I am an associate professor at the Department of Government, the University of Texas at Austin. My research centers on distributive politics of fiscal policies in authoritarian regimes, with a focus on China. I am particularly interested in the politics of social spending and taxation and their consequences for state building. I have published in numerous leading academic journals, and I have been recognized for both research and teaching awards and grants. I received Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 2011.
(512) 232-7257
Department of Government
University of Texas at Austin
Campus Mail Stop: A1800
Austin, TX 78712-1704
WORK IN PROGRESS
Expected Return for Taxation: Do Elites Differ from Nonelites? (with Didac Queralt and Jay C. Kao)
Do “Responsive Officials” or “Sanctioning Officials” Enhance Tax Compliance? Experimental Evidence from China (with Lily Tsai, Minh Trinh, and Ping Zhang)
Not Just About the Money: Rethinking the Role of Taxation in State Capacity (with Mingxing Liu and Linke Hou)
“The Spillover Effects of Land Taking on Social Unrest: Evidence from China” (with Lynette Ong and Wenhui Yang)
The End of (Economic) Performance Legitimacy in China? (with Ding Li and Shuang Ma)
PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Journals
(2020) "Policy Coalition Building in an Authoritarian Legislature: Evidence from China’s National Assemblies (1983–2007)" (with Mingxing Liu and Feiyue Li) Comparative Political Studies, 53(9): 1380-1416
(2019) “The Sources of De Facto Power and Education Provision: Understanding Local Government Incentive in China” (with Mingxing Liu) Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 49 (2): 325-51.
(2018) “Does Performance Matter? Evaluating the Institution of Political Selection along the Chinese Administrative Ladder” (with Pierre Landry and Haiyan Duan) Comparative Political Studies, 51(8): 1074 – 1105.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2016) “Self-Centered Inequity Aversion and the Mass Politics of Taxation” (with Kenneth Scheve) Comparative Political Studies, 49 (14): 1965-97.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2015) “Intergovernmental Transfers and Local Education Provision – Evaluating China’s 8-7 National Plan for Poverty Reduction” China Economics Review, 33: 200-211.
(2014) “Show Me the Money: Interjurisdiction Political Competition and Fiscal Extraction in China” (with Pierre Landry) American Political Science Review, 108(3): 706-722.
(2014) “Social Policy and Regime Legitimacy: The Effects of Education Reform in China” American Political Science Review, 108(2): 423-437.
(2014) “Does Changing Economic Well-being Shape Opinion about Inequality in China?” Studies in Comparative International Development, 49(3): 300-320.
(2013) “Equality of Educational Opportunity and Attitudes toward Income Inequality: Evidence from China” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 8(3): 271-303.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2012) “Inequity Aversion and the International Distribution of Trade Protection” (with Kenneth Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter). American Journal of Political Science, 56(3): 638-654.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
Refereed Book Chapter
(2015) “China: Ethical Challenges in Comparative Politics Experiments.” In Ethics and Experiments: Problems and Solutions for Social Scientists and Policy Professionals, ed. Scott Desposato. London: Routledge.
Book Review
(Forthcoming) Book Review, Daniel Koss. Where the Party Rules: The Rank and File of China’s Communist State. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), The China Journal.
(2017) Book review, Rory Truex. Making autocracy work: representation and responsiveness in modern China. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016), The China Quarterly, 232 (December): 1118-1119.
(2012) Book review, Andrew B. Kipnis. Governing Educational Desire: Culture, Politics, and Schooling in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), Comparative Political Studies, 45(5): 667-670.
TEACHING
University of Texas at Austin
Graduate-Level
Comparative Political Economy
Undergraduate-Level
Politics in China
State Building in China and Taiwan
Chinese Politics & Society in Films & Documentaries
Politics of Development Policies
Institutions and Comparative Political & Economic Development
Texas A&M University
Graduate-Level
Political Consequences of Development
Politics of Development Policies
Quantitative Methods I
Quantitative Methods II