Xiuci Yang

Explored the effect of the UK government's plan to impose VAT on private school fees on socio-economic mobility. Applied tax incidence analysis to evaluate the distributional burden across income groups, concluding that the policy is likely regressive — disproportionately affecting middle-income families while having limited impact on wealthier households.

Examined the persistence of underdevelopment through colonial institutional legacy, applying the Solow and Romer models to show how extractive institutions constrain growth. Extended the analysis to critique foreign aid dependency as a barrier to sustained development.