Wei Xiong, PhD

I am an economist specializing in industrial organization and health care markets. I earned my Ph.D. in Economics from the Institute of Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC-Chile) in 2024. During my doctoral studies, I spent a research semester at the Department of Health Care Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (U.S). I was fully funded by the ANID National Doctoral Fellowship, which also supported my research stay at the Wharton School.

My research has been presented at major conferences, including the Econometric Society World Congress, the International Industrial Organization Conference, and the International Economic Association World Congress.

Before my Ph.D., I obtained a Master of Public Health degree in Global Health from Emory University (U.S.). I also worked as a research associate at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (China), publishing several Q1 journal articles.
My interdisciplinary background in economics, public health, and psychology enables me to study health systems with both analytical rigor and a deep understanding of human behavior and welfare.

My research focuses on the industrial organization of health care markets, particularly how interactions between insurers and hospitals shape efficiency, equity, and mortality outcomes. I study how patient selection, capacity constraints, and bargaining dynamics generate equilibrium outcomes that combine elements of imperfect competition and market failures.

My current work examines Chile’s mixed health insurance market, where public and private insurers coexist. Using a structural-empirical framework, I analyze how adverse selection can raise overall hospital prices and amplify price dispersion across private hospitals.

More broadly, my research interests include the design of subsidies that improve access to quality healthcare. I aim to contribute to the development of evidence-based policy frameworks that improve the performance of mixed health systems by aligning incentives among insurers, providers, and patients.

My teaching experience in UAndes and previously in PUC Chile has focused primarily on Intermediate Microeconomics at the undergraduate level, a course that combines theoretical analysis with empirical and policy applications. In my classes, I emphasize the connection between microeconomic models and real-world market problems, using examples from a range of industries.

I seek to foster economic intuition and critical thinking by designing interactive assessments and applied activities. For instance, students work on group projects where they apply game theory to analyze business competition scenarios or analyze the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence. This approach encourages active learning, helping students develop independent reasoning and analytical skills.

Beyond classroom teaching, I have contributed to the design of course materials, including problem sets, exams, and instructional guides, and have supervised and trained teaching assistants. My teaching philosophy is built on three principles: conceptual clarity, empirical relevance, and active participation.

Student feedback has been consistently positive, highlighting the clarity of explanations, the logical structure of lectures, and my ability to link abstract theory with concrete examples. I view teaching microeconomics as an opportunity to help students develop a disciplined way of thinking—one that enables them to apply the principles of efficiency, equity, and strategic interaction to contemporary economic and policy challenges.