find no evidence of more sharing with subjects who have similar characteristics. We introduce treatments to increase the cost of sending a message, shame those who do not send the voucher to others, or allow subjects to appropriate the value of information. All these treatments decrease information sharing. To encourage information diffusion among strangers, the best is to 'keep it simple'.

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Publication Type
Working Papers
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
IZA Discussion Paper
Authors
Marcel Fafchamps
Number
No. 14780

Sarah Lee

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CDDRL Honors Student, 2022-23
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Major: International Relations
Minor: Human Rights
Hometown: Arcadia, CA
Thesis Advisor: Rob Reich

Tentative Thesis Title: Understanding Facebook's disparities in democratic investment around the world

Future aspirations post-Stanford: I'm not entirely sure yet, but I know that my work will relate to human rights in some way, whether that looks like immigrant and refugee justice or the intersection of human rights and technology. I am interested in going to law school one day, and I would love to work a few years in policy and advocacy first.

A fun fact about yourself: My current favorite artist and writer is the same person: Japanese Breakfast, aka Michelle Zauner. If you haven't listened to her band’s music or read "Crying in H-Mart," you must!

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Avalon Wolfe

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CDDRL Honors Student, 2021-22
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Major: Political Science
Minor: Computer Science; Ethics and Technology 
Hometown: Fort Worth, TX
Thesis Advisor: Francis Fukuyama

Tentative Thesis Title: Examining Why Countries With Little Histories of Privacy Enact Data Privacy Laws

Future aspirations post-Stanford: I'm not sure precisely what I want to do after college, but I hope to work at the intersection of technology and law/policy.

A fun fact about yourself: I'm a vegetarian from Texas (and my hometown is actually referred to as Cowtown).

Sreya Guha

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CDDRL Honors Student, 2021-22
Sreya Guha

Major: Symbolic Systems (concentrating in AI) 
Minor: History
Hometown: Los Altos Hills, CA
Thesis Advisor: Larry Diamond

Tentative Thesis Title: Exploring the role of Parler in radicalization and extremism

Future aspirations post-Stanford: I am interested in further studying the intersection of technology and society either through graduate school or law school.

A fun fact about yourself: I'm born and raised in the Bay Area except for two years when I was young I lived in India.

The Rise and Fall of Technology in Chinese History

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About the Seminar: Joseph Needham famously asked why China did not have its own Industrial Revolution. Using a newly constructed database, Yasheng Huang will show that China’s technological collapse happened much earlier than previously thought and the collapse coincided closely with the rise of autocracy and ideological homogeneity.
 

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About the Speaker:

Yasheng Huang
Yasheng Huang is Epoch Foundation professor of international management, professor of global economics and management, and faculty director of action learning at Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently involved in research projects in three broad areas: 1) political economy of contemporary China, 2) historical technological and political developments in China, and 3) as a co-PI in “Food Safety in China: A Systematic Risk Management Approach” (supported by Walmart Foundation, 2016-). He has published numerous articles in academic journals and in media and 11 books in English and Chinese. His book, The Rise and the Fall of the EAST: Examination, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology in Chinese History and Today, will be published by Yale University Press in 2023.

 

Online, via Zoom.

Yasheng Huang Professor MIT Sloan School of Management
Seminars
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