Industry Expertise (1)
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (3)
Econometrics
Industrial Organization
Applied Microeconomics
Accomplishments (6)
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (professional)
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2015 - 2016
Third Year Paper Competition (professional)
Second Place, Third Year Paper Competition, Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, 2014
Graduate Research Program Partnership Fellowship (professional)
Graduate Research Program Partnership Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2014
Bruce and Mildred Mudgett Fellowship (professional)
Bruce and Mildred Mudgett Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2011 - 2012
Brain Korea 21 Fellowship (professional)
Brain Korea 21 Fellowship, Yonsei University, 2009 - 2011
Altwell Mincho Scholarship (professional)
Altwell Mincho Scholarship, Altwell Mincho Scholarship Foundation, 2006 - 2009
Education (5)
University of Minnesota: Ph.D., Economics 2016
University of Minnesota: M.A., Economics 2015
Yonsei University: M.A., Economics 2011
Yonsei University: B.A., Economics 2009
Yonsei University: B.B.A., Business Administration 2009
Links (2)
Media Appearances (3)
Alcohol colossus seeking Indiana permit after Supreme Court ruling opens door
IBJ online
2020-02-14
Boyoung Seo is quoted behind the paywall in this article.
The Best Pot Pick Could Actually Be Aurora Cannabis Stock
Investor Place online
2019-11-11
Confirming my outlook are the University of Oregon’s Keaton Miller and Indiana University’s Boyoung Seo, who contend in a research paper that “As voters shift toward supporting the legalization of cannabis, in part due to a desire for increased tax revenues, it appears likely that more jurisdictions in the United States and elsewhere will remove long-standing prohibitions on the substance.”
Companies Betting on Pot May Be Worse Off When the Smoke Clears
Wall Street journal online
2018-10-12
The cannabis investing frenzy has reached a fever pitch. With recreational marijuana use becoming legal in Canada next Wednesday and legalization efforts in the U.S. making steady progress, it seems like everyone from former Speaker of the House John Boehner to singer Jimmy Buffett wants a piece of the action. Shares of marijuana companies have soared, startups are proliferating and, while there may be a great deal of money to be made, there may also be a great deal of money to be lost.
Articles (7)
Taxing the Potency of Sin Goods: Evidence from Recreational Cannabis and Liquor Markets
National Tax Journal
2020 Cannabis is legal to purchase for over 28 percent of U.S. citizens. A central argument used in public campaigns for cannabis legalization has focused on the tax revenue that legal cannabis markets could generate. Recently, some policy makers and politicians have debated switching from traditional ad valorem taxes to taxes on potency, aiming to reduce the potential externalities associated with highly potent products.
Why Do Retail Prices Fall During Seasonal Demand Peaks?
Kelley School of Business Research Paper
2019 Examining all widely-sold products in a large, national scanner database, we find that seasonality in demand is large, pervasive across product categories, and heterogeneous in its timing. Yet at seasonal frequencies prices fluctuate little, and typically, countercyclically, falling as demand peaks. A natural explanation for this pattern is that demand becomes more elastic as its level peaks.
The Effect of Cannabis Legalization on Substance Demand and Optimal Taxes
Kelley School of Business Research Paper
2018 Cannabis advocates argue legalization will increase tax revenues. However, if legal substances are substitutes, cannabis revenues may crowd out other taxes. We document substitution between legal cannabis products and alcohol and tobacco products using detailed administrative and scanner data from Washington state. We estimate a flexible demand system for legal substances and find legalizing cannabis leads to a 9% decrease in alcohol and a 12% decrease in tobacco demand.
Firm Scope and the Value of One-Stop Shopping in Washington State's Deregulated Liquor Market
Kelley School of Business Research Paper
Boyoung Seo
2016 Firm scope benefits consumers by allowing them to purchase multiple goods at once. This paper quantifies the consumer benefit of one-stop shopping and returns to firms as a result. Using retailer and household panel data, I exploit an exogenous change in firm scope in Washington State, which allowed liquor sales at grocery stores. I extend the standard method in the structural demand literature allowing for endogenous prices to the setting with complementary goods. The consumer benefit of one-stop shopping is estimated to 11% of liquor expenditure. A store gains 3.6% more grocery and 23% more liquor sales when selling both.
Firm Scope and the Value of One-Stop Shopping in Washington State's Deregulated Liquor Market
Kelley School of Business Research Paper
2016 Firm scope benefits consumers by allowing them to purchase multiple goods at once. This paper quantifies the consumer benefit of one-stop shopping and returns to firms as a result. Using retailer and household panel data, I exploit an exogenous change in firm scope in Washington State, which allowed liquor sales at grocery stores.
Effects of Public and Private Schools on Academic Achievement
Seoul Journal of Economics
2014 The Korean high school system is regulated and monitored by then government to ensure that (i) middle school graduates are randomly assigned to private and public high schools and (ii) the tuitions are the same for both institutions. Hence, any difference between the academic performances of the graduates from private and public high schools is a result from the difference in the schools’ efforts towards the students’ academic achievement. Results show that the students in private schools have better academic performance than those in public schools. Moreover, significant difference exists among boys-only, coed, and girls-only schools. The students’ income level influences their academic performance.
Effects of Public and Private Schools on Academic Achievement
Seoul Journal of Economics
2014 The Korean high school system is regulated and monitored by then government to ensure that (i) middle school graduates are randomly assigned to private and public high schools and (ii) the tuitions are the same for both institutions.