I am a PhD candidate in Economics at UC Berkeley. My advisors are Edward Miguel, Benjamin Faber, Jón Steinsson, and Barry Eichengreen.

My research interests are in development and economic history. My job market paper studies the rural roots of China’s miracle—in particular, the end of collective agriculture in the early 1980s—by applying machine learning to historical satellite imagery. My other research includes both historical work on the rise of East Asia and contemporary fieldwork in Kenya.

You can reach me by email at oliverwkim at gmail dot com.