The institute helps coordinate the efforts of scholars (faculty and students) across campus and supports research to understand economic growth in China (past, present and future) and its impact on the world economy. Focus areas include rural development, firm activities and industrial dynamics, markets and regulation, financial and real estate markets, international trade, and environmental and energy challenges. Some of current research projects aim to understand: the impacts of industrial policies in China; the dynamics of firm productivity and location choices; the causes, consequences, and policy choices regarding air pollution; the transportation policies and outcomes; and electricity sector restructuring.


Information, Mobile Communication, and Urban Labor Markets, Panle Barwick, Yanyan Liu, Eleonora Patacchini, and Qi Wu

The Marginal Cost of Traffic Congestion and Road Pricing: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, Jun Yang, Avralt-od Purevjav, and Shanjun Li

The Great Chinese Inequality Turnaround, Ravi Kanbur, Yue Wang and Xiaobo Zhang (Video)

The Economics of China: Successes and Challenges, Shenggen Fan, Ravi Kanbur, Shang-Jin Wei, and Xiaobo Zhang

Putting New Wine in Old Bottles: State-Mediated Globalization Processes and the Adoption of Sustainability Reporting in China, Christopher Marquis, Lynn Yin, and Dongning Yang

Institutional Change in Authoritarian Settings:  A Study of Environmental Penalties in China, Christopher Marquis, and Yanhua Zhou

The New Normal: Reform, Information, and China’s Anti-Corruption Crusade in Context, Jeremy Wallace

State Advance and Retreat: China’s State-Owned Enterprises after the Global Financial Crisis, Jeremy Wallace