Professor Chun-Yu Ho's Research Featured on WeChat

The Department of Economics is proud to announce that Professor Chun-Yu Ho's recent article, "Fintech Adoption and Financial Institutions' Skill Demands," has been featured on a prominent WeChat blog. Co-authored with Shuang-Xuan Sun (PhD candidate at Shanghai Jiao Tong University) and Xi Zhu (Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University), the study examines how the increasing adoption of financial technology (fintech) by customers influences skill requirements and wage structures in financial institutions.

Using a comprehensive dataset of nearly one million job postings from Chinese financial institutions between 2014 and 2022, the research reveals that a one-standard-deviation increase in customer fintech usage leads to a 9.99% rise in demand for information and communications technology (ICT) skills and an 18.58% increase in wage premiums for these roles. The findings highlight a two-stage mechanism: initially, institutions hire ICT talent to build digital channels, followed by salary adjustments due to rising transaction revenues. The study also notes variations across institution types—insurers, securities, and investment firms show significant adaptations, while banks respond more slowly—and observes that state-owned entities lag due to lower competitive pressures. Interestingly, demand for artificial intelligence skills has not yet shown notable changes.

Read the full WeChat Blog post here. Also read the full research article here.