Pyung Kim

(Name pronunciation: P-young Kim)

I am a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Spatial Studies and Data Science, University of California, Santa Barbara. My research lies at the intersection of spatial inequality, public policy, and data science. My work has three primary threads:

  1. Spatial Policy Analysis: How do places shape people’s well-being, and what place-based policies can improve it?
  2. Causal Inference for Policy Evaluation: How can we credibly evaluate policy effects using quasi-experimental designs?
  3. AI-Informed Public Administration: How can AI tools identify who faces barriers to public services?

I combine quasi-experimental designs, machine learning, and GIS to analyze large-scale data such as administrative records that follow 10 million students over three decades. Alongside this analytical work, I conduct fieldwork in under-resourced settings (including rural communities in Kenya) to engage directly with communities.

My work has appeared in Energy Policy and the Journal of Criminal Justice, with a forthcoming article in Climate Policy. I also have revise-and-resubmits at Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and at Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy.

I have led and contributed to grant-funded projects supported by U.S. federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA; #JSIT24-04) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR, #90DPBU0006), as well as Korean government agencies.

I am the recipient of the JSIT Research Competition Award from the Social Security Administration via the UW-Madison RDRC (2024), the Brian J.L. Berry Scholarship (2021-2025), the University President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate (2018), and the National Excellence Scholarship of Korea (2015-2018).

Research Fields

  • Health, Social, and Disability Policy
  • Environmental and Climate Policy
  • Neighborhood Effects / Place-Based Policy
  • Causal Inference / Program Evaluation
  • Data Science / Machine Learning / GIS

Contact Me

pyungkim@ucsb.edu
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