Over the past decade, my research has been dedicated to place-based policies and urbanization in China, with a particular focus on industrial parks. I have collaborated with scholars to publish high-quality papers in leading international economics journals. Currently, I am expanding my research to explore additional place-based policies and their impact on local economies, including the "156 Projects" supported by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and dam developments in China.
Buy Tractors and Keep the Children in School: Agricultural Mechanization, Teenage Labor Supply, and High School Enrollment
Co-authored with Hundanol Kebede
Working Paper, 2025
Available at: https://hundanolkebede.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/subsidy.pdf
Citywide Job Loss and the Rise of Teen Rock Bands: The Intergenerational Effect of State-Owned Enterprises Reform in China
Co-authored with Xiaoyue Tong and Yucheng Qian
Working Paper, 2025
Available at: SSRN or DOI:10.2139/ssrn.4851931
Sun, Weizeng, Jianfeng Wu, and Hongchang Yang. 2024. "Increasing Entrepreneurs through Green Industrial Parks: Evidence from Special Economic Zones in China." The Annals of Regional Science 72 (2): 287–312.
Lu, Fangwen, Weizeng Sun, and Jianfeng Wu. 2023. "Special Economic Zones and Human Capital Investment: 30 Years of Evidence from China." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 15 (3): 35–64.
Kahn, Matthew E., Weizeng Sun, Jianfeng Wu, and Siqi Zheng. 2021. "Do Political Connections Help or Hinder Urban Economic Growth? Evidence from 1,400 Industrial Parks in China." Journal of Urban Economics 121: 103289.
Liu, Zhikuo, Huihang Wu, and Jianfeng Wu. 2019. "Location-Based Tax Incentives and Entrepreneurial Activities: Evidence from Western Regional Development Strategy in China." Small Business Economics 52 (3): 729–42.
Zheng, Siqi, Weizeng Sun, Jianfeng Wu, and Matthew E. Kahn. 2017. "The Birth of Edge Cities in China: Measuring the Effects of Industrial Parks Policy." Journal of Urban Economics 100: 80–103.
Papers in Process
Go with the Rain: Climate Change and the Geography of Agricultural Industry in China
Co-authored with Yue Wang, Zhi Wang, and Yuan Zhang
Industrial Parks and Persistence of Neighborhoods within Large Cities: Evidence from Shanghai
Co-authored with Nanyang Bu and Xiangyu Guo
Industrialization and Women's Marital Status: Evidence from 156 Projects in China
Co-authored with Xiaofang Dong, Yucheng Qian, and Anping Xia
Papers in Process
《经济改革、集聚经济和不均衡增长：中国产业空间分布的经济学观察1980-2010》, 北京大学出版社，2014年。
Papers in Process