Scott Rozelle

scott rozelle new headshot

Scott Rozelle, PhD

  • Faculty Co-director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions
  • Helen F. Farnsworth Endowed Professorship
  • Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
  • Faculty affiliate at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law

Encina Hall East, E404
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

Biography

Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University. He received his BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS and PhD from Cornell University. Previously, Rozelle was a professor at the University of California, Davis and an assistant professor in Stanford’s Food Research Institute and department of economics. He currently is a member of several organizations, including the American Economics Association, the International Association for Agricultural Economists, and the Association for Asian Studies. Rozelle also serves on the editorial boards of Economic Development and Cultural Change, Agricultural Economics, the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and the China Economic Review.

His research focuses almost exclusively on China and is concerned with: agricultural policy, including the supply, demand, and trade in agricultural projects; the emergence and evolution of markets and other economic institutions in the transition process and their implications for equity and efficiency; and the economics of poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on rural education, health and nutrition.

Rozelle's papers have been published in top academic journals, including Science, Nature, American Economic Review, and the Journal of Economic Literature. He is fluent in Chinese and has established a research program in which he has close working ties with several Chinese collaborators and policymakers. For the past 20 years, Rozelle has been the chair of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy; a co-director of the University of California's Agricultural Issues Center; and a member of Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Center on Food Security and the Environment.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards, including the Friendship Award in 2008, the highest award given to a non-Chinese by the Premier; and the National Science and Technology Collaboration Award in 2009 for scientific achievement in collaborative research.

publications

Books
October 2020

Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise

Author(s)
cover link Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise
Books
July 2020

Lockdowns are Protecting China’s Rural Families from COVID-19, but the Economic Burden is Heavy

Author(s)
cover link Lockdowns are Protecting China’s Rural Families from COVID-19, but the Economic Burden is Heavy
Books
April 2015

Agricultural water management at the village level in northern China

Author(s)
cover link Agricultural water management at the village level in northern China

Current research

In The News

US-China Salon Podcast Graphic
News

Scott Rozelle Joins the US-China Salon Podcast to Share Insights on China's Rural Development

In this podcast Scott Rozelle Rozelle provides invaluable perspective on key topics impacting rural communities. It explores recent education reforms in China, including efforts to strengthen rural schooling and early childhood learning. And also delves into pressing employment challenges as many rural workers lack the skills to transition from manufacturing jobs to the service sector. Professor Rozelle emphasizes the urgency of implementing job retraining programs and safety nets. Looking ahead, overcoming rural-urban inequality will be critical for China to avoid the “middle income trap” that ensnares many developing nations.
cover link Scott Rozelle Joins the US-China Salon Podcast to Share Insights on China's Rural Development
A row of hanging clothes in a alley in Guangzhou, China.
News

The Guardian Quotes Scott Rozelle Speaking on China's Economy

In the ariticle, "Peak China? Jobs, local services and welfare strain under economy’s structural faults" Rozelle is quoted saying, "'You don’t turn yourself into a high-income country with [close to] 70% of your economy in the informal sector.'”
cover link The Guardian Quotes Scott Rozelle Speaking on China's Economy
COVID-19 inequities illustration
News

Financial Times: China’s Covid Generation: The Surging Inequality Behind Xi’s U-Turn

The Financial Times spoke with Scott Rozelle about the education and the “Covid generation” — the children whose lives have been upended through cycles of lockdowns under China’s hallmark zero-Covid policy.
cover link Financial Times: China’s Covid Generation: The Surging Inequality Behind Xi’s U-Turn