Peer-Reviewed Publications
Wu, Jingwen, Emily Beaulieu Bacchus, Tiffany D. Barnes, and Nathan Batto. Forthcoming. "Mixed Member Systems, Corruption, and Accountability: Evidence from Taiwan." In Gender and Corruption in Democracies: A Handbook, Edward Elgar Publishing.
Are citizens more likely to punish women politicians for corruption than men? Previous studies have shown that women politicians are held to higher standards than men. Gender stereotypes hold that women should exhibit traits such as honesty, compassion, and moral purity, and thus less likely than men to engage in corruption. When women violate these gendered expectations and are implicated in corruption scandals, it could lead to harsher backlash at the polls—above and beyond the response elicited by male politicians who were initially held to lower or different standards. Such studies are consistent with the outcomes of high-profile scandals such as the impeachments of presidents Park Guen-hye in South Korea, and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. However, this argument assumes that expectations and stereotypes of women are relatively constant across cultures and that institutional differences will not affect voters’ propensity to punish women any more than men. We investigate this question in the unique cultural and historical context of Taiwan, arguing that cultural and institutional differences may condition voters’ desire to punish corruption at the polls, providing important insights into the impact of gender on voter accountability.
Wu, Jingwen and James R. Masterson. 2023. "Cleaning Up Its Act: The Ecological Environmental Protection Plan and China Urban Air Pollution." Asian Survey. University of California Press. PDF.
The urgent and global concern of environmental problems transcends local and regional boundaries, posing significant challenges for policymakers in developing countries. Amid conflicting economic and environmental goals, evaluating the efficacy of regulatory policies becomes increasingly critical. This study investigates the effectiveness of public policy in incentivizing developing nations to prioritize environmental regulation, with a specific focus on China's most recent environmental policy, the Ecological Environmental Protection Plan (the EEP Plan). Using multilevel modeling and difference-in-differences estimation with data from six of China’s most populous cities between 2014 and 2019, we see evidence of air quality improvements following the implementation of the policy. Furthermore, we observe greater enhancements in air quality in the cities most affected by the institutional details of the policy. This shows that well-crafted public policy can improve air quality, providing crucial insights for policymakers and scholars alike.
Wu, Jingwen. 2023. "The Disruptive Nature of Short Video-Based Social Media Platforms in China: The Case of TikTok." In Government Response to Innovative Technology, IGI Global.
Can short video-based social media platforms disrupt economic markets and upend government censorship? Short videos have become the vanguard of social media. This chapter examines how this modern Information Communication Technology (ICT) disrupts government regulation and the market as a whole in China, using TikTok as an example. Specifically, it argues that a video social media platform with unlimited content and low usage thresholds, combined with citizen's lack of legal awareness, makes it easy to expose privacy, encounter fraud, and infringe upon intellectual property. These factors are exasperated by TikTok's video format, since video-based content is more difficult to censor in a timely manner. Consequently, TikTok poses challenges for government regulation and disrupts government censorship. The chapter concludes by discussing policy implications. Specifically, it proposes the implementation of modernized laws and regulations to tackle the distinct challenges and risks presented by cutting-edge technologies.
Other Writings
"Automated Genocide" (with Matthew Penn)
Masterson, James R. and Jingwen Wu. 2021. "Cleaning Up China's Air: The Effectiveness of the EEP Plan in Beijing." E-International Relations. (Editorial Reviewed)
Under Review
The Gender Digital Divide and Gender Gaps in Collective Action (with Tiffany D. Barnes, Emily Rains, & Jakana Thomas) *Under Review
China's Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Development or Strategic Statecraft? *Under Review
Working Papers
Modern Communication Technology and Women's Human Rights
Government and Its Oppositions: Modern Communication Technologies as Whose Weapons?
Human Rights in the Digital Age: Can Modern Communication Technology Encourage Governments to Improve their Human Rights Practices?
Wired and Riled: Modern Communication Technology on Social Unrest
The Past and Future: Determinants of the Presidential Election (with James R. Masterson & Kay Hales)