Byunghwan 'Ben' Son

Research

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Byunghwan Son (2024). Consequences of Democratic Backsliding in Popular Culture: Evidence from Blacklist in South Korea. Democratization, Forthcoming. Journal Link PDF Appendix Slides Replication

Byunghwan Son (2024). Foreign Policy Consequences of Democratic Backsliding: The case of the Comfort Women Agreement in 2015. The Pacific Review, Forthcoming. Journal Link PDF Slides

Nisha Bellinger, Jonathan Krieckhaus, and Byunghwan Son (2024). The Political Economy of Life Satisfaction: Democracy, National Wealth, and Personal Income. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Forthcoming. Journal Link PDF Code

Byunghwan Son (2024). Foreign Pop Culture and Backlash: the case of non-fan K-pop Subreddits during the pandemic. Journal of Cultural Economics, 48 (1): 117-143. Journal Link PDF Data Code

Byunghwan Son and Nisha Bellinger (2022). The Health Cost of Autocratization. Journal of Development Studies, 58(5): 873-890. (Winner of the Dudley Seers Memorial Prize). Journal Link PDF Data Code

Byunghwan Son and Chungshik Moon (2021). Security Threats and Investment: North Korean Threats and the South Korean Stock Market. Pacific Focus, 36(3): 544-569. Journal Link PDF

Byunghwan Son (2021). Presidential Approval Ratings and the Foreign Exchange Market: The Korean Won under the Park Guen Hye Government. Asian Survey, 61(5): 767–796. Journal Link PDF Data Code

Byunghwan Son (2020). Doi Moi and Vietnamese threat perception of Chinese economic growth. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 21(4): 179-193. Journal Link PDF Dataverse

Byunghwan Son (2020). Interpersonal Trust and Confidence in Labor Unions: The Case of South Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies, 20(2): 267-290. Journal Link PDF Appendix Data Code

Byunghwan Son (2020). Democracy and Reserves. Foreign Policy Analysis, 16(3): 417-437. Journal Link PDF Appendix Dataverse

Nisha Bellinger and Byunghwan Son (2019). Political Parties and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows among Developing Countries. Political Studies, 67(3): 712-723. Journal Link PDF

Byunghwan Son (2018). The mysterious overvaluation of KRW in the 1990s. The Pacific Review, 31(5): 573–597. Journal Link PDF

Byunghwan Son and Jonathan Krieckhaus (2018). Latin American Democratization and Currency Crises (1975-2008), Journal of International Relations and Development, 21: 442-463. Journal Link PDF

Byunghwan Son (2016). Policy choices in tough times: The case of democratization and currency defense. International Political Science Review, 37(4): 453–46. Journal Link PDF

Byunghwan Son (2016). Are the Poor the Weak Link? Democratic Support and Income Levels in Post-Crisis South Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies, 16(2): 219–237. Journal Link PDF Appendix

Dursun Peksen, Byunghwan Son (2015). Economic Coercion and Currency Crises in Target Countries. Journal of Peace Research, 52(4): 448–462. Journal Link PDF

Jonathan Krieckhaus, Byunghwan Son, Nisha Bellinger, and Jason M. Wells (2014). Economic Inequality and Democratic Support. Journal of Politics, 76(1): 139–151. Journal Link PDF Code Media Appearance

Current Research Projects

Income Levels and Institutional Confidence

Democratic Backsliding and Central Bank Independence

Democratic Bacsliding and Financial Data Transparency (w/ Chungshik Moon)

Fiscal Regimes and Economic Crises: Learning Effect in Asia (w/ Nisha Bellinger)

K-pop and Male Masculinity (w/ Dae Young Kim)

Fan Perspectives on Racism in K-pop (w/ Dae Young Kim)

Nationalism and Petition (w/ Myunghee Lee)

Book Projects

The Consequences of Democratic Backsliding in South Korea

The project highlights the episode of democratic backsliding that unfolded between 2008 and 2017 in South Korea as a critical case study of how erosion of vertical and horizontal democratic accountability leaves damaging imprints in society. In particular the negative consequences of the backsliding on financial markets, foreign policies, and popular culture industries are illustrated with a deep dive into quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Globalization in Reverse: The Reception of K-pop and Korean Popular Culture in the United States (w/ Dae Young Kim)

The project studies the North Korean fans of K-pop drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and on-line survey data, it highlights the multi-dimensional variations in K-pop fans engagement with the music and artists, the fandom, people around them, and themselves. We show that K-pop brought about behavioral changes of fans in cosmopolitan, diversity embracing, and barrier-breaking ways.