On February 17, 2021 Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (or SCCEI) Co-Directors Scott Rozelle and Hongbin Li hosted a “Faculty Meet & Greet” event to introduce the academic community at Stanford and beyond to the work that will form the foundation for the new center. You can download the presentation slides and/or view the recording of the event below.

Hongbin began the conversation by introducing the need for a center like SCCEI, pronounced “sky.” He said that although China has the second largest economy in the world, and even though we all know that its socio- and political- actions are sure to impact the entire world, there is huge gap in global knowledge about China’s economy and its institutions. Specifically, there is an enormous need for data and empirical research on China’s economy. We need to understand not only the issues about how the economy is operating, but we also need a deeper grasp of the most important institutions that shape China’s economy. These are issues that influence policy makers and inform the business community not only in China but in the US and world-wide. 

SCCEI is working to fill that knowledge gap, Scott shared. SCCEI’s goal is to build an empirical, multidisciplinary platform for researchers and their collaborators to convene and share knowledge on China’s economy and institutions, and to advance the public’s understanding of China’s economy and its impact on the world. With the scholarly contributions of many faculty affiliates, SCCEI will begin its research agenda with six flagship research initiatives:

• Political Economy & Governance
• Health
• Education
• Demography
• Environmental Quality & Sustainability
• Firms & Productivity 

In the coming years, SCCEI will seek to broaden its mandate even further and launch new initiatives on trade, global supply chains, technology, intellectual property rights, the economics of the military and more.

After introducing each initiative, Hongbin and Scott were joined by nine Stanford faculty affiliates who each shared a current research area and/or project they are working on that fits within SCCEI’s research initiatives. To hear more about their research, view the recording of the event below beginning at minute 17:47.

The SCCEI faculty affiliates below are listed in order of appearance during the event and by research initiative.

Political Economy & Governance

• Jennifer Pan, Assistant Professor of Communication 
• Yiqing Xu, Assistant Professor of Political Science 
• Xueguang Zhou, Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Health

• Stephen Luby, Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Education

• Prashant Loyalka, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Insitute for International Studies

Demography

• Grant Miller, Professor of Medicine (Primary Care and Outcomes Research) and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
• Karen Eggleston, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Director of the Asia Health Policy Program and Deputy Director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at FSI

Environmental Quality & Sustainability 

• Lawrence Goulder, Shuzo Nishihara Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics, Director of the Stanford Center for Environmental and Energy Policy Analysis, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
• Gretchen Daily, Bing Professor in Environmental Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

SCCEI looks forward to expanding their research initiatives and their network of faculty affiliates in the coming years. To learn more about SCCEI and the empirical research being conducted on China’s economy and institutions please watch the recording below and reach out to sccei-info@stanford.edu for general inquiries.