The ends and means of development require examination and scrutiny for a fuller understanding of the development process; ... economic growth cannot sensibly be
treated as an end in itself. Development has to be more concerned with enhancing the lives we lead and the freedom we enjoy. 

                                                                                                                                                                 ——Professor Sir Amartya Kumar Sen, 'Development As Freedom'
My research lies in the fields of Development Economics and Applied Microeconomics. My research topics include poverty, inequality, social protection, and rural-to-urban migration, all in the Chinese contexts. I'm particularly interested in behavioural responses and their consequences for livelihood. In this regard, I've recently looked at aspirations and child development. Another strand of recent interests centers on culture, institutions, and development. 

​Publication in Peer-Reviewed Journals

  1. Wang, J. S-H., Zhu, Y., Peng, C. and You, J. (2023) On the formation and nature of internal migration policies in China: Patterns and determinants of the household registration reform in 2014. The China Quarterly, accepted.​
  2. Lohmann, P., Gsottbauer, E., You, J. and Kontoleon, A. (2023) Air pollution and anti-social behaviour: Evidence from a randomized lab-in-the-field experiment. Social Science & Medicine 320: 115617.
  3. Lohmann, P., Gsottbauer, E., You, J. and Kont​oleon, A. (2023) Anti-social behaviour and economic decision-making: Panel experimental evidence in the wake of COVID-19. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 206: 136-171.
  4. You, J. and Ma, Y. (2022) Becoming them or remaining us? The impact of communication on immigrant integration. Applied Economics Letters 29(6): 514-519.
  5. You, J., Ding, X., Niño-Zarazúa, M. and Wang, S. (2021) The intergenerational impact of house prices on education: Evidence from China. Journal of Housing Economics 54: 101788.
  6. You, J., Yi, X. and Chen, M. (2021) Love, life, and left-over ladies in urban China: Staying modernly single in patriarchal traditions. China Economic Review 68: 101626.
  7. Golan, J. and You, J. (2021) Raising aspirations of boys and girls through role models: Evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Development Studies 57(6): 949-979. [Appendix]
  8. You, J. and Niño-Zarazúa, M. (2019) The intergenerational impact of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme. Population and Development Review 45(S1): 47-95.
  9. You, J., Kontoleon, A. and Wang, S. G. (2019) Identifying a sustained pathway to multidimensional poverty reduction: Evidence from two Chinese provinces. Journal of Development Studies 55(1): 137-158.
  10. Wang, J. S-H., Ssewamala, F. M., Neilands, T. B., Bermudez, L. G., Garfinkel, I., Waldfogel, J., Brooks-Gunn, J. and You, J. (2018) Effects of financial incentives on saving outcomes and material well-being: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda. Journal of Policy Analysis & Management 37(3): 602-629.
  11. ​You, J. and Wang, S. Y. (2018) Unemployment duration and job-match quality in urban China: The dynamic impact of 2008 Labour Contract Law. Economic Modelling 71: 220-233.
  12. You, J., Wang, S. G. and Roope, L. (2018) Intertemporal deprivation in rural China: Income and nutrition. ​Journal of Economic Inequality​ 16(1): 61-101.
  13. You, J. and Nie, H. (2017) Who determines Chinese firms' engagement in corruption: Themselves or neighbors? China Economic Review 43: 29-46.
  14. You, J. (2017) Asset-based poverty transition and persistence in rural China. Agricultural Economics 48(2): 219-239. [Appendix: Threshold estimation]
  15. You, J. (2016) Lending to parents and insuring children: Is there a role for microcredit in complementing health insurance in rural China? Health Economics 25(5): 543-558.
  16. You, J., Imai, K. and Gaiha, R. (2016) Declining nutrient intake in a growing China: Does household heterogeneity matter? World Development  77: 171-191.
  17. You, J. and Ozanne, A. (2015) Volatility and inequality: Household vulnerability as uncertain welfare in rural China. ​​European Journal of Development Research 27(5): 686-706.
  18. You, J. (2014) Poverty dynamics in rural China revisited: Do assets matter? Journal of Economic Policy Reform 17(4): 322-340.
  19. You, J. and Annim, S. (2014) The impact of microcredit on child education: Quasi-experimental evidence from rural China. Journal of Development Studies 50(7): 926-948. [Appendix]
  20. You, J. (2014) Risk, under-investment in agricultural assets and dynamic asset poverty in rural China. China Economic Review 29: 27-45. 
  21. Imai, K. and You, J. (2014) Poverty dynamics of households in rural China. Oxford Bulletin of Economics & Statistics 76(6): 898-923.
  22. You, J. (2013) The role of microcredit in older children's nutrition: Quasi-experimental evidence from rural China. Food Policy 43: 167-179.
  23. You, J. (2013) China's challenge for decarbonized growth: Forecasts from energy demand models. Journal of Policy Modeling 35(4): 652-668.
  24. Wang, X., Weaver, N. and You, J. (2013) The social security function of agriculture in China. Journal of International Development 25(1): 1-10 (the lead article).
  25. Wang, Y. and You, J. (2012) Corruption and firm growth: Evidence from China. China Economic Review 23(2): 415-433.
  26. You, J. (2011) Evaluating poverty duration and transition: A spell-approach to rural China. Applied Economics Letters 18(14): 1377-1382.
  27. You, J. (2011) China's energy consumption and sustainable development: comparative evidence from GDP and genuine savings. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 15(6): 2984-2989. [Appendix]

Papers Under Review/Preparation

1. Pan, Y. and You, J., Successful social programs over local political cycles. ​​​
2. Wu, F., Wang, J. S-H, You, J. and Teitler, J., The health impacts of relaxing internal migration policies: Evidence from the 2014 Hukou reform in China. ​
3. Wimmer, S., You, J. and Sauer, J., Credit access and farm productivity: Evidence from a field experiment in rural China.
​​4. You, J. and Zhu, Q., What money can buy? The impact of microcredit on smallholder farmers' economic preferences and decision-making in the Covid-19 pandemic.​

Book Chapters

1. You, J. and Du, Z. (2019) Dual malnutrition in China. In: Raghbendra Jha (eds.), Hunger and Malnutrition as Major Challenges of the 21st Century (World Scientific Series in Grand Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century). World Scientific Publishing, Singapore. ISBN:  978-9813239906.
2. You, J. (2014) Dietary change, nutrient transition and food security in fast growing China. In: Raghav Gaiha, Raghbendra Jha and Anil B. Deolalikar (eds.), Handbook on Food: Demand, Supply, Sustainability and Security. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK. ISBN: 978-1-78100-428-9.​

Research Grants (Principal Investigator)

01/2020 - 12/2023

06/2017 - 05/2020

01/2017 - 12/2020
​
​
01/2017 - 12/2019


​01/2015 - 12/2017



01/2014 - 12/2016

01/2014 - 12/2015


09/2013 - 08/2014

01/2013 - 12/2015





12/2012 - 11/2013
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, "General Research Grant").
- Aspirations and poverty reduction: Evidence from field experiments.
Social Science Foundation of Beijing (Early-career Researcher Grant)
- Migrants' multidimensional social integration in Beijing.
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, "General Research Grant").
- Rural households' dynamic livelihood strategies under risk and multidimensional poverty in clustered ultra-poor areas: Perspectives from behavioural economics.
The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China ("Policy Research and Consultancy Grant").
- Joint policy interventions and their causal impact on poverty in rural China.
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, "Young Scientist Grant").
- Dynamics of multi-dimensional poverty for Chinese rural households.
​​The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China ("Key Project").
- Evaluating the dynamic causal impact of the Labour Contract Law on job-match quality in urban China.
Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, Ministry of Education of China.
- Forecasting China’s green growth based on provincial panel data.
The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China ("International Publication Grant").
- Measuring dynamic causal impact of formal microcredit on child health in rural China.
Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, Ministry of Education of China.
- Poverty dynamics and transition in rural China: An asset perspective.
Research Funds of Peking University - Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy.
- The determinants and forecasts of China's green growth.
Humanities and Social Science Research Fund, Ministry of Education of China.
- Asset-based poverty and welfare analysis for rural households.
The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China ("New Faculty Grant").
- The Impact of microcredit on child education in rural China.
The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China ("International Publication Grant").
- Identifying pathways of poverty dynamics.
The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China.
- Dynamics of household welfare in rural China.

Referee

World Development, Agricultural Economics, China Economic Review, The World Economy, Economic Modelling, European Journal of Political Economy, Food Policy, Review of Development Economics, Applied Economics, Journal of Asian Economcis, Journal of International Development, European Journal of Development Research, ​The Manchester School, The Developing Economies, China Agricultural Economics Review, Social Indicators Research, Journal of Peasant Studies, Social Science Research​, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade.