PUBLICATIONS
Agricultural Imports, Labor Mobility, and Welfare.
Guanzu Ding, Haichao Fan, Rui Li, Huanhuan Wang, Xican Xi.
Journal of International Economics, forthcoming.
The Effects of a Multifaceted Poverty Alleviation Program on Rural Income and Household Behavior in China.
Rui Li, Hong Song, Jun Zhang, Junsen Zhang.
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 17 (2025): 319–57.
Children’s Gender and Parents’ Long-Term Care Arrangements: Evidence from China.
Huasheng Gao, Rui Li, Jianhong Shen, Huiting Yang.
Applied Economics 57(2025): 1510–1525.
Agricultural Tax Reform, Capital Investment, and Structural Transformation in China.
Li, Rui, Huiting Yang, Jun Zhang.
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 71(2024): 509-522.
The Transformation to Sustainable Development and Economic Growth: Evidence from China.
Li, Rui, Litian Yu, and Jun Zhang.
Singapore Economic Review 69.05 (2024): 1629-1657.
Improvement of Transportation Facilities, Agricultural Labor Mobility and Structural Transformation.
Zhang, Jun, Rui Li, Hongbao Yu.
Chinese Rural Economy, 2021(06):28-43. (Chinese)
WORKING PAPERS
Food Security, Structural Transformation and Welfare. Guanzu Ding, Rui Li, Xican Xi, Jun Zhang. Working Paper, 2025.
Abstract: This study examines the effects of food-security policies in China, focusing on a national program that prioritized grain production in 800 counties after 2010. We find that these counties experienced a significant decline in cash crop production and agricultural employment, with a limited increase in grain output. Using a spatial equilibrium model that incorporates sectoral choices, crop choices, and migration barriers, we assess the aggregate impacts of the program and alternative policies. Our analysis shows that the national program boosted aggregate GDP but reduced agricultural output and welfare. While subsidizing grain production would increase agricultural output, it would negatively affect aggregate GDP. Subsidizing agricultural intermediates would enhance agricultural output and welfare with a negligible impact on aggregate GDP, but would worsen the already severe agricultural pollution.
Transportation Improvement and Human Capital Investment in China. Yuan Chen, Rui Li, Huiting Yang, Jun Zhang. Working Paper, 2025.
Abstract: This study examines how transportation improvements affect human capital investment. Leveraging China’s high-speed rail (HSR) expansion and staggered difference-in-differences design, we document a significant negative impact of HSR access on high school attendance, driven by elevated opportunity costs from reshaped labor markets. Negative effects concentrate among girls—particularly in multi-child households with brothers. This gender gap stems from parental “son preference” in human capital allocation rather than differential labor demand. Our findings reveal an unintended trade-off: Transportation improvements accelerate adolescent workforce entry at the expense of educational attainment, exacerbating gender inequality.
SELECTED WORK IN PROGRESS
Green Revolution and Human Capital Investment in Rural Area.
Rui Li, Yunru Si
Market-Oriented Institutional Reforms and Innovation in Public Research Institutes: Evidence from China.
Rui Li, Huiting Yang, Jun Zhang
Poverty Reduction, Migration, and Crime.
Place-Based Policies and Agricultural Innovation.
Rui Li, Bin Lv, Huiting Yang, Jun Zhang
The Rise of Chinese Female Economists.