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Jianzi He

Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Economy at Duke Kunshan University
DKU Faculty

Selected Publications


The Price of Losing Autonomy: Assessing the Economic Impact of County-to-District Mergers in China

Journal Article Urban Affairs Review · November 1, 2024 Amalgamations in democratic settings often result in disadvantages for small and peripheral units, as their political power diminishes in the merged jurisdictions. This article extends the discussion to China by assessing the economic outcomes of county-le ... Full text Cite

The Multilevel Politics of County-to-District Mergers in China

Journal Article Journal of Contemporary China · January 1, 2023 County-to-district mergers (chexian gaiqu), a major form of ’administrative division adjustment’ (ADA), have occurred with striking frequency across Chinese cities in recent decades. Despite the high stakes of county mergers, scholars have yet to systemati ... Full text Cite

Subnational territorial reforms and state capacity: evidence from the developing world

Journal Article Global Public Policy and Governance · June 1, 2022 Governments often change their internal territorial divisions to pursue either political or governance goals. Over the recent decades, territorial reforms of splitting local government units, known as government fragmentation, have gained popularity in the ... Full text Cite

Colonial legacy, private property, and rural development: Evidence from Namibian countryside

Journal Article Economic History of Developing Regions · January 1, 2021 Does the legacy of direct colonial rule, through its impact on property rights security, affect rural development in Africa? Although mainstream economic theory links secure property rights to development, extant micro-level evidence from the continent rem ... Full text Cite

Exploring deliberative policy analysis in an authoritarian country

Journal Article Critical Policy Studies · April 2, 2016 Deliberative policy analysis (DPA), which embraces increased public involvement and rejects technocracy, seems naturally to be connected to democratic political systems. Why, then, and how has DPA developed in China, an authoritarian country? This forum pi ... Full text Cite