Jessica Cheng-Hsin Lee

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. I study the political economy of global production and international migration. My research examines how global production transforms domestic politics and how international politics reorganizes cross-border economic activity. It spans international trade, foreign investment, migration, and international institutions in an era of globalization and its backlash.

My three-essay dissertation examines how the organization of production shapes both firm politics and mass politics. The core argument is that the expansion and reconfiguration of global production create and reallocate economic opportunities, thereby altering the economic interests and incentives that underpin domestic actors’ political orientations. These changes reshape coalitional alignments, policy preferences, and political behavior, with broader implications for government–business relations and host–immigrant relations.

Another strand of my research focuses on how institutions, including international rules and domestic regulations, govern cross-border flows of information, capital, and people and redraw the boundaries of economic participation and political membership.

Prior to coming to Austin, I earned dual bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Economics, as well as a master’s degree in Political Science, from National Taiwan University.

Dissertation Committee: Nathan Jensen (Chair), Amy Liu, Daniel Nielson, and David Leblang (External Member).

You can reach me at jessica.c.lee@utexas.edu

My CV is available here