Publications:
"Court Capture, Local Protectionism, and Economic Integration: Evidence from China" (with Ernest Liu, Yi Lu, and Wenwei Peng)
Review of Economics and Statistics, Accepted
"Policy Experimentation in China: The Political Economy of Policy Learning" (with David Y. Yang)
Journal of Political Economy, 2025, vol133(7), pp.2180-2228.
"Courting a Blue Sky: Understanding the Constrained Judicialization of Environmental Governance in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
Journal of Contemporary China, 2024, pp.1-22. (invited paper for special issue on China's green transition)
"English Language Requirement and Educational Inequality: Evidence from 16 Million College Applicants in China" (with Hongbin Li, Lingsheng Meng, and Kai Mu)
Journal of Development Economics, 2024, vol168, 103271.
"Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China" (with Mark Buntaine, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He, Mengdi Liu, and Bing Zhang)
American Economic Review, 2024, 114(3), pp.815-850.
"When Information Conflicts with Obligations: The Role of Motivated Cognition" (with Ao Wang and Xiaoyang Ye)
Economic Journal, 2023, 133(654), pp.2533-2552.
"Buddha's Grace Illuminates All: Temple Destruction, School Construction, and Modernization in 20th Century China" (with Boxiao Zhang)
Economica, 2023, 90 (360), pp.1335-1361.
"Subjective Performance Evaluation, Influence Activities, and Bureaucratic Work Behavior: Evidence from China" (with Alain de Janvry, Elisabeth Sadoulet, Guojun He, and Qiong Zhang)
American Economic Review, 2023, 113(3), pp.766-799.
"Watering Down Environmental Regulation in China" (with Guojun He and Bing Zhang)
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020, 135(4), pp.2135-2185.
"Do College Graduates Serving as Village Officials Help Rural China?" (with Guojun He)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2017, 9(4), pp.186-215.
Review of Economics and Statistics, Accepted
- Media Coverage: VoxChina, VoxDev, SCCEI Brief
"Policy Experimentation in China: The Political Economy of Policy Learning" (with David Y. Yang)
Journal of Political Economy, 2025, vol133(7), pp.2180-2228.
- Media Coverage: The Economist; CATO Research Brief; VoxDev; BFI; BFI China (in Chinese); Econimate (video)
"Courting a Blue Sky: Understanding the Constrained Judicialization of Environmental Governance in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
Journal of Contemporary China, 2024, pp.1-22. (invited paper for special issue on China's green transition)
"English Language Requirement and Educational Inequality: Evidence from 16 Million College Applicants in China" (with Hongbin Li, Lingsheng Meng, and Kai Mu)
Journal of Development Economics, 2024, vol168, 103271.
- Media Coverage: VoxChina; BFI, Tencent News (in Chinese)
"Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? The Direct and Indirect Effects of Citizen Participation on Environmental Governance in China" (with Mark Buntaine, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He, Mengdi Liu, and Bing Zhang)
American Economic Review, 2024, 114(3), pp.815-850.
- Media Coverage: NPR; The World; Bloomberg; BFI; BFI China (in Chinese); SCMP; The Hill; Yahoo News; VoxEU; VoxDev; VoxChina; China Dialogue; Not Another Politics Podcast; SCCEI Brief
"When Information Conflicts with Obligations: The Role of Motivated Cognition" (with Ao Wang and Xiaoyang Ye)
Economic Journal, 2023, 133(654), pp.2533-2552.
- Media Coverage: BFI
"Buddha's Grace Illuminates All: Temple Destruction, School Construction, and Modernization in 20th Century China" (with Boxiao Zhang)
Economica, 2023, 90 (360), pp.1335-1361.
"Subjective Performance Evaluation, Influence Activities, and Bureaucratic Work Behavior: Evidence from China" (with Alain de Janvry, Elisabeth Sadoulet, Guojun He, and Qiong Zhang)
American Economic Review, 2023, 113(3), pp.766-799.
"Watering Down Environmental Regulation in China" (with Guojun He and Bing Zhang)
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020, 135(4), pp.2135-2185.
- Media Coverage: VoxDev; EPIC; EPIC China (in Chinese); NSFC (in Chinese)
"Do College Graduates Serving as Village Officials Help Rural China?" (with Guojun He)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2017, 9(4), pp.186-215.
- Media Coverage: AEA Research Highlight; Financial Times (in Chinese); CNPolitics (in Chinese)
Working Papers:
"Laboratories of Autocracy: Landscape of Central-Local Dynamics in China's Policy Universe" (with Kaicheng Luo and David Y. Yang)
"China's Silver Linings Playbook: Evidence from 27,000 Cloud Seeding Operations" (with Zichen Deng and Michael Greenstone)
"The Law and Economics of Lawyers: Evidence from the Revolving Door in China's Judicial System" (with Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Daniel Yi Xu)
"A Few Bad Apples? Academic Dishonesty, Political Selection, and Institutional Performance in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
"Option Value Neglect: Evidence from Centralized College Admission" (with Ao Wang and Xiaoyang Ye)
Revise and Resubmit, Review of Economic Studies
"The Political Economic Determinants of Nuclear Power: Evidence from Chernobyl" (with Alexey Makarin and Nancy Qian)
"Campaigning for Extinction: Eradication of Sparrows and the Great Famine in China" (with Eyal Frank, Qinyun Wang, Xuebin Wang, and Yang You)
"The Environmental and Economic Consequences of Internalizing Border Spillovers" (with Zenan Wang)
Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
"Fiscal Competition and Coordination: Evidence from China"
- Media Coverage: BFI, SCCEI Brief
"China's Silver Linings Playbook: Evidence from 27,000 Cloud Seeding Operations" (with Zichen Deng and Michael Greenstone)
"The Law and Economics of Lawyers: Evidence from the Revolving Door in China's Judicial System" (with Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Daniel Yi Xu)
- Media Coverage: The Visible Hand Podcast
"A Few Bad Apples? Academic Dishonesty, Political Selection, and Institutional Performance in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
- Media Coverage: The Economist
"Option Value Neglect: Evidence from Centralized College Admission" (with Ao Wang and Xiaoyang Ye)
Revise and Resubmit, Review of Economic Studies
"The Political Economic Determinants of Nuclear Power: Evidence from Chernobyl" (with Alexey Makarin and Nancy Qian)
- Media Coverage: Marginal Revolution; American Enterprise Institute; Edward Conard’s Macro Roundup
"Campaigning for Extinction: Eradication of Sparrows and the Great Famine in China" (with Eyal Frank, Qinyun Wang, Xuebin Wang, and Yang You)
- Media Coverage: EPIC, The Economist, CATO Research Brief
"The Environmental and Economic Consequences of Internalizing Border Spillovers" (with Zenan Wang)
Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
"Fiscal Competition and Coordination: Evidence from China"
Selected Works in Progress:
"Legal Therapy: Coercion, the Courts, and Structural Transformation in China" (with Wenwei Peng, David Y. Yang, and Noam Yuchtman)
"The Morale of Chinese Entrepreneurs" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
"Livestream Trials in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
"Empowering Global Environmental Governance with Data" (with Michael Greenstone, Rajat Kochhar, and Sunny Sun)
"Cultivating Winners by Subsidizing Losers: Understanding Electric Vehicle Industrial Policies in China" (with Jianwei Xing, Daniel Yi Xu, and Yushuai Zhang)
"Green Technology Adoption in China" (with Wei Lin, Daniel Yi Xu, Yang Yi, and Tianyu Zhang)
"An Economic Theory of Salvation Religions" (with Weijia Li)
"The Morale of Chinese Entrepreneurs" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
"Livestream Trials in China" (with Zhuang Liu, and Wenwei Peng)
"Empowering Global Environmental Governance with Data" (with Michael Greenstone, Rajat Kochhar, and Sunny Sun)
"Cultivating Winners by Subsidizing Losers: Understanding Electric Vehicle Industrial Policies in China" (with Jianwei Xing, Daniel Yi Xu, and Yushuai Zhang)
"Green Technology Adoption in China" (with Wei Lin, Daniel Yi Xu, Yang Yi, and Tianyu Zhang)
"An Economic Theory of Salvation Religions" (with Weijia Li)
Other Writings:
"Capturing the Transformation Rent: Lessons from Mexico and China" with Alain de Janvry, Policy Brief Ferdi B112, July 2015.
"How Does the Auction of License Plates Affect the Trade of Auto in Shanghai?" Statistical Research (in Chinese), with Boxiao Zhang, V30(3): 78-85, 2013.
"Why Have Some Local Governments Closed More Rural Schools than Others?" with Yanqing Ding and Xiaoyang Ye, China Economics of Education Review (in Chinese), 2016, 1(4): 3-34.
"How Does the Auction of License Plates Affect the Trade of Auto in Shanghai?" Statistical Research (in Chinese), with Boxiao Zhang, V30(3): 78-85, 2013.
"Why Have Some Local Governments Closed More Rural Schools than Others?" with Yanqing Ding and Xiaoyang Ye, China Economics of Education Review (in Chinese), 2016, 1(4): 3-34.
- Media Coverage: Xinhua Digest (in Chinese).