Stanford University

Young Researcher Workshop: Quality of Primary Healthcare and Family Antibiotic Consumption in Rural China: A Machine-Learning Approach

-

Quality of Primary Healthcare and Family Antibiotic Consumption in Rural China: A Machine-Learning Approach


Speaker: Yunwei Chen, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions

Inappropriate antibiotic use presents a unique challenge to global health. Despite the widespread practice of limiting antibiotic use through doctor-prescribed prescriptions in developed countries, this approach may not be effective in resource-limited settings where providers are unable to prescribe effectively. Investing in quality primary healthcare may offer an effective alternative to promoting effective antibiotic dispensing in community settings, but evidence remains limited and few studies are devoted to these settings. Using extensive data collected from approximately 100 rural villages in remote areas of Yunnan Province in southwest China, this paper investigates how the practicing quality of village providers affects family antibiotic consumption. Provider quality was assessed through unannounced clinical visits by standardized patients presenting consistent conditions, which were then linked to antibiotic consumption data obtained from household surveys in the same villages. We identified causal effects using the newly developed double/debiased machine learning approach, by leveraging extensive information collected from village providers to approximate the optimal instrument, using a variety of machine learning algorithms. Our analysis indicates that improving the practicing quality of village doctors significantly reduced inappropriate family use of antibiotics in remote rural areas of China.

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. 

Learn More About the Workshops

Goldman Room, Encina Hall, E409

Yunwei Chen, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions
Workshops
Date Label

Margaret Roberts | Small Yard, High Fence? The Impact of US-China Tensions on the Reallocation of International Students in US Higher Education

-

SCCEI Seminar Series (Fall 2024)


Friday, October 25, 2024 | 12:00 pm -1:20 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way


Small Yard, High Fence? The Impact of US-China Tensions on the Reallocation of International Students in US Higher Education


Authors: Keng-Chi Chang, Ruixue Jia, Steven Liao, Margaret E. Roberts

One of the most critical recent developments in the global economy is how U.S.-China tensions are reshaping cross-border economic integration. To date, however, our understanding of its impact has been mainly limited to international trade and finance, as opposed to migration. To fill this gap, we explore the effect of recent tensions on international student flows to the United States that are critical to U.S. higher education, knowledge production, and the broader economy. We construct a unique granular dataset that combines the universe of international students in the United States from 2000--2021 with specific information about their institution and novel measures of the sensitivity of students' study fields. Using a series of difference-in-differences and triple-differences designs, we find that tensions have not had a uniform effect on students across states, institutions and fields of study.  Instead, we show that tensions have shifted international students from China toward private institutions in blue states, and away from sensitive fields, particularly at the PhD level. The findings reveal new patterns of uneven international student decline in recent years and extend policy debates on technology security and export controls to cross-border human capital barriers.

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


About the Speaker 
 

Margaret Roberts headshot

Margaret Roberts is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at the University of California, San Diego. Her research interests lie in the intersection of political methodology and the politics of information, with a specific focus on methods of automated content analysis and the politics of censorship in China. Much of her research uses social media, online experiments, and large collections of texts to understand the influence of censorship and propaganda on access to information and beliefs about politics.

She received a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University, and a M.S. in statistics and a B.A. in international relations and 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
 

Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall

Margaret Roberts, Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego
Seminars
Date Label

Yuhua Wang | Longevity of Power: Does Rank Influence Lifespan among Chinese Political Elites?

-

SCCEI Seminar Series (Fall 2024)


Friday, October 11, 2024 | 12:00 pm -1:20 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way


Longevity of Power: Does Rank Influence Lifespan among Chinese Political Elites?


This paper investigates the relationship between power and longevity among Chinese Communist Party elites. Using a unique dataset of 2,223 members of the Central Committee and Alternate Central Committee from 1921 to 2022, this study explores whether higher-ranking officials enjoy longer lifespans and are less likely to experience unnatural deaths. By relying on original data on the causes and years of death for these political figures, the analysis provides new insights into the survival advantages conferred by power within an autocratic regime. The findings have significant implications for understanding the dynamics of leadership stability and regime durability in authoritarian contexts.

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


About the Speaker 
 

Yuhua Wang headshot

Professor Yuhua Wang is Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of Tying the Autocrat’s Hands (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and The Rise and Fall of Imperial China (Princeton University Press, 2022). The Rise and Fall of Imperial China won the 2023 Lubbert Best Book Award in Comparative Politics from the American Political Science Association. His articles have appeared in American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, and China Quarterly. Yuhua received his B.A. from Peking University and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
 


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
 

Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall

Yuhua Wang, Professor of Government, Harvard University
Seminars
Date Label

Young Researcher Workshop: Gendered Impacts of Privatization: A Life Cycle Perspective from China

-

Gendered Impacts of Privatization: A Life Cycle Perspective from China


Speaker: Yuli Xu, Ph.D. Candidate, Economics Department, University of California San Diego

Women at different life stages may respond differently to economic shocks as they face varying trade-offs. This paper examines the impact of privatization on gender inequality across the life cycle. We leverage a unique event in China: the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the 1990s, which resulted in over 35 million layoffs and disrupted the previously enforced gender equality in employment. Leveraging both regional variations in reform intensity, proxied by initial differences in SOE employment share, and temporal variation in the reform, our event study analysis shows that older women were more likely to be laid off and had greater difficulty finding re-employment than men. Middle-aged women were less likely than men to transition into the emerging private sector or pursue entrepreneurship. Younger women faced reduced opportunities in SOEs and prioritized education more than men. Both young men and women postponed marriage. Further mechanism analysis suggests that privatization has increased demand for high-skilled workers and reinforced traditional gender role attitudes.

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. 

Learn More About the Workshops

Goldman Room, Encina Hall, E409

Yuli Xu, Ph.D. Candidate, Economics Department, UC San Diego
Workshops
Date Label

Depression Takes a Toll on Academic Performance: Evidence from Rural Students in China

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Subtitle

Purpose: Depression is a growing public health concern around the world. For adolescents, depression not only impedes healthy development, but is negatively associated with academic performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of adolescent depressive symptoms in a sample of rural primary and junior high school students. Additionally, we examine various factors to identify subgroups within the sample that may be more vulnerable to depression. Finally, we explore the extent to which depression correlates with academic performance and conduct a series of heterogeneity analyses.

Patients and Methods: We utilize cross-sectional data derived from 30 schools in underdeveloped regions of rural China encompassing primary and junior high school students (n = 1,609).

Results: We find a high prevalence of depression, with 23% and 9% of students experiencing general depression (depression score ≥ 14) and severe depression (depression score ≥ 21), respectively. Female gender, elevated stress and anxiety levels, boarding at school, exposure to bullying, and having depressed caregiver(s) are positively correlated with depressive symptoms, while high social support exhibits a negative association. Importantly, our analyses consistently show a significantly negative link between depression and academic performance, which is measured using standardized math tests. For instance, transitioning from a non-depressed state to a state of general depression (depression score ≥ 14) is linked to a decline of 0.348– 0.406 standard deviations in math scores (p < 0.01). Heterogeneity analyses reveal that this adverse relationship is more pronounced for male students, boarding students, those with lower social support, individuals with more educated mothers, and those with lower family assets.

Conclusion: Our findings underscore the high prevalence of depression in rural schools and the detrimental impact on academic performance. We advocate for the implementation of policies aimed at reducing student depression, particularly within vulnerable populations and subgroups.

Journal Publisher
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
Authors
Huan Wang
Scott Rozelle

SCCEI Launches Inaugural Summer Study Program Aimed at Understanding China’s Economy

News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs
2024 SCCEI Summer Study Program group photo at Peking University.

In 2024, SCCEI launched its inaugural Summer Study Program, marking the center’s first intensive field excursion in China with Stanford undergraduate students. To gain a deeper understanding of China, program participants traveled across urban and rural China, embarking on field visits focusing on a wide cross-section of issue areas, including education, healthcare, retail technology, and manufacturing.

Under the guidance of SCCEI’s faculty directors Hongbin Li and Scott Rozelle, program participants explored the key issues, challenges, and opportunities that China faces today. Sixteen students participated in this year’s program and hailed from multidisciplinary backgrounds, including economics, international relations, electrical engineering and computer science. Each student exhibited a passion for gaining a nuanced understanding of China and its role on the global stage as the world’s second largest economy.  

Students pose with US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
Students take notes during a business visit in China.
Students stand in business lobby speaking to tour guides.
Student sits in electric car at Xiaomi factory.
Students sit at a table in a classroom at PKU.

On June 24, the student cohort gathered in Shanghai for the program’s kickoff. While in Shanghai, students toured the store and warehouse of the innovative grocery chain model, Freshippo. Next, students learned about cutting-edge environmental initiatives and spoke directly with young professionals at Ant Finance. The Shanghai leg of the trip also featured a tour of the Luckin Coffee factory, which is the largest roastary in Asia, and a networking dinner with local Stanford alumni.

“It was incredible talking to people in very high positions of power in these digital companies that we took tours of, for example, the Ant group or even some of the manufacturing companies we went to...that the core thesis of their drive for profit, it's underpinned by, ‘we need to be environmentally friendly.’” Arshia Mehta, a management science and engineering major going into consulting, reflected on these visits. 

It was incredible talking to people in very high positions of power in these digital companies that we took tours of.
Arshia Mehta

From Shanghai, students traveled to Deqing, a prosperous rural county in the Yangtze river delta region, where they explored a local health clinic and a pearl farm responsible for a sizable portion of global pearl production. From Deqing, students traveled to the nearby township of Tongxiang, where they dove into China’s dynamic manufacturing sector through informative conversations with factory personnel and tours of a conveyor belt factory and fiber glass company. 

The program cohort then traveled to Xi’an, where they had the opportunity to marvel at the Terracotta Warriors and explore the city’s Muslim Quarter. From urban Xi’an, students rode a bus through tunnels and over mountains towards the rural county of Ningshan, where they visited a local parenting center, rural agricultural communities, and local hospitals. Students also visited local households where they conversed with villagers and families to learn more about rural life in Ningshan.

“Everybody wanted their children to go to college, everybody wanted to see a better future and how to help for that future,” said first year political science major Garrett Molloy, “that reminds me – no matter how distant we seem politically, people are actually very similar.”

Stanford students and faculty pose with local families at a parenting center in Ningshan.
Students and tour guide look at model of a car engine.
Student plays with baby at parenting center in China.
Students look at large projected map on wall.
Bees from a hive are pulled out at a bee farm with student looking on.

Finally, after traveling overnight on a sleeper train, students arrived in Beijing. While in China’s capital, the cohort toured the newly operational Xiaomi EV factory, engaged with students from Tsinghua University High School and Peking University, and spoke directly with the country’s stock market regulators. Students also joined the 4th of July celebration hosted by the U.S. Embassy, where they were greeted by the U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns.

Reflecting on her conversation with the Ambassador, Amaya Marion, a junior studying international relations, said, “This trip makes me more certain that I do want to do something in the future with U.S.-China relations.”

The student cohort also had ample opportunity to explore China’s culture and history throughout the program. They visited a paleolithic archaeological site, learned to make traditional Chinese rice cakes, practiced the art of Chinese calligraphy, and visited the Zhujiajiao Water Town. The cohort also explored traditional indigo tie-dyeing practices and cloisonné, an ancient technique for decorating metalwork with colored enamel material.

This is a really remarkable opportunity to see parts of China that otherwise wouldn't be accessible to me.
Stella Meier

Students not only gained new insights from the cultural and business visits, they also learned from one another. Stella Meier, Stanford junior studying international relations, remarked, “this is a really remarkable opportunity to see parts of China that otherwise wouldn't be accessible to me.”

This trip has altered my perception in a way that's constructive, in a way that's helping me think more critically about the information that's being fed to me.
Rahul Ajmera

Having experienced urban and rural China firsthand over the course of two weeks, students walked away with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of China’s economy and people that, according to one student, “fundamentally reshaped my global perspective.” To continue facilitating transformative student exchanges with China, planning for SCCEI’s second annual Summer Program is already well underway.
 


Watch the Program Highlights 


Visit the program page for more program details and future program announcements.

 

Read More

Shipping containers at a loading dock
News

Decoding China’s Economic Slowdown: A Roundtable Discussion

The Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions and Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis co-organized a closed-door roundtable on China's recent economic slowdown and produced summary report of the discussion.
Decoding China’s Economic Slowdown: A Roundtable Discussion
Craig Allen speaks at SCCEI 2024 conference
News

Silicon Showdown: Craig Allen Unpacks the Competition for Technology Leadership between the U.S. and China

Craig Allen, the President of the U.S.-China Business Council, spoke on the evolving dynamics of technological leadership between the U.S. and China and their implications for the rest of the world.
Silicon Showdown: Craig Allen Unpacks the Competition for Technology Leadership between the U.S. and China
Peking University scenic view with tower.
News

Track 2 Diplomacy Effort on U.S.-China Scholarly Exchange Publishes Final Report

The newly released report explains the benefits of U.S.-China scholarly cooperation to the two societies and the world at large, identifies the obstacles to greater exchanges, and outlines practical strategies for overcoming these challenges.
Track 2 Diplomacy Effort on U.S.-China Scholarly Exchange Publishes Final Report
All News button
1
Subtitle

Under the guidance of SCCEI’s faculty directors, 16 students traveled across urban and rural China, embarking on field visits including education, healthcare, retail technology, and manufacturing to gain a deeper understanding of China’s economy.

Date Label

Paths of Cognitive and Social-emotional Delays before Age Three in Rural China: Predictive Power on Skills at Preschool Age

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Subtitle

Cognitive and social-emotional development in the first three years of life is associated with later skills. However, little is known about the paths of developmental delays in both cognitive and social-emotional skills before age 3 or to what extent these paths predict later developmental outcomes. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between the different paths of developmental delays in both cognitive and social-emotional skills of children before age 3 and the levels of development of the children when they are preschool age. Using a longitudinal data collected at three time points from 1245 children and their caregivers in rural China, we identified four different paths of developmental delays in cognitive and social-emotional before age 3 and examined how these paths are associated with different levels of developmental outcomes at preschool age. We used a non-parametric standardization approach and an ordinary least squares model to perform our analyses. Findings show that rates of developmental delays in either cognitive or social-emotional domain or both domains are high at all different time points, ranging from 20% to 55% for cognitive delays and 42% to 61% for social-emotional delays. Over half of children experienced deteriorating levels of either cognitive or social-emotional development before age 3. A large share of children was found to be persistently delayed in either domain. Only a small share of children raised their levels of development in either domain before age 3. In addition, we identified certain socioeconomic status of the family that are associated with never or deteriorating path of child developmental delays. More importantly, we revealed that different paths of developmental delays before age 3 have predictive power on different levels of developmental outcomes at preschool age. Our results suggest that actions are needed at the earliest times to improve child development when children are still infants or toddlers.

Journal Publisher
PLOS ONE
Authors
Scott Rozelle

Disguised Repression: Targeting Opponents with Non-Political Crimes to Undermine Dissent

-
Disguised Repression: Targeting Opponents with Non-Political Crimes to Undermine Dissent lecture on 10.3.24 with Jennifer Pan.

Why do authoritarian regimes charge political opponents with non-political crimes when they can levy charges directly related to opponents' political activism? Using experimental and observational data from China, we find that disguising repression by charging opponents with non-political crimes undermines the moral authority of opponents, minimizing backlash and mobilization while increasing public support for repression.

Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI) is pleased to present a lecture by Jennifer Pan, Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication and (by courtesy) Political Science, and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, who will be speaking on Disguised Repression: Targeting Opponents with Non-Political Crimes to Undermine Dissent. The event opens with a welcome reception at 4:00 pm, followed by the lecture and discussion with Jennifer Pan and Hongbin Li, SCCEI Co-director and James Liang Endowed Chair, beginning at 4:45 pm.


Watch the Recorded Lecture

About the Speaker

 

Jennifer Pan

Jennifer Pan is a political scientist whose research focuses on political communication, digital media, and authoritarian politics. She is the Sir Robert Ho Tung Professor of Chinese Studies, Professor of Communication and (by courtesy) Political Science, and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute. Pan's research uses experimental and computational methods with large-scale datasets on political activity to answer questions about the role of digital media in authoritarian and democratic politics, including how political censorship, propaganda, and information manipulation work in the digital age and how preferences and behaviors are shaped as a result. Her papers have appeared in peer reviewed publications such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Communication, and Science. She graduated from Princeton University, summa cum laude, and received her Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Department of Government.

Parking & Directions


Parking meters are enforced Monday - Friday 8 AM to 4 PM, unless otherwise posted.

The event will take place in the Koret-Taube Conference Center located within the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Building. The closest visitor parking to the Gunn-SIEPR building is:


Please visit this website for more detailed parking options and directions to the venue.


Questions? Contact Ragina Johnson at raginaj@stanford.edu

Koret-Taube Conference Center
366 Galvez Street, Stanford, CA

Jennifer Pan, Professor of Communication, Stanford University
Lectures
Date Label

The Connection between Sleep Patterns and Mental Health: Insights from Rural Chinese Students

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Subtitle

Background: The association between sleep patterns and young students’ mental health, which is crucial for their development, remains understudied in rural China. Therefore, the relationship between sleep patterns and mental health among primary and junior high school students in rural China was examined. Method: A total of 1592 primary and junior high school students from rural areas of Gansu Province were surveyed, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was utilized to assess mental health, alongside self-reported data on their daily sleep patterns. Results: Significant sleep inadequacies were identified: 28% of students received less than 8 h of sleep on weekdays, and 19% went to bed later than recommended. On weekends, 38% of students had delayed bedtimes, though only 7.2% received less than 8 h of sleep. Notably, a “U-shaped” relationship was uncovered between sleep duration and mental health for students on weekends, with optimal mental health correlated with receiving 10–11 h of sleep, while both shorter and longer sleep durations on weekends worsened outcomes. This pattern is absent on weekdays. Additionally, adequate sleep and an earlier bedtime was linked to a 6–8% decrease in mental health risks. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to enhance student mental well-being in rural settings, emphasizing the importance of implementing measures that promote balanced sleep habits among young students.

Journal Publisher
Healthcare
Authors
Scott Rozelle
Huan Wang
Subscribe to China