Dr. Minjae Kim

Biography

Minjae Kim’s research addresses how social actors (e.g., individuals, firms) coordinate actions and the complexities involved in strategic actions where competitors require a degree of coordination. His work highlights that even well-intentioned actions can lead to unintended macro-level consequences that undermine original goals. Kim examines these dynamics across a variety of domains, including organizations, entrepreneurship, politics, and cultural markets, to develop and test theories of social interaction and coordination. For instance, ongoing projects include research on how entrepreneurs coordinate employee retention in startups, and an investigation into how police respond to accountability initiatives, potentially reinforcing existing behaviors. He also explores voter behavior, explaining why moderate voters may support extreme candidates, a pattern increasingly evident in contemporary U.S. politics. His research has been published in notable journals such as the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Organization Science, and he has received paper awards and designations from prestigious associations. Kim was recognized as one of Poets & Quants Top 50 Undergraduate Professors in 2022. Prior to joining Yale, he served as an assistant professor at Rice University, and he was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University. He obtained his doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago.

Research Interests