Biography

I received my PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge, where I specialised in development economics, using natural experiments and mathematical models to study the impact of institutional barriers on decision making in emerging economies. My undergraduate training as an economic geographer, with degrees in Economics and Economic Geography at Peking University, has endowed me with skills to process geospatial data, including satellite data, which plays an essential role in my current research.

My academic journey in the field of international business (IB) and strategy started in 2018, when I was hired by Beedie School of Business as an Assistant Professor with the expectation of pivoting to management research. Motivated by Beedie’s strong encouragement of interdisciplinary approaches, I have brought insights and cutting-edge empirical techniques from development economics and economic geography into IB and strategy literature. My background allows me to make unique methodological contributions and advance theories on institutions and institutional disruptions in emerging economies.

I am a faculty fellow at the Jack Austin Centre for Asia-Pacific Business Studies at Simon Fraser University. I am the co-organiser of the Joint UBC&SFU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research Seminar Series. In 2016-2017 I was a visiting scholar at the School of Economics, University of Cape Town, South Africa as a fellow in the highly-competitive program of Policy Design and Evaluation Research in Developing Countries (PODER) as part of the Marie-Curie Actions funded by the European Commission.

AWARDS & HONOURS

TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award (highest teaching award in Beedie and one of the most prestigious teaching honours at SFU), 2024

Best Paper Award, Africa Academy of Management Biennial Conference (Track: Entrepreneurship and Small Business), 2023

Best Reviewer Award, Academy of International Business Annual Conference, 2022

Best Macro Paper Award, International Association for Chinese Management Research Conference, 2021

Finalist for the Global Strategy Journal Best Paper Prize, International Association for Chinese Management Research Conference, 2021

Excellent Paper Award, the South Korean Academy Society of Global Business Administration, 2021

Wrenbury Scholarship in Political Economy, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, 2017-2018

Raymond Burton Funds, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, 2017-2018

PODER Fellowship, Marie-Curie Actions, European Commission, 2016-2017

The Graduate Awards and Research Studentships Committee Fund, Newnham College, University of Cambridge, 2015

Luca D'Agliano Scholarship for Development Economists, University of Cambridge, 2013-2014

Prize Research Students, Joint Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge University & Harvard University, 2012-2013

First Prize in China Economic Research Award, China Centre for Economic Research, Peking University, 2012