Cheryl Wu, Economics Ph.D. Student
Between the Shelves: Where Archives Meet Economics
Written by Miyabi Shinki
Edited by Charlie Wong
The Stacks is Cheryl Wu’s favorite place at Yale. Located in the heart of Sterling Library and spanning 16 floors, the Stacks is everything she can dream of: a sweeping repository of knowledge, a retreat from the outside world, and a place she can stay for hours poring over history books. Sometimes, Wu says, she is so transfixed she doesn’t want to set them down to go to class.
Her love for bookstacks dates back to her days as an undergrad. At the University of Chicago, where she studied economics and math, Wu worked as a research assistant for Professor James Robinson. His research project, which aimed to understand how the industrial revolution in England led to higher levels of inequality, was something Wu wanted to work on because she found it interesting—and as she became involved in the raw process of searching for historical data at the library, she fell in love with piecing together facts while chasing a broader story.
Now, at Yale, Wu is an Economics PhD student researching how the spread of Western education in the Edo period affected industrialization in Japan in the following Meiji period. The project is still in its early stages—Wu says she is unsure what story the data will tell but is willing to go where it takes her.
More generally, her research interests lie in innovation and the adoption of technology, specifically in East Asia, and reasons for divergence in economic development across countries in the region. Despite its significant share of world GDP and current discourse on the politics of world trade, there are fewer English studies on East Asia in this field compared to other regions. Wu believes that the language barrier plays a role, and hopes to use her proficiency in Chinese and Japanese to add fresh perspectives on the broad relationship between industrialization and economic growth.
Previously, Wu was a research fellow at the University of Tokyo with funding from Yale’s Economic Growth Center (EGC). The EGC supports Yale faculty-led researchers in their exploration of broader issues surrounding growth, inequality, and sustainability through grants for experiences abroad and hiring research assistants. During her time in Japan, Wu spoke with historians and economists researching similar topics, who offered insights on her research and who to collaborate with, read historical books exclusively located at the university’s library, and procured datasets from the government patent office.
Despite geographical constraints, Yale offers unparalleled resources for research. Even after coming back from Japan, where she found many valuable sources for her research, Wu is still able to find most books she wants to read in Yale’s collection. Haruko Nakamura, the librarian for Japanese studies, does a superb job at curating and maintaining books and datasets in high demand, Wu says. In addition, Wu often gets advice from Ms. Nakamura on potential places to find information and lectures that might be helpful or interesting.
Wu finds the research community at Yale is welcoming, collaborative, and extremely supportive. Professors are always willing to help in office hours and reply to emails in a timely manner, which she applauds and appreciates—professors usually receive hundreds of emails within one day on top of other obligations. She has gotten recommendations on where to find data, which books to read, and how to give a good talk. They even pair her with upperclassmen to practice her presenting skills and go to her talks to give feedback.
Aside from designated help, Wu organizes Economic History Lunches, where Yale researchers—usually PhD students or postdocs—come together to share research and give feedback. Wu has presented twice thus far, and she says both times have been greatly beneficial; she has gotten advice on where she might find additional information that is relevant to her research, who to talk to, and similar studies that would be useful to consider. Listening to others’ talks are interesting as well, Wu says, because it gives her an idea of how other researchers are going about finding, compiling, and analyzing data, and whether the research question she’s asking is relevant and interesting to others.
Wu’s journey to becoming a researcher wasn’t static; initially, she hadn’t really considered pursuing research seriously. However, she says she was fortunate to have worked for outstanding professors who not only taught the fundamentals of conducting research, like data analysis, but also challenged her to think critically about how to frame meaningful questions.
Passion is what drives Wu’s research. Often, data is difficult to come by when doing research on economic history; in these moments, it is her curiosity that drives her forward. In many fields, Wu believes passion is equally as important as capability and expertise. Too often, she has seen people burn out, which is often the case when a researcher is not fully invested in their work.
As a researcher, Wu believes it’s important to “let go of your prejudice.” If the data does not support a hypothesis, the responsible approach is to accept the result and move on; although it may be disappointing, persisting with a failed idea is not scientific.
In Wu’s case, even if a hypothesis is proven, she must be careful about applying conclusions from the past to the present. While her research on industrialization in economic history might provide valuable applications to developing countries today, Wu stresses the importance of careful interpretation on various factors and humility in doing so.
“Being a researcher is to realize [that] what your ultimate goal is—to contribute to peoples’ understanding by doing [the] infrastructure work,” instead of coming to hasty, overgeneralized, or superficial conclusions. Through her research, Wu hopes to lay the groundwork for a nuanced understanding of development in developing economies through industrialization. Even if her findings are not directly reflected in policy or implemented, “it’s a foundation that’s there” for other researchers to build on and develop, and eventually turn into something more tangible.