I’m an applied microeconomist working on comparative political economy, development economics, and labor economics. Much of my research focuses on how political and institutional factors shape variation in preferences and behaviors among citizens, and how these factors influence the development outcomes of societies. My work has been published in academic journals such as Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Journal of Population Economics.
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“Migrant Integration and Social Stability: Evidence from China”
with Yu Qiu
[ Abstract ]
There are growing concerns that a relaxed migration policy may undermine social stability. We study this issue by estimating the causal effect on labor unrest of China's recent reform to its internal migration institutions, which facilitated permanent settlement for migrants in small- and medium-sized cities. Exploiting variation due to the reform's population cutoff rule, we find that the reform significantly reduced labor unrest. We suggest that one important mechanism behind our finding is the enhancement of migrants' settlement intentions, which makes migrants less engaged in unrest to secure the opportunity of settlement offered by the reform. We provide evidence that the reform increased migrants' likelihood of staying in their destinations. Through a novel causal mediation analysis, we find that heightened settlement intentions can explain 61 percent of decreased labor unrest due to the reform in the immediate term and 27 percent in the long term. We find no evidence that the reform led to compositional changes among migrants, delivery of benefits to migrants, or tighter government social control. Our results highlight how migration policy can influence stability by shaping migrants' attachment to their destinations.
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(New!) “Property Rights, Fiscal Capacity, and Social Capacity: The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion”
with Lixin Colin Xu and Li Yang
revise & resubmit at Journal of Economic Growth
[ Abstract ]
We examine the impact on regional development of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), one of the deadliest civil wars in human history and a critical juncture in China’s path toward modernity. Our analysis shows that some areas under the control of the Taiping regime experienced important institutional changes, including strengthened land property rights, improved local fiscal capacity, and enhanced social capacity. We find that these areas with institutional improvements exhibit better long-term development outcomes, as reflected by greater economic activity, higher fiscal revenue, stronger civic norms, and lower mortality during the Great Famine (1959–1961). The results suggest that violent conflicts can have lasting effects on development by shaping local institutions, and that historical variation in property rights, fiscal capacity, and social capacity could partly explain the large within-country variation in development.
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“Adverse Experience and Occupational Outcomes: Evidence from Children of the Cultural Revolution”
[ Abstract ]
This paper studies the long-term occupational effects of China's Cultural Revolution (1966--76, CR), which involved a strong sense of dislike towards professionals. Using a difference-in-differences design, I find that individuals whose fathers experienced higher levels of violence during the CR are less inclined to pursue professional occupations. However, I do not observe a significant impact of mothers' exposure. Furthermore, there is limited evidence that the CR led to constraints hindering access to professional jobs in terms of human capital, family environment, and local economic conditions. I find patterns consistent with a model of preference transmission within families. Additionally, I provide evidence indicating that the dislike towards professional occupations may persist in the third generation, especially in the patriarchal line.
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“The Impact of Trade on Foreign Policy Preferences: The Case of Taiwan”
[ Abstract ]
How do foreign economic influences shape domestic politics? I study this question leveraging the unique settings of Taiwan, where exports heavily rely on the Chinese market, and the major political cleavage is relations with China. Using a shift-share design, I find that townships with more exports to China vote less for the Democratic Progressive Party, the major party that unequivocally supports Taiwanese independence. I offer suggestive evidence that interested voters may worry about losing economic benefits brought by exports to China and so avoid choices likely to cause tensions. I do not detect impacts on party identification, identity, and attitudes toward unification or independence.
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“Anti-Corruption and Political Trust: Evidence from China”
with Ming Fang and Congling Xia
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 234, June 2025
[ Abstract | Draft ]
How can anti-corruption efforts influence political trust in government? We investigate this question through the lens of China’s recent anti-corruption campaign, launched in 2013, which has disclosed many corruption investigations to the public for the first time. By analyzing a large individual panel dataset, we show that, on average, the campaign has reduced political trust, particularly among groups less informed about corruption before the campaign. We document strong heterogeneity in changes in political trust, possibly driven by prior political attitudes, as captured by previous unpleasant experiences with the government, pro-government indoctrination, and Confucian norms. Our results fit a model in which polarization is rationalized by different priors about the government. We also rule out several alternative explanations for our findings.
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“China’s Anticorruption Campaign and Civil Servant Fever”
with Xun Li
Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 67, No. 2, May 2024
[ Abstract | SSRN | Non-technical Summary | Data ]
What is the impact of anticorruption efforts on entry into bureaucratic jobs? This paper approaches the question theoretically and empirically through the lens of China's anticorruption campaign instituted in 2013. We leverage a novel data set of national civil service exams. Exploiting assignment and timing variations in anticorruption inspections of government departments, our difference-in-differences estimate shows that a department had significantly fewer applicants following an inspection. We provide evidence that the decline in bureaucratic entry has occurred since the campaign lowered the (expected) returns from bureaucratic jobs by improving the detection of corruption and constraining power that is likely to be abused. In contrast, we do not find evidence that the campaign affected legal income. Furthermore, simulation exercises suggest that after the anticorruption campaign, incoming bureaucrats may have lower ability but higher prosociality than before.
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“The Effect of Education on Voter Turnout in China’s Rural Elections”
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 221, May 2024
[ Abstract | Draft ]
Conventional wisdom and evidence from democracies suggest that more education should increase voter turnout. This paper revisits this issue by analyzing turnout in China's rural elections. Employing an instrumental variable strategy, I find that more education reduces turnout in rural elections. I provide suggestive evidence that more educated people may face higher opportunity costs of voting, which explain about a quarter of cross-province variation in education-turnout links. I also discuss the role of other factors, including Confucian culture and election stakes.
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“Housing Market Regulations and Strategic Divorce Propensity in China”
with James Alm and Xun Li
Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 35, July 2022
[ Abstract | SSRN | Slides ]
Media coverage: [ Caixin (in Chinese) ]
In China’s regulated housing markets, a married couple may choose strategically to divorce in order to purchase more houses and/or purchase with more favorable financial conditions. Our study examines the propensity for strategic divorce induced by housing market regulations in China. To overcome the difficulty of using conventional divorce data to distinguish between a “true” divorce and a strategic (or a “fake”) divorce, we design an identification strategy using data on internet searches for divorce- and marriage-related keywords in 32 Chinese major cities from 2009 through 2016. Our difference-in-differences estimates provide robust evidence that housing market regulations significantly increase the propensity for strategic divorce. Our results also show that the increase in the propensity for strategic divorce is weaker in cities with higher male–female ratios and with stronger Confucian ideologies. These findings point to the role that housing market regulations play in distorting a family’s choices, as well as to the importance for policymakers to consider unintended impacts of regulations.
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“Role of Professional Bureaucracy in the Policy Response to COVID-19: Does a Public Health or Medical Background Help?”
with Xun Li, Qianqian Wan, and Xi Chen
China Economic Review, Vol. 71, February 2022
[ Abstract | IZA DP 14710 | GLO DP 1002 | SSRN ]
Media coverage: [ IZA Opinions ]
In response to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there have been substantial variations in policy response and performance for disease control and prevention within and across nations. It remains unclear to what extent these variations may be explained by bureaucrats' professionalism, as measured by their educational background or work experience in public health or medicine. To investigate the effects of officials' professionalism on their response to and performance in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, we collect information from the résumés of government and Party officials in 294 Chinese cities, and integrate this information with other data sources, including weather conditions, city characteristics, COVID-19-related policy measures, and health outcomes. We show that, on average, cities whose top officials had public health or medical backgrounds (PHMBGs) had a significantly lower infection rate than cities whose top officials lacked such backgrounds. We test the mechanisms of these effects and find that cities whose officials had a PHMBG implemented community closure more rapidly than those lacked such backgrounds. Our findings highlight the importance of professionalism in combating the pandemic.
