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Faculty

BAI Ying BAI Ying BAI Ying
BAI Ying
Professor
+852 3943 8004
ybai@cuhk.edu.hk
https://yingbai.org/
Room 924, Esther Lee Building
Education
  • Ph.D. (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
  • MA (Peking University)
  • BA (Shandong University)
Research Interest
  • Development Economics
  • Economic History
  • Political Economy

Prof. Bai is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He earned his Ph.D. degree at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests encompass development economics, economic history, and the political economy of China. He employs cutting-edge statistical techniques and novel datasets to address historical issues of paramount importance in China’s development, such as the causes and consequences of conflict, the impact of the West (especially Protestantism) on modern economic growth, and the political and economic consequences of China’s most important institutions—the imperial civil exam system and the hierarchical administration system. Much of his research has been disseminated in prestigious journals, such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal, the International Economic Review, and the Journal of the European Economic Association. His paper received the 2018 Distinguished CESifo Research Affiliate Award and the 2021 Masahiko Aoki Award. Additionally, in 2018, he was honored with the CUHK Young Researcher Award.

  • Bai, Ying, Ruixue Jia, and Jiaojiao Yang. 2023. “Web of Power: How Elite Networks Shaped War and Politics in China.” Quarterly Journal of Economics vol. 138(2): 1067-1108.
  • Bai, Ying. 2023. “Shaking Legitimacy: The Impact of Earthquakes on Conflict in Historical China.” Economic Journal vol. 133(652): 1286-1317.
  • Bai, Ying, and Ruixue Jia. 2023. “The Economic Consequences of Political Hierarchy: Evidence from Regime Changes in China, 1000–2000 CE.” Review of Economics and Statistics vol. 105(3): 626-645.
  • Bai, Ying. 2022. “The Struggle for Existence: Migration, Competition, and Human Capital Accumulation in Historic China.” International Economic Review vol. 63(3): 1239-1269.
  • Bai, Ying and James Kai-sing Kung. 2022. “Surname Distance and Technology Diffusion: The Case of the Adoption of Maize in Late Imperial China.” Journal of Economic Growth vol. 27(4): 569-607.
  • Bai, Ying. 2019. “Farewell to Confucianism: The Modernizing Effect of Dismantling China’s Imperial Examination System.” Journal of Development Economics, vol. 141: 102382.
  • Bai, Ying and Titi Zhou. 2019. “`Mao’s Last Revolution’: A Dictator’s Loyalty-Competence Tradeoff.” Public Choice, vol. 180(3-4): 469–500.
  • Bai, Ying and Ruixue Jia. 2016. “Elite Recruitment and Political Stability: The Impact of the Abolition of China’s Civil Service Exam System.” Econometrica, vol. 84(2): 677-733.
  • Bai, Ying and James Kai-sing Kung. 2015. “Diffusing Knowledge while Spreading God’s Message: Protestantism and Economic Prosperity in China, 1840-1920.” Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 13(4): 669-698.
  • Bai, Ying and James Kai-sing Kung. 2014. “The Shaping of an Institutional Choice: Weather Shocks, The Great Leap Famine, and Agricultural Decollectivization in China.” Explorations in Economic History, vol. 54 (lead article): 1-26.
  • Bai, Ying, James Kai-sing Kung, and Yang Zhao. 2013. “How Much Expropriation Hazard is Too Much? Land Reallocation and Fertilizer Usage in Rural China.” Land Economics, vol. 90(3): 434-457.
  • Bai, Ying and James Kai-sing Kung. 2011. “Climate Shocks and Sino-nomadic Conflict.” Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 93(3): 970-981.
  • Bai, Ying and James Kai-sing Kung. 2011. “Genetic Distance and Income Difference: Evidence from Changes in China’s Cross-Strait Relations.” Economics Letters, vol. 110(3): 255-258.
  • Kung, James Kai-sing and Ying Bai. 2011. “Induced Institutional Change or Transaction Costs? The Economic Logic of Land Reallocations in Chinese Agriculture.” Journal of Development Studies, vol. 47(10): 1510-1528.
  • Shen, Yan, Minggao Shen, Zhong Xu and Ying Bai. 2009. “Bank Size and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Lending: Evidence from China.” World Development, vol. 37(4): 800-811.
  • PI, General Research Fund (Early Career Scheme) 2016/17. “Migration, Competition and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Historical China” RGC, project number: CUHK 24502216.
  • PI, General Research Fund 2018/19. “War, Market Access and Economic Development: The Persistence and Change in Economic Activities in China, AD 600-1900” RGC, project number: CUHK 14502118.
  • PI, General Research Fund 2021/22. “Censorship and Knowledge Production: Evidence from the Creation of the Siku Quanshu during the Qing Dynasty” RGC, project number: CUHK 14507122,.
  • Co-PI, Area of Excellence 2022/23. “Quantitative History of China: Historical Roots of Recent Success and Future Development” RGC, project number: AoE/B-704/22-R.
  • Young Researcher Award, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2017
  • The 2018 Distinguished CESifo Research Affiliate Award
  • The 2021 Masahiko Aoki Award for Economics Paper

2025-2026:

1st Term
ECON3460: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

2nd Term
ECON5461A: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
ECON5461B: DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
ECON8006: THESIS RESEARCH

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