Publications
This page lists my academic working papers and published work, both peer-reviewed and non-academic. Download my CV for a complete overview of my professional experiences and research.
See SinoNK.com for an overview of my work there. Articles written for The Diplomat (2014-2019) can be found at my author page.
Completed Working Papers
[1] “Cues of Commitment: Integration and Naturalization Support in South Korea and Taiwan,” with Nicholas Fraser and Christoph Steinhardt. [under review] – Working Paper
[2] “The Boundaries of Belonging: An Experimental Approach to National Identity Measurement in Taiwan and South Korea,” with H. Christoph Steinhardt. [under review] – Working paper
[3] “Persuasion and Prejudice: Are South Korean Attitudes Toward Immigration Open to Change?” with Isa van Dam and Christopher Green. [under review] – Working Paper
[4] “Innovation Policy in Practice: Assessing Canada’s Business Innovation and Growth Support Framework,” with Ryan Kelly and David Wolfe. [under review] – Working Paper
[5] “Guardianship Democracy: Mapping Elite Rule Preferences in East and Southeast Asia.” [preparing for submission] – Working Paper
Papers in Progress
[1] Fairness or Threat? Understanding Sources of Immigration Backlash in Democracies
[2] “The Resettlement of North Korean Migrants and Identity Change in Korea.”
[3] “Constructing the Nation: Identity and Historical Narratives in South Korean History Textbooks,” with Aron van de Pol.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
2025. “Identity Conformity and Concealment in Taiwan and South Korea: Why Citizens in Divided Societies are Pressured to Overstate National Pride,” with H. Christoph Steinhardt and Lisa Bhowmick. [Forthcoming in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics] – Working paper
2025. “From Division to Democracy: Integration of Post-Communist Citizens in Germany and South Korea,” with Tianzi Zhou and Robin Brehm. Communist and Post-Communist Studies. https://doi.org/10.1525/cpcs.2025.2636997
2025. “Welfare Chauvinism in Divided Societies: The Role of National Identity in Social Policy Preferences,” with Peter Ward. Policy and Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puaf027
2025. “Partisan voters in party systems with ephemeral parties: Evidence from South Korea,” with Peter Ward. Party Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688251339976
2024. “한국인의 남북통일방식에 대한 의식 결정요인 분석: 컨조인트 분석 조사를 중심으로” [Analyzing the Determinants of South Korean Attitudes Toward Korean Unification: A Conjoint Analysis], with Peter Ward and Christopher Green [in kr]. 국가전략 [National Strategy], 30(1): 137-163. http://doi.org/10.35390/sejong.30.1.202402.006
2024. “Why Do Democratic Societies Tolerate Undemocratic Laws? Sorting Public Support for the National Security Act in South Korea,” with Christopher Green. Democratization 31(1): 113-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2023.2258082
2024. “Public Attitudes Towards Co-Ethnic Migrant Integration: Evidence from South Korea,” with Christopher Green. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 50(8): 1998-2022. 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. “How Autocracies Disrupt Unsanctioned Information Flows: The Role of State Power and Social Capital in North Korea,” with Peter Ward. Problems of Post-Communism 71(2): 177-191. 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 50: 858–870. 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
2013. “Towards a Developmental Understanding of North Korea: An Institutional Approach to Economic Reform and Development,” with Christopher Green, European Journal of Korean Studies, 15: 92-111. LINK
2013. “North Korea’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Early Kim Jong-un Era,” with Adam Cathcart, North Korean Review 9(2): 29-42. https://doi.org/10.3172/NKR.9.2.29
Books
Nationalism Under Democracy: Why Institutions Matter for National Identity and Belonging. [in progress]
Democracy at School: Authoritarian Education and Post-democratization Citizens in South Korea and Poland, with Myunghee Lee. [in preparation]
2020. Decoding the Sino-North Korean Borderlands, edited with Adam Cathcart and Christopher Green (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press).
Theses
2019. Does Democracy Matter? Political Change and National Identification in South Korea and Beyond (Ph.D Dissertation, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto). DOI: https://hdl.handle.net/1807/97443
2013. Nation, State, and National Economy: The Early 19th Century American Developmental State (MA Thesis, Graduate School of Yonsei University). LINK
Book Chapters
2024. “Plus ça Change? South Korean Public Opinion of the United States During the Trump Administration,” in Divided America, Divided Korea, Mitchell Lerner and David Fields (eds.) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
2019. “Democratic Support and Generational Change in South Korea,” in Korea and the World: New Frontiers in Korean Studies, Gregg A. Brazinsky (ed.) (Lanham, MD, Rowman & Littlefield).
2016. “Kim Jong-un and the Practice of Songun Politics,” with Christopher Green and Adam Cathcart, Change and Continuity in North Korean Politics, Adam Cathcart et al. (eds.) (Routledge).
2016. “Pockets of Efficiency: An Institutional Approach to Economic Reform and Development,” with Christopher Green, Change and Continuity in North Korean Politics, Adam Cathcart et al. (eds.) (Routledge).
2015. “The Implications of Civic Diplomacy for ROK Foreign Policy,” with Peter Hayes et al., in Complexity, Security and Civil Society in East Asia: Foreign Policies and the Korean Peninsula, Peter Hayes and Kiho Yi (eds.) (Open Book Publishers).
Reports
2023. “Integration Challenges and Opportunities in Divided Societies,” with Rüdiger Frank, Robin Brehm, Tianzi Zhou, and Peter Ward. Report for A report prepared by the European Centre for North Korean Studies (ECNK), University of Vienna, for the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), Kyungnam University.
2022. “Information Dissemination in North Korea: A Report for NGOs,” with Peter Ward. Report for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), January.
2021. “Into the Scale-up-verse: Exploring the Landscape of Canada’s High Performing Firms,” with Viet Vu and Ryan Kelly. Innovation Policy Lab and Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, December.
2021. “Just Out of Reach: The Elusive Quest to Measure the Digital Economy“, with Viet Vu. Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, June.
2021. “Scale the Gap: The Impact of Growth Barriers on Women Entrepreneurs in Canadian High-Growth Firms,” with Viet Vu. Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, April.
2020. “North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea: Unveiling Korea’s Hidden Potential,” with Peter Ward and Andray Abrahamian. The Asia Foundation, December.
2019. “Political Order and Civic Space in the Asia Pacific: A Multilevel Analysis of Trends, 1989-2020.” United Nations Office of Global Insights and Policy, June.
2019. “New Values & Old Orders: Where do North Koreans Fit in the New South Korea?,” with Christopher Green and Peter Ward. Leiden Asia Centre, May.
2019. “Impact of COVID-19 on the Market Research Community.” Delvinia-Insights Association Special Report. May.
2018. “Unification in Action? The National Identity of North Korean Defector-Migrants: Insights and Implications,” with Christopher Green, Korean Economic Institute of America: Academic Paper Series, October.
2015. “The Whisper in the Ear: Re-defector Press Conference as Information Management Tool,” with Christopher Green and Brian Gleason, Korean Economic Institute of America: Academic Paper Series, March.
Selected Papers
2025. “Will Lee Jae-myung Rise from South Korea’s Political Chaos?” The Diplomat, April.
2023. “Because It Is Good for South Korea: Public Support for Defector Entrepreneurship,” with Christopher Green. 38 North, January.
2022. “Human Rights and the Future of the International Order: Where Does Seoul Stand?” Korea On Point, November.
2022. “Improving North Korean Defector Integration in South Korea: Survey Findings and Recommendations,” with Christopher Green. 38 North, May.
2022. “South Koreans Support Immigration, But Conditions Apply.” Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), March.
2021. “Great Canadian Survey of 2021: Insights for the Council of Canadian Innovators“, with Viet Vu. Innovation Policy Lab and Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, July.
2019. “COVID-19 and joblessness in Canada: A firm perspective,” with Viet Vu. Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, April.
2019. “The COVID-19 Crisis and Policy Preferences of Canadian Technology Scale-ups,” with Viet Vu. Innovation Policy Lab Research Report, 2020-02, March.
2016. “Identité nationale et nationalisme nord-coréens” [North Korean national identity and nationalism], Korea Analysis no. 11: 40-44.
2016. “«Hell Chosun», expression de l’insatisfaction de la jeunesse sudcoréenne” [“Hell Chosen:”] Expressions of Dissatisfaction among South Korean Youth], Korea Analysis no. 9: 42-45.
Reviews
2025.” Review of Narratives of Civic Duty: How National Stories Shape Democracy in Asia, by Aram Hur,” Korean Histories.
2025. “Review of North Korea’s Mundane Revolution: Socialist Living and the Rise of Kim Il-sung, 1953-1965, by Andre Schmid,” Korean Histories.
2024. “From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia, by Dan Slater and Joseph Wong,” Pacific Affairs 97(4).
2021. “After the Korean War: An Intimate History, by Heonik Kwon,” Pacific Affairs 95(1).
2018. “Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea: The Roots of Militarism, 1866-1945, by Carter Eckert,” Korea Journal 58(3): 184-190.
2018. “Unveiling the North Korean Economy: Collapse and Transition, by Byung-Yeon Kim,” Journal of American-East Asian Relations 25(1): 93-96.
2018. “North Korea’s Hidden Revolution, by Jieun Baek,” Pacific Affairs 91(1): 176-178.
2015. “Assimilating Seoul: Japanese Rule and the Politics of Public Space in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945 by Todd A. Henry,” British Academy of Korean Studies (BAKS) Journal, October 15.
2015. “The Korean War: An International History, by Wada Haruki,” European Journal of Korean Studies, May 4.
2015. “Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea, 1876–1945 by Jun Uchida,” European Journal of Korean Studies, May 13.
2014. “The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia,” Asan Forum 2(6).
2012. “To Never Forget, One Must First Know,” review of Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, by Blaine Harden, Korea Review 2(2): 171-175.
Last updated: September 28, 2025
Steven Denney 