Ruixue Jia

Ruixue Jia is Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy, where she directs research on political economy and economic history with a China focus. She serves as Co-director of the China Data Lab, Co-chair of the China Economics Summer Institute, and Co-editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics, while maintaining affiliations with NBER and CEPR.

Her research spans six core areas:

• Political economy of Chinese institutions and historical development
• Education policy impacts (particularly college expansion effects)
• Censorship and knowledge production dynamics
• Elite networks in historical conflicts
• Regulatory innovation in emerging economies
• Climate risk and economic activity

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a consistent methodological approach combining historical institutional analysis with modern econometric techniques, primarily using quasi-experimental designs to examine China's development trajectory and its global implications. Her work shows increasing focus on US-China academic relations and environmental economics in recent years.

Professor Jia's scientific contributions are recognized through:

• Continuous NBER working paper series since 2019
• Editorial leadership at Review of Economics and Statistics
• Collaborations with leading institutions worldwide

As an active supervisor, she mentors through the China Data Lab and China Economics Summer Institute, providing students with unique access to Chinese administrative datasets and international research networks. Her lab focuses on data-intensive analysis of China's political economy using both contemporary and historical datasets.