Peter Kuhn is a labor economist whose research includes work on wage and employment discrimination, immigration, displaced workers, and comparative labor markets, among other areas. Kuhn’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Ford Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of California’s Pacific Rim Research Program, among others. Kuhn’s current research is based on large samples of job ads and resumes that are downloaded from job boards in a number of countries, including China. Topics examined using this data include the determinants and effects of explicit, advertised gender discrimination, and the determinants of employer’s demands for ‘soft’ skills. Currently, Kuhn is also serving as the founding Director of the Broom Center.

Grants, Awards and Distinctions:

Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research (ISBER), UC Santa Barbara. “Why do Workplace Teams Bunch at Kink Points? Evidence from the Laboratory” $2850.

UCSB Academic Senate. “Why do Taxpayers Bunch at Kink Points?  Evidence from Accelerating Commissions”.  $2850.

National Natural Science Foundation of China. 2013-2015. "Impacts of Hukou, Education and Wage on Job Search and Match: Evidence Based on Online Job Board Microdata," (co-investigator with Kailing Shen, PI, grant No. 71203188. RMB 190,000 (USD $31,000).

UCSB Faculty Senate Research Grant. 2015-2016. “Is Explicit Gender Discrimination in China ‘Hard’ or ‘Soft’?” $3,500.

UCSB College of Letters and Science Council of Deans conference support award for Ninth Annual meeting of the Trans-Pacific Labor Seminar (TPLS). 2015-2016. $2,500.

UCSB Department of Economics, support for Ninth Annual meeting of the TPLS. 2015-2016. $10,000.