Pengshan Pan

About Me

I am a political economist specializing in the intersections of globalization, environment, and sustainable development, with a regional focus on Central Asia and Afghanistan. My research also examines China’s evolving footprint in Eurasia, particularly through infrastructure, trade, and resource investments.

I am currently Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Research Coordinator at the Greater Eurasia Research Center (GEAR), a joint initiative between HKUST and New Uzbekistan University. From 2023 to 2025, I was Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Data Science at New Uzbekistan University, where I also conducted extensive fieldwork in Uzbekistan.

My research integrates econometric analysis, field interviews, and geospatial methods such as GIS linked with household survey data. 

I earned my Ph.D. in International Development and Political Economy from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, where I was also an Agora Fellow at the Center for Governance and Markets (2021–2023). Previously, I held fellowships at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, the TRANSECT Research Group in Germany, and Visiting Scholar at Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in 2025. I also hold an M.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Bachelor in Finance from Sichuan University, China. I work in Chinese (native), Russian (intermediate), Uzbek (basic), and Persian (basic)—to support my fieldwork and regional collaborations.