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Meiqing Ren

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I am an applied microeconomist interested in labor, health, and gender economics.

My job market paper analyzes the effects of state infertility insurance mandates in the United States that require employer-sponsored health insurance plans to cover infertility treatments. I find that women of later childbearing age (30-45) are less likely to become self-employed as a result of the mandates. My results show unintended consequences on women's entrepreneurship and provide evidence of entrepreneurship lock (i.e., a lockout effect).


  • Primary Fields: Labor, Health

  • Secondary Fields: Entrepreneurship, Gender