Wei-Ting Yen
Assistant Research Fellow
Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica
About
Hi, I am an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica and an Associate Editor of Asian Politics & Policy. Previously, I was an Assistant Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College in the United States.
I am a comparative political economist studying how individuals and governments respond to uncertainty, and how these responses shape public policy and democratic governance. My research examines economic insecurity, geopolitical uncertainty, and crises, with a primary focus on Asia and Taiwan. My current projects explore how the prospect of military conflict with China and AI-driven changes in the labor market are reshaping the politics of welfare states.
My research uses multi-methods approaches. My work has appeared in Public Opinion Quarterly, Governance, The China Quarterly, Journal of Social Policy, and other journals, and has received support from the Mellon Foundation, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, among others. See Research for more.
Beyond academia, I bring Taiwanese perspectives to international discussions of U.S.–China–Taiwan relations and other global issues. I am a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and have advised the U.S. Department of State on Taiwan’s domestic politics. My analysis has appeared in the Brookings Institution, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, and I have been interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other international media.
I am also a co-founder and co-editor of Who Governs Taiwan (菜市場政治學), a Mandarin platform that makes political science research accessible to a broader public. See Public Writing for more.
I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from The Ohio State University, an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University, and an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from National Taiwan University.
我目前是中央研究院政治學研究所助研究員，並擔任 Asian Politics & Policy 副主編。在此之前，我曾任美國 Franklin & Marshall College 政府學系助理教授。
我的研究領域是比較政治經濟學，關注個人與政府如何因應不確定性（uncertainty），以及這些因應方式如何形塑公共政策與民主治理。我的研究探討經濟不安全感、地緣政治不確定性與危機，並以亞洲及台灣為主要焦點。目前進行中的研究計畫，則探討與中國發生軍事衝突的可能性，以及人工智慧（AI）所帶來的勞動市場變遷，如何重塑福利國家的政治。
我的研究採取多元方法取徑。研究成果發表於 Public Opinion Quarterly、Governance、The China Quarterly、Journal of Social Policy 等期刊，並曾獲 Mellon Foundation、蔣經國國際學術交流基金會，以及台灣國家科學及技術委員會等機構的支持。更多資訊請參閱「研究」。
除了學術研究之外，我也致力於將台灣的觀點帶入國際社會對美中台關係及其他全球議題的討論。我是 National Committee on U.S.-China Relations「Public Intellectuals Program」的學者，並曾就台灣國內政治議題向美國國務院提供政策諮詢。我的分析文章曾刊登於 Brookings Institution、Foreign Affairs 與 Foreign Policy，也曾接受 The New York Times、The Washington Post、The Wall Street Journal 等國際媒體訪問。
我也是 Who Governs Taiwan（菜市場政治學）的共同創辦人與共同主編，這是一個以中文讓政治學研究更容易被大眾理解與接觸的知識平台。更多資訊請參閱「公共寫作」。
我取得美國 The Ohio State University 政治學博士、Yale University 東亞研究碩士，以及國立台灣大學政治學碩士與經濟學、政治學雙學士學位。
Research
Peer-reviewed academic publications.
20 publications
- 2026 Article
Territory and Solidarity: Evidence from Taiwan's Pension Policy Reform
- 2026 Article
Feeling Blue: Public Support for Taiwan's Bluebird Movement and Legislative Reform
- 2026 Article
How Cultural Worldviews Moderate Policy Framing on Universal Basic Income
- 2026 Article
Framing and Willingness to Pay for a Local Health Department: Evidence from a COVID-19 Contingent Valuation Experiment
- 2025 Article
Leveraging Coordination Capacity: Medical Resource Mobilization in Asia's Developmental States During COVID-19
- 2024 Article
Why do Individuals in Democratic Societies Support Stringent Policies? A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis
- 2023 Chapter
In Unity There is Strength: How to Incorporate Your Research into Teaching
- 2023 Article
Fighting the Pandemic with 'Shields': Successful COVID-19 Securitization and Mask Policy in Taiwan
- 2023 Article
The Impact of Racial Descriptive Norms on Vaccination against COVID-19
- 2022 Chapter
When Democracy Meets the COVID-19 Pandemic: Taiwan's Experience
- 2022 Article
Income Insecurity and Welfare States in Young Democracy: The Case of South Korea
- 2022 Article
The Imperative of State Capacity in Public Health Crisis: Asia's Early COVID-19 Policy Responses
- 2021 Article
Is Trading with China Different? Self-Interest, National Pride, and Trade Preferences
- 2021 Article
Labor Market, Economic Insecurity, and Populism in Taiwan
- 2021 Article
Crafting Compliance Regime under COVID-19: Using Taiwan's Quarantine Policy as a Case Study
- 2020 Chapter
Understanding Informality in China: Institutional Causes and Subsequent Measurement Issues
- 2020 Article
Taiwan's COVID-19 Management: Developmental State, Digital Governance, and State-Society Synergy
Second most-cited article in Asian Politics & Policy over the past three years (as of 2026). - 2018 Article
Pension Plans and Retirement Insecurity
- 2017 Chapter
Reform without Transformation: Globalization and Financial Supervisory Reform in Taiwan
- 2017 Article
Who Supports the Sunflower Movement? An Examination of Nationalist Sentiments
S.C. Lee Graduate Research Paper Award, Michigan State University.
No publication carries every hashtag you have selected.
Public Writing
My public writing makes evidence-based policy arguments about US–Taiwan–China relations, and brings political science research to Mandarin-speaking readers.
Commentary and op-eds
- Foreign Policy
- Brookings Institution
- Brookings Institution
- Brookings InstitutionHow Do Taiwanese Feel about the Cheng-Xi Meeting?
- Foreign Affairs
- The Diplomat
- Brookings Institution
- Brookings Institution
- Brookings Institution
- Good Authority
- The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University
- Taiwan Public Television Service (in Mandarin)
- The Washington Post
- The Washington Post
- Up Media (in Mandarin)
- Apple Daily (in Mandarin)
- Mandarin Daily News (in Mandarin)
- Mandarin Daily News (in Mandarin)
- Apple Daily (in Mandarin)
- The Washington Post
- Initium Media (in Mandarin)
- The Washington Post
- Risk Society and Policy Research Center, National Taiwan University (in Mandarin)
Who Governs Taiwan (菜市場政治學)
I am a co-founder and co-editor of Who Governs Taiwan, a Mandarin-language site that explains political science research in plain language for readers in the Chinese-speaking world. The project has also produced two edited volumes: Who Governs?: Elections Edition (2018), written for high school and college students and reviewed in China Channel, and Who Governs? EP2: Democratic Ark (2022).
You can also follow the project on social media, or read my author archive.
For Students
I am always excited to work with students who are interested in doing research. I regularly recruit research assistants interested in comparative political economy and welfare politics. If you are interested in joining my research team, please see the recruitment information for details.
Contact
I am happy to connect with journalists, students, researchers, and potential collaborators interested in Taiwan politics, East Asian politics, comparative political economy, or welfare politics. Please feel free to reach out about research collaborations, speaking invitations, or student advising.