Ruiting WANG（王 睿霆）
Associate Professor of Economics
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Okayama University
About
I am an Associate Professor of Economics at Okayama University. My research lies in empirical microeconomics and public economics, with a focus on the Chinese economy. I work on three main areas: the political economy of China, public finance and taxation, and population and the macroeconomy. My empirical work combines bunching estimation and other quasi-experimental designs with large-scale microdata to study how fiscal institutions and government incentives shape the behavior of firms, local officials, and households. My work has appeared in Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, International Journal of Industrial Organization, and Economic Research Journal (经济研究), the leading general-interest economics journal in China.
Research Interests
Political Economy of China · Public Finance · Population and the Macroeconomy · Bunching Estimation
News
Sep 2026 — Our paper series on budget management and tax-cut effectiveness received the First Prize of the Sichuan Provincial Award for Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences.
Aug 2026 — "Impacts of Privatization on State-Owned Enterprises: A Tale of Zombie versus Healthy Firms" is published in the International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Mar 2026 — "Tax Incentives and Firm Skill Composition" is published in China & World Economy.
Publications
Impacts of Privatization on State-Owned Enterprises: A Tale of Zombie versus Healthy Firms (with Gang Xu, Xue Wang, and Tao Zha). International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2026, 103323. [NBER WP w32795]
Tax Incentives and Firm Skill Composition: Evidence from China's Employee Training Deduction Reform (with Ce Huang, Xiaoshu Jin, and Rong Liu). China & World Economy, 2026, 34(2): 32–66.
Career Incentives, Tournament Competition, and Performance Manipulation: Evidence from Chinese Cities (with Gang Xu, Lixin Colin Xu, and Ruichao Si). Journal of Law and Economics, 2025, 68(2): 459–498.
Anti-Corruption, Safety Compliance, and Coal Mine Deaths: Evidence from China (with Gang Xu, Xue Wang, Go Yano, and Rong Zou). Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, 188: 458–488.
Can Child Allowances Improve Fertility in a Gender Discrimination Economy? (with Gang Xu). Economic Modelling, 2020, 93: 162–174.
Publications in Chinese
Budget Management and Tax-Cut Effectiveness: Evidence from Dynamic Bunching of Micro and Small Enterprises (预算管理与减税效能提升：来自小微企业动态群聚的证据) (with Rong Liu, Lingqing Chen, and Xinghua Deng). Economic Research Journal (经济研究), 2023, 58(8): 120–139.
— Excellent Paper Award, 8th China Public Finance Forum (2022)How Does Industrial Robot Adoption Affect the Marriage and Fertility Behavior of Young People? (工业机器人应用如何影响年轻人婚育行为？) (with Gang Xu, Linsong Han, and Lei Li). Labor Economic Research (劳动经济研究), 2023, 11(4): 63–90.
Grants
JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (No. 25K16668), "Manipulation of Economic Indicators by Local Governments in Authoritarian States: Causes and Economic Consequences," 2025–2028, Principal Investigator.
Awards
First Prize, Sichuan Provincial Award for Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences (2025 cycle), awarded 2026.
Excellent Paper Award (Second Prize), 8th China Public Finance Forum, co-hosted by Fudan University and the Economic Research Journal, 2022.
Refereeing
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, China Economic Review, Economic Modelling, Review of International Economics, Computational Economics
Lecture Notes
Bunching Estimation: [Japanese] · [Chinese]
Employment
2023–present: Associate Professor, Okayama University
2021–2023: Associate Professor (tenure track), School of Public Finance and Taxation, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE)
Education
Ph.D. in Economics, Kyoto University, 2021
M.A. in Public Policy, Hokkaido University, 2017
B.A. in Economics, University of International Business and Economics, 2013
Prospective Research Students（研究生）
I receive many inquiries and am unable to reply to each one individually. If you have not heard back within one week of your email, please understand that I am unable to accept your application. When writing, please include your CV, transcripts, and a short research proposal relevant to my fields.