Profile

Wei XIAO is currently working as Professor of Economics, Doctoral supervisor and Head of Department of Applied Economics. He received his bachelor and master's degrees from Nankai University as well as his PhD in Economics in 2014 from Stockholm University, Sweden. In the same year, he joined Research Institute of Economics and Management in Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. His main reseach fields are regional and urban economics; his research directions include land and housing markets, Chinese economic system, urban and rural governance as well as labor markets, regional economic policy evaluation. Research findings of Professor Xiao have been published in well-known journals, such as Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Regional Science, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, Small Business Economics and Financial Research. He also has served not only as a reviewer for many renowned international and domestic journals but also an international reviewer for European Research Council. 

Educational background

(1) Aug 2007 - Oct 2014: PhD in Economics, Stockholm University, Sweden; specifically served as a visting scholar Washington University in St. Louis from Feb 2013 to July 2023

(2) Sep 2003 - Jul 2006: Master degree in Regional and urban Economics, Nankai University 

(3) Sep 1999 - Jun 2003: Bachelor degree in Economics, Nankai University

Research and academic experience

(1) Feb 2023 until now: Professor, Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

(2) May 2015 - Jan 2023: Associate Professor, Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

(3) Nov 2014 - April 2015: Lecturer, Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

Designed courses

Urban Economics (for bachelor and master students) 

Regional Economics (for PhD students) 

Research achievements（partly）

1. International publications
 （1）Brueckner, Jan K., Wenhua Liu, Wei Xiao and Junfu Zhang. Government-directed urban growth, firm entry, and industrial land prices in Chinese cities. Journal of Economic Geography, forthcoming.

（2）Liu, Wenhua, Wei Xiao and Zhilong Qin. Input tariff cuts and the spatial distribution of skilled labor: evidence from China. Growth and Change, 2025, 56: e70013.

（3）Liu, Wenhua, Wei Xiao and Yuheng Li. Hans Westlund. How internet access impacts rural households’ income in China: evidence from the China family panel survey. Applied Economics, 57(21), 2793–2808.
（4） Shifa, Abdulaziz B. and Wei Xiao. Urban bias, migration control and rural land policy: the case of Hukou in China. Journal of Economic Geography, 2023, 23: 251-274.
（5）Li, Tan and Wei Xiao. US antidumping investigations and employment adjustment in Chinese manufacturing firms. Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, 2022, 30(1): 159-182.
（6） Xiao, Wei, Wenhua Liu and Chunzhi Li. Can the urban spatial structure accelerate urban employment growth? Evidence from China. Growth and Change, 2021, 53(4): 1668-1693.
（7）Xiao, Wei and Mingqin Wu. Life-cycle factors and entrepreneurship: evidence from rural China. Small Business Economics, 2021, 57: 2017-2040.
（8）Xiao, Wei and Guochang Zhao. Who is affected: influence of agricultural land on occupational choices of peasants in China. Land Use Policy, 2022, 99.
（9）Jia, Ruixue, Huihua Nie and Wei Xiao. Power and publications in Chinese academia. Journal of Comparative Economics, 2019, 47(4): 792-805. NBER Working Paper W26215: https://www.nber.org/papers/w26215
（10）Xiao, Wei and Guochang Zhao. Agricultural land and rural-urban migration in China: a new pattern. Land Use Policy, 2018, 74: 142-150.
（11）Sato, Yasuhiro and Wei Xiao. Land development, search frictions, and city structure. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2015, 50(1): 64-76.
（12）Xiao, Wei. Search frictions, unemployment, and housing in cities: theory and policies. Journal of Regional Science, 2014, 54(3): 422-449.

2. Chinese publications

(1) Wei XIAO, Wenhua LIU, Ting XIE. The household income effect of Local urbanization: An empirical study based on China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) [J]. Financial Research, 2023, 512(2): 152-170.

(2) Wenhua LIU, Ting XIE, Wei XIAO. The conversion of counties into cities, the expansion of administrative powers and the price pf industrial land. Economic Science, 2022, 44 (6): 39-55

(3) Wei XIAO, Chunzhi LI, Guochang ZHAO. The impact of local goverment education investment on the income level of rural youth labor force2020, 36(3):18-28.

3. Review articles

(1) The close relation of urban economics in Europe, America and Japan to urban development, Chinese Daily Social Sciences, 2015-11-4.

4. Research grants

(1) National Natural Science Foundation of China, General program, Program No.72373121, Jan 2024 - Dec 2027, Principle investigator

(2) National Natural Science Foundation of China, Youth Program, Project No.71603213, Jan 2017- Dec 2019，Principle investigator

(3) Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Commissioned project, 2024, Project leader

(4) Young Scholars Funding Program: "What is Governance: Research on contemporary Chinese social governance", Phase III, 2022, Principle investigator

(5) Yan'an University, Research Insitute of Rural Development, Research bidding project, 2022, Principle investigator

(6) Southwester University of Finance and Economics, Fundamental research funds for central universities projects, "Farmland size and rural labor mobility: A study based on Chinese household data", Project No.JBK2002048, 2020, Principle investigator

(7) Fundamental research funds for central universities projects, "The impact of farmland size on the labor market", Approval No.JBK170954, 2017, Project leader

(8) Southwester University of Finance and Economics, Research Start-up Funding project for Introduced Talents, Approval No.16CXR032816, 2016, Project leader.

(9) National Natural Science Foundation of China, General program, "A study on the mechanism of how high-speed railways impact enterprise productivity", Project No.71773097, 2018, Participant.

5. Other academic activities

Professor Xiao has worked as a reviewer for Journal of Economic Geography, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Journal of Regional Science, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, China Economic Review. Additionaly, he used to serve as an international reviewer for European Research Council.