William Wei-Choun Yu

Economist William Yu joined the UCLA Anderson Forecast in 2011. He focuses on forecasting within the Southern California economy and analyzes the U.S. and China economies. His research interests encompass a wide range of economic and financial issues, such as time series econometrics, data analytics, housing markets, human capital and innovation. Meanwhile, he teaches time series and predictive analytics at the UCLA Anderson School’s Master of Business Analytics program and data science certificate courses, including machine learning, at UCLA Extension. In 2019, he received the distinguished instructor award for digital technology from UCLA Extension. He also serves as a faculty advisor for Applied Management Research and Business Creation Option Programs at Anderson School.

He has published over a dozen research articles in Journal of Forecasting, International Journal of Forecasting, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, etc. He developed the City Human Capital Index, the Los Angeles City Employment Estimate, and wrote the US-China economic reports. With his colleagues, he developed a microbusiness index tracking online business activities across the country. He has been cited in the local, national and overseas media frequently including Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Bloomberg, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNBC, L.A. Business Journal as well as various Chinese and Korean media. A sought-after speaker, he has contributed his expertise to various events, including the annual Woo Greater China Business Conference, Cathay Bank economic outlook luncheons, and National Association for Business Economics.

He received his bachelor’s degree in finance from National Taiwan University in 1995 and was an analyst in Fubon Financial Group in Taipei from 1997 to 2000. In 2006, he received his Ph.D. degree in economics from the University of Washington where he was also an economics instructor and won two distinguished teaching awards. In 2006, he worked for the Frank Russell Investment Group for Treasury and corporate yields modeling and forecasting. From 2006 to 2011, he served as an assistant and an associate professor of economics at Winona State University where he taught courses including forecasting methods, managerial economics, international economics, and macroeconomics.

Research Interests

• Time Series Econometrics, Forecasting Methods, Data Analytics, Machine Learning Models, Urban Economy, U.S. and China’s Economies, Innovation, and Business Creation

Education

• Ph.D. in Economics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2006
• M.A. in Economics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2004
• B.A. in Finance, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1995