Yuan Zi

Assistant Professor of Economics

Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID)

I am an Assistant Professor in Economics at the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID).

I am a research affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and CESifo. I serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Economic Geography and as an Associate Editor of the China Economic Review. My research interests include international trade, economic geography, and economic development.

In 2026, I was awarded a four-year Project Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

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Working Papers

A Thirst for Silver: Trade Shock, Taxation, and Local Unrest in Nineteenth-Century China

Ting Chen, Jianan Li, Chong Pang, and Yuan Zi

Latest version (June 2026)

Sparse Production Networks

Andrew Bernard and Yuan Zi

CEPR WP NBER WP Latest version (Sep 2022)

Educating like China

Federica Coelli, Difei Ouyang, Weidi Yuan and Yuan Zi

CEPR WP Latest version (Aug 2026)

Empowered Young Women: Trade Liberalization and Women’s Family Decisions in China

Difei Ouyang, Weidi Yuan and Yuan Zi

CEPR WP Latest version (Feb 2023)

Two Decades of Chinese Industry Subsidies

Shuhui Xiang, Xinran Yin and Yuan Zi
Revise and resubmit, Journal of International Economics

CEPR WP VoxEU Latest version (Feb 2026) Replication Files Chinese Subsidy Data

Local Trade Wars

Wei Li, Jie Ouyang, Bin Qiu, Zi Wang and Yuan Zi
Revise and resubmit for special issue, Canadian Journal of Economics

CEPR WP Latest version (Aug 2026)

Publications

Local Corporate Taxes and the Geography of Foreign Multinationals

Jianpeng Deng, Liu Chong, Zi Wang and Yuan Zi
Forthcoming, Review of Economics and Statistics

CEPR WP Latest version (Feb 2025) Published Version

Trade From Space: Shipping Networks and The Global Implications of Local Shocks

Andreas Moxnes, Inga Heiland, Karen H. Ulltveit-Moe and Yuan Zi
Forthcoming, Review of Economics and Statistics

CEPR WP Latest version (Nov 2022) Published Version

Trade Liberalization and the Great Labor Reallocation

Yuan Zi

International Economic Review, 2025

CEPR WP Latest version (May 2024) Published Version

Made and Created in China: The Role of Processing Trade

Aksel Erbahar, Zhiyuan Chen and Yuan Zi

Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2024

Published Version

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of R&D and Patents: Firm-level Evidence from China

Jie Zhang, Zhiyuan Chen and Yuan Zi

European Economic Review, 2021

Published Version

Trade Costs, Global Value Chains and Economic Development

Yuan Zi
Journal of Economic Geography, 2020

Published Version

Cascading Trade Protection: Evidence from the US

Aksel Erbahar and Yuan Zi
Journal of International Economics, 2017

Published Version VoxEU Washington Post PIIE

Trade Liberalization and the Hukou System of the People's Republic of China: How Migration Frictions Can Amplify the Unequal Gains from Trade

[in (ed) Marc Bacchetta and Matthias Helble, Trade Adjustment in Asia: Past Experiences and Lessons Learned, ADBI-WTO, 2019]

Published Version

Teaching

Office hours: Wednesdays, 12-14 (course weeks)

EI037: Microeconomics

Fall 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

EI064: International Trade A

Spring 2022, Fall 2024

Latest

MINT427: The China Syndrome: Modern Reforms in China's Economy and Their Global Implications

Spring 2025

Latest

MINT477: Global Value Chains and Multinational Activities

Spring 2025

Latest