A comparativist specializing in East Asian affairs and the Koreas, Steven Denney's core research areas include migration and governance, nations and nationalism, and international organization. His research mainly employs surveys and experimental methods to understand public opinion, but he also works with administrative data and uses mixed-method approaches for analyzing non-numeric data.

More information about Steven Denney

Grants and awards

2023. “Integration Challenges and Opportunities in Divided Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Germany and South Korea.” IFES-MOU Overseas North Korea-Unification Policy Academic Research Grant ($40,000)

2022-2023. “Who Belongs to the Nation? National Identity and Migrant Integration in South Korea.” Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Research Grant, AKS-2023-R018 ($13,500 USD)

2021-2023. “Measuring the Impact of the Digital Economy” Facebook Research Grant ($100,000)

2020-2021. “Neighbors, Employees, and Representatives: Why Do Some North Korean Migrants Integrate and Others Don’t?” Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Research Grant, AKS-2021-R-083 ($25,000)

2020-2021. “Information Dissemination in North Korea: The Role of Social Networks, Markets, and Social Change.” National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Research Grant ($60,000)

2017-2021. Mitacs-SSHRC Accelerate Grant “The Scale-up Challenge? Obstacles to High-Growth Technology-based Firms and the Policy Response.” Mitacs Canada Award No. IT10712 ($150,000)

2018-2019. “Politics and Process of ‘Unification in Action’.” UniKorea Fund Grant Program ($40,000)

2015-2016. “Reproducing Contested Korean Identities and Social Structures on the Korean Peninsula.” Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Research Grant, AKS-2015-R49 ($16,000)

2012-2013. “Documenting Cultural and Political Information Strategies on the Korean Peninsula, 2012-2013.” Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) Research Grant, AKS-2013-R11 (value: $15,000)

Curriculum Vitae

Education
2013-2019. Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

2011-2013. M.A., Global Affairs and Policy, Yonsei University

2005-2008. B.A., Department of Political Science, Harding University

Academic Appointments
2024-present. Assistant Professor [Universitair Docent], Leiden University, Institute for Area Studies

2021-2023. Assistant Professor [Post-Doc Universitätsassistent*innen] and Vice-Director of the Study Program, East Asian Economy and Society, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna

2019-2021. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

2017-2019. Sessional Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

Selected publications

2023. “Public Attitudes Towards Co-Ethnic Migrant Integration: Evidence from South Korea,” with Christopher Green. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2286207

2023. “Public Support for Migrant Entrepreneurship: The Case of North Koreans in the Republic of Korea,” with Peter Ward and Christopher Green. International Migration Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183231203927

2023. “Why Do Democratic Societies Tolerate Undemocratic Laws? Sorting Public Support for the National Security Act in South Korea,” with Christopher Green. Democratization. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2023.2258082

2023. “How Autocracies Disrupt Unsanctioned Information Flows: The Role of State Power and Social Capital in North Korea,” with Peter Ward. Problems of Post-Communism. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2023.2180038

2023. “Too Much Support? Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Firm Growth,” with Shiri Breznitz and Qiantao Zhang. The Journal of Technology Transfer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-023-10013-1

2023. “Do Winners Pick Government? How Scale-Up Experience Shapes Entrepreneurs’ Assessments of Innovation Policy Mixes,” with David Wolfe and Travis Southin. Science and Public Policy. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scad030

2022. “Welfare Chauvinism Among Co-Ethnics: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in South Korea,” with Peter Ward, International Migration 60(50): 74-90. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12937

2022. “Localization of Global Networks: New Mandates for MNEs in Regional Economies,” with David Wolfe and Rick DiFrancesco, Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 15(2): 323-342. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsac002

2021. “Who Should be Admitted? Conjoint Analysis of Attitudes toward Immigrants in South Korea,” with Christopher Green, Ethnicities 21(1): 120-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796820916609

2021. “North Korean Patriotism: Assessing the Success and Failures of a Nation,” with Christopher Green, Korea Journal 61(1): 154–185. https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2021.61.1.154

2020. “The limits of ethnic capital impacts of social desirability on Korean views of co-ethnic immigration,” with Peter Ward and Christopher Green, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1797477

2020. “Entrepreneurs and Cluster Evolution: The Transformation of Toronto’s ICT Cluster,” with David Wolfe and Travis Southin, Regional Studies 55(2): 196-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2020.1762854

2019.  “Studying North Korea through North Korean Migrants: Lessons from the Field,” with Jay Song, Critical Asian Studies 51(3): 451-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2019.1611462

2014. “How Authoritarian Regimes Maintain Domain Consensus: North Korea’s Information Strategies in the Kim Jong-un Era,” with Adam Cathcart and Christopher Green, Review of Korean Studies 17(2): 145-178. https://doi.org/10.25024/review.2014.17.2.005