Woohun Son / Economics

Welcome to my academic website. I am a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at The Ohio State University, where I focus on cutting-edge research in industrial organization, applied econometrics, and decision theory.

Research Interests

My research examines how limited opportunity such as attention or budget constraints affects consumer behavior and market outcomes, with particular emphasis on:

• Industrial Organization: How firms compete in advertisement when consumers have limited attention
• Applied Econometrics: Developing methods to identify parameters of interest when structural models were brought into applied works
• Decision Theory: Developing methods to test Random Utility Model (RUM), and characterizing stochastic transitivity

Current Research

I am currently working on projects that bridge theory and empirical analysis:

1. Limited Attention in Advertising: Investigating how consumer attention constraints shape advertising strategies and market competition
2. Ordered Choice with Unobserved Budget: Developing identification strategies for ordered discrete choice models with unobserved affordability constraints

Academic Background

• Ph.D. in Economics (expected 2028), The Ohio State University
• M.A. in Economics (2023), The Ohio State University
• M.A. in Economics (2022), Korea University
• B.A. in Korean History and Economics (2019), Korea University (Double Major)

Research Experience

Graduate Research Assistant (2025)
The Ohio State University
Working with Prof. John Rehbeck on decision theory research and consideration-set related topics.

Graduate Research Assistant (2021-2022)
NYU Abu Dhabi
Collaborated with Prof. Christopher Paik on economic history research using Japanese colonial data as instrumental variables.

For more information about my research, please visit my Research page or download my CV.