Earlier this summer, we announced the recipients of our 2024-25 An Wang and Hou Family fellowships. Now, we would like our community to get to know these special scholars a bit better.
First, meet Shengqiao Lin, one of our new An Wang Postdoctoral Fellows. Lin holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. His research centers on the political economy of development, state-business relations, and industrial policies, with a regional focus on China. Lin’s dissertation is about how private businesses mitigate political risk in China and how these state-business interactions shape developmental outcomes, such as economic growth, poverty alleviation, and technology innovation.
In addition to pursuing his own research goals at the Fairbank Center this year, Shengqiao will work alongside our other An Wang Fellow, David Qihang Wu, on collaborative research projects related to China and the global political economy under the guidance of Meg Rithmire, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, and David Yang, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for History and Economics at Harvard.
In this brief Q&A, Shengqiao shares the motivation behind his research, discusses new opportunities that technological advancements afford him and others in his field, and reveals the very scientific method he used to ensure he’d clinch his “dream job” as An Wang Fellow.
What excites you most about the research you will be doing this academic year?
This year, I will be further developing my existing research, focusing on the interactions between Chinese private enterprises and the government over the past decade. This includes examining the political risks faced by these enterprises, their strategies for managing risks, and the economic and governance impacts of these interactions. The research is a crucial part of my planned book project.
I decided to focus on this topic for my Ph.D. dissertation, at the end of 2020, studying China’s political-business relations up to that point and completing several research papers. It’s a great time to revisit this topic. On the one hand, there have been significant changes in China’s political-business relations in recent years, especially with the fiscal pressures from local debt and the impact of international politics and U.S.-China competition. These important factors were not thoroughly considered in my dissertation, which is something I have always wanted to address. On the other hand, social science research methods have advanced significantly in the past year with the development of large-scale language models, which provide more effective and cost-efficient ways to handle unstructured data, including data that was previously overlooked due to analysis costs or difficulty. I am excited to use these improved methods to analyze newer materials this year, which in turn will help me develop a more complete understanding of China’s political-business relations.
What made you decide that the Fairbank Center was the right place for you to be at this point in your academic career?
For scholars and students engaged in China studies, having the opportunity to work at the Fairbank Center is a great honor. During the course of my job search, the An Wang Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Fairbank Center seemed like a dream job (I even shared a lucky koi post on Weibo to wish for good fortune for this opportunity). The reason for my strong interest is that the Fairbank Center brings together many distinguished scholars who have long been focused on, and are genuinely trying to understand, China, many of whom have written essential publications in our field. I am looking forward to engaging directly with the authors of these key works and gaining deeper insights into China. Additionally, I am very excited about the interdisciplinary environment centered on China studies. As a political scientist, I am acutely aware of the limitations of my discipline, and I am eager to learn from scholars with different disciplines and approaches. Perhaps most exciting is the opportunity to be mentored by two rising stars in the study of Chinese political economy. I believe their guidance will be invaluable for the long-term development of my academic career.
What’s your response to the recent Third Plenum, and what kind of immediate or long-term influence do you think it might have on the state’s relationship with private businesses?
Although many observers have made efforts to scrutinize every detail, the Third Plenum Decision has not made significant adjustments to the current policy direction. Besides incorporating the concept of “New Quality Productive Forces” (新质生产力), which has been under discussion for some time, there doesn’t seem to be much newness. Market and public reactions also reflect this sentiment: the report has not been particularly exciting, nor has it made people more optimistic about China’s economic prospects. The report outlines several commendable goals and even specifies targets for reforms, but achieving these goals appears to require various subtle balances. Consequently, it is difficult for entrepreneurs to regain confidence in investment. An even more awkward reality is that the central government’s reform targets focus on key areas of international competition, but the vast majority of private enterprises do not fall into these areas and may even lose favor in the financial markets due to national priorities. On the other hand, some reforms that might increase the burden on businesses, such as expanding local tax sources, could make entrepreneurs and investors feel particularly uneasy.
What are you most excited to do during your time in Cambridge?
I am very much looking forward to life in Cambridge. Having previously lived in Austin, Texas, for six years, this will be my first time experiencing life in the New England region. I’m excited to explore a different style of American living. I also look forward to participating in various cultural exchanges and lectures, taking advantage of the many universities and cultural institutions in the area. Additionally, I am eager to enjoy the nature reserves and coastal scenery, and I’m excited about the upcoming NBA season.
Did you read any books or articles this summer that you would like to recommend?
This summer, I am reading Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023) by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. So far, I have been enjoying it a lot, especially as it has sparked many thoughts about current technological advancements.