Research

Publications

Book: 

Elite Conflicts and the Path to Economic Decentralization (with Mingxing Liu and Victor Shih). Cambridge University Press, Elements Series on Chinese Economy and Governance. (2025).

• Unraveling the political logic behind economic decentralization policies in a centralized party-state.

• Offering a new and coherent perspective on the origin, persistence, and retreat of market-preserving federalism in China. 

• Highlighting the pivotal role of intra-elite conflicts, particularly between the authoritarian ruler and powerful ruling elites, in disrupting the institutional status quo and driving policy shifts.

Journal Articles: 

[16]"From Maoism to MAGA: Embracing Democracy with Authoritarian Imprints" (with Sibo Liu and Shouzhi Xia). Comparative Politics. Forthcoming.

[15]"Charity Begins at Home: Domestic Political Economy of Chinese Foreign Aid" (with Sibo Liu). Comparative Political Studies. (Online First).

[14]"Draining the Swamp? Populist Leadership and Corruption." Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions  37, (4) 2024: 1141–1161.

[13]"Birds of a Feather: Sharing Democratic Values Eases Immigration in a Postmaterialist Society"  (with Jin Jiang and Shouzhi Xia). Political Behavior 46,  2024:  1887–1911.

[12]"The Paradox of Information Control under Authoritarianism: Explaining Trust in Competing Messages in China"  (with Chengli Wang and Jiangnan Zhu). Political Studies 72,  (4)  2024: 1431–1452.

[11]"Bureaucratic Beliefs and Law Enforcement"  (with Fuhai Hong). Public Choice 196, 2023: 357–379.

[10]"Revolution, State Building, and the Great Famine in China"  (with Mingxing Liu  and Victor Shih). Political Research Quarterly 76, (3) 2023: 1058–1073. 

[9]"Top-down Accountability, Social Unrest, and Anticorruption" (with Linke Hou  and Mingxing Liu). The American Review of Public Administration 52,  (6) 2022: 423–438.

[8]"Framing as an Information Control Strategy in Times of Crisis"  (with Shouzhi Xia  and Huang Huang).  Journal of East Asian Studies 22, (2) 2022: 255–279.

[7]"Misinformation, Economic Threat, and Public Support for International Trade" (with D.J. Flynn  and Yusaku Horiuchi). Review of International Political Economy 29, (2) 2022: 571–597.

[6]"Elite Cleavage and the Rise of Capitalism under Authoritarianism: A Tale of Two Provinces in China" (with Qi Zhang, Mingxing Liu and Victor Shih).  The Journal of Politics 83, (3) 2021: 1010–1023.

[5] "'Big Tigers, Big Data': Learning Social Reactions to China's Anticorruption Campaign through Online Feedback" (with Jiangnan Zhu and Huang Huang). Public Administration Review  79,  (4) 2019: 500–513. 

[4] "The Fall of the Old Guards: Explaining Decentralization in China" (with Mingxing Liu and Victor Shih). Studies in Comparative International Development  53 , (4) 2018: 379–403.

[3] "Reducing Bureaucratic Corruption: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on What Works" (with Jordan Gans-Morse, Mariana Borges, Alexey Makarin, Theresa Mannah-Blankson, Andre Nickow). World Development  105,  (May) 2018: 171–188. 

[2]  "Weapons of the Powerful: Authoritarian Elite Competition and Politicized Anticorruption in China" (with Jiangnan Zhu). Comparative Political Studies  50, (9)  2017 : 1186–1220. 

         *Recipient of Research Output Prize 2017 at the University of Hong Kong

[1] "Does Corruption Hinder Private Businesses? Leadership Stability and Predictable Corruption in China" (with Jiangnan Zhu). Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions  30,  (3)  2017: 343–363. 

Working Papers

[1] "The War of Ideas: Institutions and Global Media Bias" (with Sibo Liu, Alexey Makarin, Jinfeng Wu).