SCCEI Seminar Series (Fall 2024)

Friday, November 22, 2024 | 12:00 pm -1:20 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way

Response to Competition: Gender, Domains, and STEM Choice
 

Women’s lower performance in competitive environments has been advanced as an explanation for gender inequalities in the labor market. Using broadly representative Chinese administrative data, and measuring response to competition (RC) by performance changes from a mock exam to the competitive High School Entrance Exam, we document higher RC for boys in STEM and for girls in non-STEM subjects, with the male STEM RC advantage weakened by random exposure to high-performing female classmates in STEM. Both domain-specific RC measures significantly predict subsequent STEM track choice, accounting for 26% of the adjusted gender gap in STEM specialization, a known precursor to the gender pay gap.

Please register for the event to receive email updates and add it to your calendar. Lunch will be provided.

About the Speaker 
 

Jane Zhang is an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales and a Visiting Scholar (2024-25) at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions. Her research examines how preferences and beliefs are shaped by policy, how they interact with incentives, and the role that they play in determining a wide-range of social outcomes. Her approach combines the use of tools from the experimental economics field, with the exploitation of natural experiments, field experiments, and controlled lab manipulations to make causal inferences about the determinants of preferences and beliefs. Her work has been published in outlets such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review: Insights, the Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Journal, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She received her PhD in Economics from U.C. Berkeley and BA in Economics from Stanford University.

A NOTE ON LOCATION

Please join us in-person in the Goldman Conference Room located within Encina Hall on the 4th floor of the East wing.

Questions? Contact Xinmin Zhao at xinminzhao@stanford.edu
 

Decentralized Economic Statecraft

Speaker: Alicia Chen, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Stanford University

Economic statecraft requires countries to trade off security and economic gains. This study provides a framework to explain how China manages this dilemma by considering the allocation of Chinese foreign aid. The study documents how, unlike Western donors, Chinese aid is allocated by local politicians rather than central policymakers in Beijing, and that these politicians are subject to a competitive promotion system centered around generating economic growth and fiscal revenue. Under this incentive scheme, local politicians use foreign aid to meet economic targets at home for career advancement. The theory is tested using provincial- and contractor-level aid data and a regression discontinuity design that exploits age restrictions in China’s promotion system. The results show that promotion-eligible politicians commit nearly $20 million more in aid annually compared to their ineligible counterparts.

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

Questions? Contact Ragina Johnson at raginaj@stanford.edu
 

Science Under Pressure: Global Decoupling, Ideological Recalibration, and the Future of Knowledge in China

Speaker: Naiyu Jiang, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Stanford University

This project examines how external geopolitical pressures and domestic political shifts are reshaping knowledge production in China. Specifically, it asks how targeted U.S. sanctions—such as the 2020 visa restrictions on researchers in critical fields—have affected the volume, quality, and global integration of Chinese scientific output. At the same time, this study explores how growing ideological control since the 2010s has redirected the thematic priorities and intellectual orientation of social science research in China. Drawing on two large-scale datasets—over 70 million Chinese-language publications from CNKI (1995–2024) and 80 million global articles from Web of Science (1972–2024)—the project traces shifts in collaboration networks, funding patterns, and research agendas across disciplines. It aims to provide a comprehensive account of how China’s research system is being reconfigured by both global decoupling and domestic political realignment—and what this transformation means for the future of cross-border knowledge production.

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays from 12 - 1 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

Questions? Contact Ragina Johnson at raginaj@stanford.edu
 

What Determines the Price of Health? Corruption-Information Tradeoff in Authoritarian Governance

Speaker: Victoria Liu, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Stanford University

China runs one of the largest public health systems in the world, with over 1 million health institutions caring for more than 1.4 billion people. In recent years, this system faces increasing pressure from rising demand due to an aging population, limited funding, and widespread accusations of corruption. In response to these challenges, the Chinese government has launched sweeping reforms to contain costs — most notably Xi Jinping’s high-profile anti-corruption campaign specifically targeted at the health sector. While these efforts aim to improve transparency and reduce costs, their broader effects remain unclear. This study examines the impact of anti-corruption efforts on a range of health system outcomes, including drug affordability, innovation, and health outcomes. Early findings suggest that while anti-corruption efforts may curb rent-seeking behavior, they do not always lead to improved outcomes. In some cases, anti-corruption campaigns may undermine the state’s capacity to gauge information from private industry or dampen incentives for innovation. This research contributes to a broader literature on corruption, state-business relations, and public service delivery in authoritarian context.

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays from 12 - 1 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

Turning the Table: How Private Companies in China Leverage and Exploit State Assets from Local Governments

Speaker: Qianmin Hu, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Stanford University

While existing literature emphasizes state dominance and the frequent expropriation of private assets, this research investigates how private enterprises gain significant bargaining power over local governments, enabling them to expropriate state resources. Drawing on extensive qualitative fieldwork and a unique quantitative dataset derived from court judgments involving firm-government investment contracts, this study finds that private firms in China frequently breach contracts, leveraging and exploiting substantial subsidies and land price discounts from local governments. Such reversal of power is possible because local officials face intense bureaucratic incentives—such as unrealistic investment targets, prospects of promotion, and pressure from public shaming—to follow the central government's developmental agenda. These findings suggest that when an authoritarian government opens itself to potential exploitation by private firms, it implicitly guarantees property rights protection for private investments, thereby making its commitment to the private sector more credible.

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays from 12 - 1 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

This event has been cancelled.

We hope to see you at another SCCEI event!
 

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays from 12 - 1 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

The Moderating Role of Caregiver Mental Health in Parenting Interventions in Rural China

Speaker: Qi Jiang, Doctoral Candidate in Health Policy at University of California, Berkeley

Caregiver mental health plays a crucial role in early childhood development (ECD) and may influence the effectiveness of parenting stimulation interventions. This study examines how caregiver mental health moderates intervention compliance, child development outcomes, and responsive stimulation in LMICs. Using data from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 100 rural villages in China, including 2,040 caregiver-child dyads, we found caregiver depressive symptoms significantly moderated treatment effects on child cognitive development, caregiver-child interactions, and caregiver stress symptoms. In contrast, caregiver anxiety symptoms did not show significant moderating effects. These results suggest that integrating mental health support into parenting programs can enhance the impact of interventions, even when mental health is not the primary focus. This study provides key policy insights for improving ECD outcomes through targeted mental health support in LMICs.

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays from 12 - 1 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present. 

Join us for a lightning round edition of the SCCEI Young Researcher Workshop series. Each presenter will have 30 minutes to share their research and field audience questions.

Round 1: China’s Two-Child Policy and Gender Wage Gap

Presenter:  Ni Yan, PhD Candidate in Economics, Stanford University

Round 2: Governance Structure and Cropland Protection

Presenter: Ru Yan, PhD Candidate in Agricultural Economics, Zhejiang University 

About the Workshops

Our Young Researcher Workshops offer emerging China scholars an opportunity to engage directly with interdisciplinary faculty and peers from across campus to discuss and receive feedback on their research. Each workshop features one or several PhD students presenting their latest empirical findings on issues related to China’s economy. Past topics have included college major selection as an obstacle to socioeconomic mobility, the effect of a cooling-off period on marriage outcomes, and factors contributing to government corruption. Faculty and senior scholars provide comments and feedback for improvement. This event series helps to build and strengthen Stanford’s community of young researchers working on China.

Workshops are held on select Fridays starting at 12 pm. Lunch will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present.