Yiqing Xu

Yiqing Xu is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, specializing in political methodology and Chinese politics. He holds a PhD from MIT (2016), an MA from Peking University (2010), and a BA from Fudan University (2007). His research bridges methodological innovation and substantive political questions, particularly in authoritarian governance and causal inference. Xu is affiliated with multiple Stanford research centers, including the Stanford Casual Science Center (SC²) and the 21st Century China Center (21CCC).

Education:

• PhD in Political Science, MIT (2016)
• MA in Economics, National School of Development (NSD), Peking University (2010)
• BA in Economics, Fudan University (2007)

Research Interests: Political methodology, causal inference techniques (e.g., difference-in-differences, IV analysis), Chinese political behavior, authoritarian propaganda strategies, and the impact of digital media on governance. His work emphasizes rigorous validation of statistical assumptions and practical software tools like interflex and fect.

Recent Contributions: His 2024 American Political Science Review paper reanalyzes 49 studies on two-way fixed effects models, highlighting risks of heterogeneous treatment effects. His 2025 study on Chinese state propaganda on Douyin reveals decentralized content strategies. Xu also co-developed the ivDiag package to assess IV validity.

Awards:

• Emerging Scholar Award (2024)
• Best Statistical Software Award for interflex (2024)
• Miller Prize (2018, 2020)
• John T. Williams Dissertation Prize (2014)

Teaching: Leads courses on causal inference, data science for politics, and political methodology at Stanford. His short courses on panel data methods are widely attended.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Stanford Causal Inference Lab and collaborates with the King Center on Global Development. Active in software development for political methodology (e.g., hbal, trajectory balancing).