Yang, Zoe Yang（楊揚）

Biography

Professor Zoe  Yang is an Associate Professor of Real Estate (with tenure) in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the CUHK Business School. She received her PhD in Real Estate from the National University of Singapore in 2018, following an MSc in Urban Land Economics in 2014 and a BComm with Honours in Finance and Real Estate in 2012 from the University of British Columbia.

Her research spans urban and real estate economics, transportation and mobility, environmental and sustainability issues. Professor Yang’s work has been published in leading academic journals, including The Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Real Estate Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Energy Economics. Her research has also attracted media attention, with features and interviews in outlets such as BBC Chinese, Fortune, China Daily, TVB News, Business Times, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Ming Pao, Sing Tao Daily News, and Economic Digest.

Professor Yang holds several editorial positions, including Co-Editor of Regional Science and Urban Economics, Academic Editor of PLOS ONE, and Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Real Estate Literature. She serves on both the International Committee and the Conference Program Committee of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA). In addition, she is an elected Board Member of the Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES) and the Global Chinese Real Estate Congress (GCREC). Beyond academia, she has also served on the Industrial Development Advisory Board of the Yuhuang Shannan Fund Town in Hangzhou, China.

Teaching Areas

Real Estate Development
Real Estate Investment

Research Interests

Urban Economics
Real Estate
Chinese Economy
Environmental Economics

• Publications & Working Papers

  Publications

  • Yang, Y (2025), “Chinese Housing Market Dynamics: The Role of Government Interventions Over the Past Two Decades,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, forthcoming.
  • S. Agarwal, S. Cheng, J. Keppo, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2025), “Information Provision and Search Frictions: Evidence from the Taxi Industry in Singapore,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, accepted.
  • S. Agarwal, W. Kuang, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2024), “The Role of Agents in Fraudulent Activities: Evidence from the Housing Market in Beijing,” Journal of Urban Economics, 142, 103668.
  • H. Fang, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2024), “Competition and Quality: Evidence from High-Speed Railways and Airlines,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 1-16.
  • S. Agarwal, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2021), “Impact of transboundary air pollution on service quality and consumer satisfaction,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 192, 357-380.
  • H. Fang, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2020), “Human mobility restrictions and the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-ncov) in China,” Journal of Public Economics, 191, 104272.
  • L. Wang and Y. Yang (2021), “Political connections in the land market: Evidence from China’s state‐owned enterprises,” Real Estate Economics, 49(1), 7-35.
  • T. Somerville, L. Wang, and Y. Yang (2020), “Using purchase restrictions to cool housing markets: A within-market analysis,” Journal of Urban Economics, 115,103189.
  • Y. Lin, Y. Qin, Y. Yang, and H. Zhu (2020), “Can price regulation increase land-use intensity? Evidence from China’s industrial land market,” Regional Science and Urban Economics, 81, 103501.
  • S. Agarwal, T.F. Sing, and Y. Yang (2020), “The Impact of Transboundary Haze Pollution on Household Utilities Consumption,” Energy Economics, 85, 104591.
  • S. Agarwal, S. Rengarajan, T.F. Sing, and Y. Yang (2017), “Nudges from school children and electricity conservation: Evidence from the “Project Carbon Zero” campaign in Singapore,” Energy Economics, 61, 29-41.
  • S. Agarwal, S. Rengarajan, T.F. Sing, and Y. Yang (2016), “School allocation rules and housing prices: A quasi-experiment with school relocation events in Singapore,” Regional Science and Urban Economics, 58, 42-56.

  Working Papers

  • Hanming Fang, Ming Li, Long Wang, and Y.Yang, “High-Speed Rail and China’s Electric Vehicle Adoption Miracle,” NBER Working Paper No. 33489.
  • Hanming Fang, Long Wang, and Y. Yang, “Housing Shock and Online Consumption Behavior.”
  • Y. Yang, “Energy Saving and Price Premium of Green Buildings: Evidence from Singapore.”
  • Sumit Agarwal, Long Wang, and Y. Yang, “Online Consumption Response to Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution: Evidence from a Quasi-experiment in China.”
  • Tsur Somerville, Long Wang, Zhengzheng Xu, and Y. Yang, “A Matter of Looks: Evidence from Real Estate Agent Appearance on Sales Performance.”

• Grants
  • Strategic Seed Funding for Collaborative Research Scheme, 2025-2027
  • “Environmental Pollution and Consumption Behavior in the Digital Era”, Young Scientists Fund awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2023-2025
  • “Information Salience and Vehicle Idling Behavior”, Project Impact Enhancement Fund awarded by CUHK, 2023-2025
  • “Air Pollution and Online Consumption”, General Research Fund awarded by University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, 2023-2025
  • “Wealth Shock and Online Consumption”, Early Career Scheme awarded by University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, 2020-2022
  • “Competition and Quality: New Evidence from the High-Speed Rails and Airlines”, Project Impact Enhancement Fund awarded by CUHK, 2020-2022
  • “Blessing in Disguise? Environmental Shocks and Performance Enhancement”, Project Impact Enhancement Fund awarded by CUHK, 2019-2021

• Academic/Professional Services

  Editorial Boards

  • Co-Editor, Regional Science of Urban Economics
  • Academic Editor, PLOS One
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Real Estate Literature
  • Guest Editor, Sustainability

  Peer-reviews

  • Review of Economics and Statistics
  • Journal of Public Economics
  • American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,
  • Management Science
  • Review of Finance
  • Journal of Industrial Economics
  • Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
  • China Economics Review
  • Journal of Urban Economics
  • Real Estate Economics
  • Regional Science and Urban Economics
  • International Real Estate Review
  • Journal of Housing Economics
  • Cities
  • Review of Transportation Research – Part B
  • Transport Policy
  • World Development
  • Journal of Asian Economics
  • Economic Modelling
  • International Journal of Urban Sciences

  Conference Reviewer

  • Conference Committee, 2026 ASSA-AREUEA Conference, 2025-2026
  • Industrial Development Advisory Board, Hangzhou Yuhuang Shannan Fund Town, Zhejiang, China, Sep 2024 – Present
  • International Committee, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA), Jan 2024 – Present
  • Membership Committee, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA), Jan 2024 – Dec 2024
  • Conference Committee, AsRES-GCREC Joint International Real Estate Conference, 2023
  • Board of Directors, Global Chinese Real Estate Congress (GCREC), Nov 2021- Present
  • Reviewer, Annual Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism, 2019-Present