Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor at the School of International Studies, Kyung Hee University, specializing in international political economy and public policy.

My dissertation focuses on high-skilled immigration. The main questions motivating my dissertation project are: (1) How does information affect the attitudes of native-born citizens toward high-skilled immigration? (2) What determines high-skilled immigration policy in the U.S. Congress? (3) Do technology companies prefer foreign nationals over native citizens? (What are the microfoundations governing the hiring decisions in respect to native citizens and foreign nationals?)

In another line of research, I study the effects of economic sanctions in target states. Specifically, I aim to answer the following questions: (1) How do economic sanctions affect public opinion and consumer behavior in target states? (2) Under what conditions does backlash in public opinion lead to backlash in consumer behavior in target states?

My research is published in International Studies Quarterly, Proceedings of International Conferences of Computational Science Americas, and Review of International Political Economy.

I received my PhD in International Affairs and Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, the University of Pittsburgh. I hold a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Brown University and a MA in International Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and a MA in Political Science at Texas A&M University. Prior to graduate school, I worked as a business consultant at IBM, South Korea. For more information about my research and teaching, please feel free to contact me at rena.sung@khu.ac.kr.