Yihong Bai, BMgt, MBE, PhD

Research summary

Yihong Bai’s research program examines how economic and social policies shape population health and health equity. He applies quasi-experimental and causal inference methods to large-scale administrative and survey data to study the health and labor market consequences of policies such as minimum wage increases, cannabis legalization, and marriage equality.

His work also investigates disparities in access and outcomes, including rural–urban differences in avoidable hospitalizations and inequities in health and labor outcomes among sexual and gender minority populations. By linking rigorous econometric methods with policy-relevant questions, his research advances evidence-based strategies to improve population health and reduce social inequalities.

Keywords

• Administrative and survey data
• Gender and sexual minority health
• Health economics
• Minimum wage
• Primary care
• Public policy evaluation
• Quasi-experimental methods
• Substance use

Dr. Yihong Bai is an assistant professor in the College of Community and Global Health at the University of Manitoba. He earned his PhD in Economics from McMaster University. 

Prior to joining Manitoba, he held research positions at Western University and York University.
His work has been published in Health Economics, American Journal of Epidemiology, Social Science & Medicine, and Preventive Medicine. 

He has received recognition such as the Emerging Scholars Award from the Canadian Research Data Centre Network. Dr. Bai’s research program is internationally comparative and policy-oriented, addressing how economic and social policies shape population health and contribute to inequalities across communities.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Economics, McMaster University (2023)

Master of Business Economics (MBE), Economics, Brock University (2017)

Bachelor of Management, Business Administration, Sichuan Normal University (2014)