Institutions, incentives, and the Chinese economy

Working paper · Alexis (Li) Lu and Steven Chung (University of Hong Kong)

Clan Culture and Organized Crime: Evidence from China

Abstract Title page

This paper studies the causal effect of clan-based informal institutions on organized crime across Chinese prefecture-level cities. Using proximity to Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian academies as an instrument for clan culture, I find that stronger kinship networks significantly increase organized crime, highlighting the dark side of social capital in weak-governance settings.

Working paper · Alexis (Li) Lu and Victor Poulin-Therrien (University of Toronto)

Traffic Congestion and Local Government Fiscal Activities: Evidence from Urban China

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Based on a panel of Chinese prefectures, this paper examines how traffic congestion shapes local governments’ fiscal behavior. By employing dynamic System GMM estimators and documenting non-linear congestion effects as well as heterogeneity by initial debt burdens, I find that greater traffic congestion is associated with lower debt-to-revenue ratios, with the suppressing effect strongest under mild-to-moderate congestion and weakening at more severe levels.

Working paper · Alexis (Li) Lu and Zikang Liao (Cardiff University)

The Impact of Trade Tariffs on Corporate Greenwashing: A Strategic Perspective from China

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This paper examines how tariff exposure shapes corporate greenwashing. I construct a text-based greenwashing measure from MD&A reports using a firm-level panel of Chinese A-share listed companies, and match it with environmental punishment data. I find that lower tariff pressure significantly increases symbolic environmental disclosure.

Research Assistant · 2025—2026

Transnational Care in Chinese Transnational Families

Prof. Weiguo Zhang, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto

• Managed the full survey lifecycle, from design through implementation and feedback collection, with Chinese elderly participants in Canadian local communities.
• Conducted qualitative analysis of Chinese-language interview transcripts in NVivo, including coding, theme identification, and documentation of the process.

Research Assistant · 2024—2025

Anti-DEI Narratives

Culture, Relationships and Well-Being Lab, supervised by Prof. Soo Min Toh, Rotman School of Management

• Conducted qualitative discourse analysis of U.S. university announcements in NVivo, with systematic coding and thematic analysis of anti-DEI narratives.
• Contributed preliminary quantitative data processing and exploratory analysis in Python on institutional discourse patterns.