Biography
Professor David Daokui Li is a leading Chinese economist. He has been professor of Economics of Tsinghua University since 2006. He is the author of China’s World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. Together with Eric S. Maskin, 2007 Nobel Laureate of Economics, he is a Co-president of the Society for the Analysis of Government and Economics (SAGE). He also served as the founding Dean of the Schwarzman College of Tsinghua University from 2014 to 2017. His research and teaching cover a wide range of economic fields, including government and economics, economic development,comparative economics, and the Chinese economy.
Professor Li has been active in policy discussions inside and outside China. Between 2008 and 2023, he served as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He was an advisor at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) from 2010 to 2012. He was also the first Chief Economist of the New Development Bank.
Professor Li holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He obtained his B.S. from Tsinghua University in 1985 as a member of the first cohort of graduates of the School of Economics and Management.
Educational Background
1992 Ph.D. in Economics, Harvard University, USA
(Dissertation: Essays on Ownership, Corporation Control and Privatization)
(Advisors: Eric S. Maskin, Andrei Shleifer, and Martin L. Weitzman)
1985 B.S. in Management Information Systems, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, China Main Academic Appointment
Employment History
2019 – present Co-President, Society for the Analysis of Government and Economics
2018 – present Director, Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking (ACCEPT), Tsinghua University
2014 – 2017 Director, Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE), Tsinghua University
2006 – present Dean, Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University
2002 – 2006 Mansfield Freeman Chair Professor of Economics, Department of Finance, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
2002 – 2006 Special-Term Professor, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
1999 – 2004 Associate Professor of Economics with tenure, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2004-06, on no-pay leave)
1992 – 1999 Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
1997 – 1998 National Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University, USA
1985 – 1986 Visiting Scholar, Harvard Institute for International Development, HIID, Harvard University, USA
Research Areas
Government and Economics, The Chinese Economy, Economic Development, International Economics, Comparative Economics
Teaching Areas
Government and Economics, Economic Development, Intermediate Microeconomics, International Economics, The Chinese Economy
Academic Affiliations
2006 – present Vice President, The Chinese Association for World Economic Studies
1998 – present Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
2004 – present Member of the editorial board, China Economic Review
2000 – 2004 Member of the editorial board, Journal of Comparative Economics
2000 – present Member of the editorial board, The China Review
2000 – 2005 Member of the editorial board Economics BulletinMember of the Editorial Board
2005 – present Editor, China and World Affair
Research-Related Interviews (a selected list)
CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, Guangming Daily, The Phoenix Satellite TV, BBC, CNN, CNN-SNF, CNBC, The Economics, The New York Times, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg Business News, WWJ News Radio, The Voice of America, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Detroit News, Dallas Morning News, Dow Jones Business Wire, Michigan Daily, National Public Radio(NPR) (Talk of the Nation), The Tokyo Shimbun and the Chunichi Shimbun, Lansing State Journal, TVB of Hong Kong, WAAM News Radio.
Research Projects/Grants
he National Social Science Fund of China
The National Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (RGC)
University of Michigan Faculty Research Award
Ford Foundation Research Grant
Journal Publications in English
Li D D, Maskin E S. Government and Economics: An Emerging Field of Study[J]. Journal of Government and Economics, 2021: 100005.
Broadberry, Stephen N., Hanhui Guan, and David D. Li. “China, Europe and the Great Divergence: A Study in Historical National Accounting, 980-1850” Journal of Economic History 12 (2018): 955-1000.
in, Xingye, David Daokui Li, and Shuyu Wu. “How will China hape the world economy?” China Economic Review 40 (2016): 272-280.
Du, Julan, and David D. Li. "The soft budget constraint of banks." Journal of Comparative Economics 35.1 (2007): 108-135.
Li, David Daokui, Junxin Feng, and Hongping Jiang: “Institutional Entrepreneurs.” American Economics Review. V.96, N. 2, pp.358—362, May 2006.
David Daokui Li and Yijiang Wang: “China vs. Eastern Europe: The Perspective of Initial Political Conditions.” Journal of European Economic Association. V.4, (2-3), pp.342-351, May 2006.
David D. Li “A Survey of the Economics Literature of China’s Non-State Enterprises” in Anne S. Tsui, Yanjie Bian, & Leonard Cheng (eds): “China's Domestic Private Firms: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Management and Performance.”. M.E. Sharpe, 2005.
Wu, Changqi and David D. Li “Firm's Behaviour in a Mixed Market: Case of China.” in Anne S. Tsui, Yanjie Bian, & Leonard Cheng (eds): “China's Domestic Private Firms: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Management and Performance.”. M.E. Sharpe, 2005.
David D. Li and Francis T. Lui: “Why Do Governments Dump State-Owned Enterprises? Evidence from China.” in Takatoshi Ito and Anne Krueger (eds) Governance, Regulation, and Privatization in the Asian-Pacific Region. pp. 211-230. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 2004.
David D. Li and Changqi Wu: “WTO Accession and Productivity” in Takatoshi Ito and Andre K. Rose (eds) Growth and Productivity in East Asia. pp109-148, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 2004.
David D. Li and Ling Li: “The Pension Reform Debt: A Simple Resolution of China’s Pension System Crisis.” The Cato Journal. V.23, n.2, pp.281-289, Fall 2003.
Books published in English
2024 China’s World View
2021 Economic Lessons from China's Forty Years of Reform and Opening-up