Wei Li

Dr. Li is Professor of Economics, Associate Dean for Asia, Director of the Case Center, and the Director of China Economy and Sustainable Development Center at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Before joining CKGSB, Dr. Li was Professor of Business Administration (with tenure) at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, where he has served on the faculty since 2000. Since 2005, Dr. Li has also served as visiting Professor of Economics on the faculty of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Before joining Darden faculty, Dr. Li was assistant professor and then associate professor of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business from 1994 to 2000. He was also a visiting professor of strategy at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan and his B.Eng. from Shanghai Jiaotong University (China).

An authority on Chinese economy and business, Dr. Li’s main research focus is on economic development, taxation, financial markets, corruption, corporate governance, corporate research and development, entrepreneurship, trade and investment in China. His work has been published in prominent academic journals and books, and some of his research results have also been featured in Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and on CNNfn (CNN Money) and Bloomberg TV. Professor Li has extensive consulting experience with multinational firms, Chinese firms, and the World Bank.

Dr. Li has taught Macroeconomics, Global Economies and Markets, Managerial Economics, and Emerging Markets Finance in MBA, Finance MBA, EMBA, and Global EMBA, and Executive Education programs.

Areas of Expertise

Corruption, Financial Markets, Macroeconomics, Managerial Incentives and Market Competition, Real Estate, Reform, Taxation, Telecommunications Privatization, Valuation in Emerging Markets

Education

• 1994 Ph.D. Economics, University of Michigan
• 1987 American Economic Association and Ford Foundation Graduate Economics
  Program, People’s University, Beijing, China
• 1986 M.S. program, Systems Engineering, School of Management, Jiaotong
  University, Shanghai, China
• 1985 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

Achievements

Li’s research has been published in the Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Rand Journal of Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and the Journal of Comparative Economics.

He wrote the book Investing in Emerging Markets, published by the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research). His research insights have been featured in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and CNNfn.

Research

• Robam: Passing On and Transforming a Family Business, 2015
• Qihoo 360: The Choice to Go Private, 2016
• General Electric: Gains and Losses of Integration, 2016

Selected Publications

• “Can Stock Price Movements Inform Operational Improvement Efforts? Evidence from the U.S. Airline Industry,” with Marc Lipson, Kamalini Ramdas, and Jonathan Williams, 2010, under review at Management Science.
• “Regulatory Reforms in the Telecommunications Sector in Developing Countries: The Role of Democracy and Private Interests,” with Christine Qian and Lixin Colin Xu, forthcoming in World Economy.
• “Tax Structures in Developing Countries: Puzzles and Possible Explanations”, with Gordon, Roger H., Journal of Public Economics, vol. 93, pp. 855-866, August 2009.
• “Maoist Economics”, in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition. Eds. Durlauf, Steven N. & Blume, Lawrence E., Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
• “Market Integration in Developed and Emerging Markets: Evidence from the CAPM”, with Bruner, Robert F., Kritzman, Mark, Myrgren, Simon & Page, Sebastien, Emerging Markets Review, vol. 9, pp. 89-103, 2008.
• “Trade, Technology, and China’s Rising Skill Demand”, with Xu, Bin, Economics of Transition, vol. 16, pp. 59-84, January 2008.
• “Comments on ‘Measuring the Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Korea’”, in Takatoshi, Ito and Rose, Andrew (eds.), Fiscal Policy and Management in East Asia, NBER-East Asia Seminar on Economics vol. 16, 2007.
• “Puzzling Tax Structure in Developing Countries: A Comparison of Two Alternative Explanations”, with Gordon, Roger H., in Takatoshi, Ito and Rose, Andrew (eds.), Fiscal Policy and Management in East Asia, NBER-East Asia Seminar on Economics vol. 16, 2007.
• “Taxation and Economic Growth in China”, with Gordon, Roger H., in Critical Issues in China’s Growth and Development, Ashgate, 2005.
• “The Great Leap Forward: Anatomy of a Central Planning Disaster,” with Dennis Tao Yang, Journal of Political Economy, 113:840 – 877, August 2005.
• “The impact of privatization and competition in the Telecommunications Sector Around the World,” with Lixin Colin Xu, Journal of Law & Economics, October 2004.
• “Government as a Discriminating Monopolist in the Financial Market: The Case of China,” with Roger H. Gordon, Journal of Public Economics, 87:283-312, 2003.
• “Introduction to ‘Valuation in Emerging Markets’,” with Robert F.Bruner, Robert M. Conroy, Javier Estrada, and Mark Kritzman, Emerging Markets Review, 3:310-324, September 2002.
• “The Political Economy of Privatization and Competition: Cross-Country Evidence from the Telecommunications Sector,” with Lixin Colin Xu, Journal of Comparative Economics, 30:1-25, September 2002.
• “Tax Rights in Transition Economies: A Tragedy of the Commons?” with Daniel Berkowitz, Journal of Public Economics, 76, 369-97, June 2000.
• “A Tale of Two Reforms,” Rand Journal of Economics, 30:1, Spring 1999.
• “Selection of Children to Provide Care: The Effects of Earlier Parental Transfers,” with John C. Henretta, Martha Hill, Beth Soldo and Douglas A. Wolf, Journal of Gerontology, 52B, 110-119, 1997.
• “The Impact of Economic Reforms on the Performance of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises,” Journal of Political Economy, 105:5, 1080-1106, October 1997.
• “Asymptotic Equivalence of Estimators of Average Derivative,” 52,241-45, Economics Letters, November 1996.
• “The Change in Productivity of Chinese State Enterprises, 1983-1987,” with Roger H. Gordon, Journal of Productivity Analysis, 6, 5-26, April 1995.
• “Chinese Enterprise Behavior under the Reforms,” with Roger H. Gordon, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 81, 202-6, May 1991.

Working Paper

• “Can Stock Price Movements Inform Operational Improvement Efforts? Evidence from the US Airline Industry,” with Marc Lipson, Kamalini Ramdas, and Jonathan Williams, 2010. Under review at Management Science.