Gods of the Coast: Religious Networks and the Making of Nationhood in Taiwan [Job Market Paper]
This paper examines the role of decentralized religious networks in shaping national identity, focusing on Mazu worship in Taiwan. Combining temple-level data on establishment and lineage with individual-level survey data, we construct a novel measure of historical exposure to the Mazu network. We find that greater long-run exposure significantly increases the likelihood of identifying as Taiwanese. To address endogeneity, we exploit the historical diffusion of Mazu worship using supply- and demand-side instruments based on proximity to early diffusion hubs and reliance on maritime economies. The IV estimates confirm a causal effect of network exposure on identity formation. Mechanism analysis shows that this effect operates through the network structure of Mazu worship: areas more deeply embedded in the hierarchical temple network exhibit stronger identity formation, consistent with repeated social interaction and network-based socialization. We further show that these effects depend on political context, indicating that religious networks interact with state forces rather than operate in isolation. Greater exposure also shifts political attitudes, increasing support for Taiwanese independence, reducing support for cross-strait integration, and favoring the pan-Green camp. Overall, the results highlight how decentralized social networks can shape national identity and political outcomes beyond formal state institutions.
Educating Revolutionaries: Rural Normal Schools and the Rise of the Chinese Communist Party
This paper examines the expansion of rural normal schools by the Nationalist government in 1930s China and its unintended role in the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Following the 1905 abolition of the imperial civil examination, which created a profound rural governance vacuum , the Nationalist government promoted tuition-free rural normal schools to professionalize grassroots education and reclaim local authority. Utilizing a county-year panel dataset and an instrumental variable approach based on late-Qing pedagogical networks, we find that school exposure significantly increased revolutionary participation while sharply reducing martyrdom risks before 1937. These effects intensified during the Sino-Japanese War (1938--1945), where school exposure further predicted the emergence of revolutionary leaders. Mechanism analysis reveals that schools facilitated an ``atomized infiltration'' channel: rather than formal institutional building, the CCP leveraged the professional legitimacy of educators to mobilize rural youth through clandestine social networks. Triple-difference estimates confirm that the effects are concentrated among the 12--20 age cohort, the primary demographic eligible for normal education. Our findings highlight a paradox of state-building, where modernizing projects intended to consolidate state power may inadvertently supply the organizational infrastructure for insurgent challengers when the state’s capacity to monitor or co-opt newly educated groups is limited.
The Long Shadow of the State: Historical State Penetration and Private Sector Development in China
This study investigates the long-term impact of historical state-building on contemporary economic performance, specifically focusing on the development of China's private sector after 2001. By constructing a city-level historical index based on proximity to political centers from 221 BC to 2000 AD, the project evaluates how centuries of institutional accumulation influence modern business profit, revenue, and tax contributions. Employing a Difference-in-Differences (DID) framework with city and year fixed effects, preliminary results indicate a significant, non-linear relationship between a city's historical legacy and its capacity for private-sector growth in the post-market-reform era