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About me...

I hold a Ph.D. in Economic History from the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics.  At present, I am a British Academy Postdoc Fellow at the Department of Economics, University of Manchester. Prior to this role, I held positions as a Fellow in Chinese Economic History at LSE (with a focus on teaching) and as a Tawney Postdoc Fellow in Economic History at the University of London. Starting September 2024, I am excited to embark on a new journey as a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Strategy (Research and Teaching) at the Department of Strategy, Enterprise, and Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Driven by a dedication to revitalizing Chinese Economic and Business History, my research delves into themes encompassing Chinese financial, economic, and business history through a longitudinal lens. With robust training in both economics and history, I employ qualitative and quantitative methodologies to scrutinize the evolution of financial institutions under the sway of external forces such as governmental policies, legal frameworks, international commerce, and internal dynamics such as business strategies and governance structures.

In 2017, I embraced motherhood, which prompted me to transition into teaching-focused roles at LSE and the University of Manchester. Although these roles somewhat curtailed my research productivity quantitatively, they engendered qualitative growth by exposing me to diverse scholarly literature and kindling fresh research impetuses through the instruction of economic history courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

In September 2021, I was honored with a Postdoctoral Fellowship in economics by the British Academy, culminating in the publication of one peer-reviewed paper and one working paper. Noteworthy among my publications is a co-authored paper with Hanhui Guan (Peking University) and Nuno Palma (University of Manchester) titled “The Rise and Fall of Paper Money in Yuan China,” which scrutinizes the advent of the first precious metal standard in history. This paper, published in the esteemed Economic History Review (ABS journal ranking: 4*), elucidates how persistent fiscal strains induced by warfare prompted rulers to transition from a precious metal standard to a fiat standard, as evidenced by our meticulous time-series analysis of diverse metrics including money issues, imperial grants, prices, warfare, natural calamities, and taxation.

My dissertation-turned-paper, “Business Organisation, Personnel Management, and Governance Structure: A Study of the Shanxi Piaohao (Banks),” has been resubmitted to R&R  for Business History (ABS journal ranking: 4*). Based on extensive primary sources, my paper provides the first examination of the organizational form, personnel management, and governance structure of the Shanxi piaohao. It reveals that in a business environment where the government implemented a noninterventionist commercial policy, piaohao thrived by building on their private rules. Notably, this work has been featured by The Economist (https://www.economist.com/china/2024/02/29/china-tells-bankers-to-be-more-patriotic).

Please refer to my CV for a comprehensive overview of my research, teaching, and academic contributions.