Curriculum Vitae

Research interests: Public finance, education policy, financial management, fiscal uncertainty, school choice, performance and accountability, policy evaluation.

Education
2019–2026
Ph.D., Public Management & Policy — Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Dean's Fellowship (Coca-Cola Foundation, merit-based). Dissertation: Three Essays on Contracting Out in Education and School District Outcomes.
2016–2018
MPP — Seoul National University, Graduate School of Public Administration. Thesis: The Effects of Bureaucrats' Discretion on their Rule Bending Behaviors.
2008–2013
B.A., Sociology — Seoul National University, cum laude, minor in Philosophy.
Skills
Languages & software
R SQL Python Stata Excel ArcGIS Pro Qualtrics
Data management
Web scraping, PDF parsing, data cleaning & validation, multi-source data integration, workflow automation
Analysis & modeling
Trend analysis, regression and panel modeling, time series forecasting, causal inference (difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, synthetic control, event study), survey design, text mining and topic modeling (LDA), geospatial analysis
Deliverables
Technical writing, data visualization, stakeholder briefings, policy memoranda, peer-reviewed publication
Languages
English (fluent); Korean (native)
Research & policy experience
2019–2026
Atlanta, GA
Graduate Research Assistant
Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
  • Token-based name scoring and fuzzy-matching pipeline in R joining 266,000 municipal bond issuers to 11,831 school districts across 36 states; 58.4% match rate.
  • Scripted retrieval of 15 years of state agency data (2004–2019) with cross-year schema validation.
  • End-to-end Qualtrics survey of 192 U.S. municipalities; automated distribution cut collection from three weeks to two days.
  • Co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on ARPA SLFRF reporting, a $350B federal program, with recommendations to city governments.
  • Web scraping, PDF parsing, and LDA topic modeling in Python on council minutes preceding Chapter 9 bankruptcy; presented at ASPA and ABFM.
  • Taught data visualization in R (2024–2025), GIS applications (2024), and microeconomics (2022).
2016–2019
Seoul, KR
Research Assistant
SNU Research Center for Aging Society and Social Capital
  • Delivered three government-funded annual reports with five senior researchers, supporting three contract renewals.
  • Analyzed national survey microdata on 2,076 older adults merged with county-level indicators; five peer-reviewed papers (three first-author).
  • Contributed to a 30-year county-level population projection and identified key drivers of change.
2018
Seoul, KR
Legislative Aide
National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
  • Compiled urban transportation data for legislative directors and a 10+ member team; drafted policy memoranda and press releases.
Peer-reviewed publications

Ke, L., Kwon, E., Hong, M., & Jimenez, B. (2025). Assessing the Implementation of ARPA Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: The View from City Officials. Publius: The Journal of Federalism.

Kwon, E. J., & Kim, S. E. (2019). Explaining Levels of Invalid Votes with Four Theoretical Models. Journal of Local Government Studies, 31(2), 353–375. [in Korean]

Kwon, E. J., Yun, I., & Kim, S. E. (2018). Gender Difference in Elder Self-neglect in South Korea. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 38(3), 627–643. [in Korean]

Kwon, E. J., & Kim, S. E. (2018). The Effects of Bureaucrats' Discretion on their Rule Bending Behaviors. Korean Society and Public Administration, 28(4), 83–110. [in Korean]

Hong, S., Eo, Y., Jang, S., Kwon, E. J., & Kim, S. E. (2017). Perceptions of Information Technology in the Elderly: Using Q methodology. Korean Journal of Gerontological Social Welfare, 72(2), 371–398. [in Korean]

Works in progress

Topic Analysis on the Minutes of Council Meetings Before a Municipality Declared Bankruptcy.

Impact of Charter School Competition on School District Financial Conditions. (dissertation chapter II)

Does Charter School Competition Increase School District Borrowing Costs? (dissertation chapter III)

Impact of Charter System Reform on Education Outcomes in Georgia. (dissertation chapter IV)

Conference presentations
ASPA 2024, 2025 ABFM 2022–2024 PMRC 2024 APSA 2023 MPSA 2023 APPAM 2022 SECoPA 2021, 2023 ISSSS 2017
Teaching
Data Visualization in R — graduate level, GSU, 2024–2025
GIS Applications with ArcGIS Pro — graduate level, GSU, 2024
Grants & fellowships
ICPSR Summer Program Scholarship — University of Michigan, 2023
Dean's Fellowship — Coca-Cola Foundation, merit-based, 2019–2022; full tuition, AYSPS
Brain Korea 21 Plus research grant — NRF Korea, 2018