Yi Wang

Yi Wang is a Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, expecting to complete her degree in May 2026. Originally from China, she holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis, and earned a Master’s in Business Management and a Bachelor’s in Logistics from China Three Gorges University.

Her research combines economic theory and empirical methods to study how market structure and firm conduct shape the effects of public policy on prices, efficiency, and welfare distribution. She applies this framework to the U.S. infant formula market, a highly concentrated and regulated industry. Her dissertation examines the vertical organization of the industry, its implications for government costs under the WIC program, the potential for strategic coordination in WIC rebate auctions, and firms’ pricing behavior under supply disruptions.

Wang has served as academic chair and vice president of Purdue’s Agricultural Economics Graduate Student Organization and has mentored undergraduate researchers through the Summer College of Agriculture Research Fellowship (SCARF). She has taught Mathematical Tools for Agricultural and Applied Economics and led the Ph.D. Math Camp for incoming students.

She is pursuing research-oriented positions in academia, government, or industry and aims to apply empirical analysis to support evidence-based policy and business decisions across food and agricultural markets.