Regional Expertise

In addition to the most pressing issues of the day, scholars at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies focus their research on many regions of the world, from Beijing to Brazil.

Research Spotlight

Students in China participate in the National College Entrance Exam

The Ripple Effects of China’s College Expansion on American Universities

Researchers at SCCEI trace how China’s unprecedented expansion of higher education has impacted U.S. graduate education and local economies surrounding college towns.

Nayib Bukele and Gabriela Roberta Rodríguez de Bukele, president and first lady of El Salvador, wave to supporters from a balcony.

Does the Bukele Model Have a Future?

While Nayib Bukele's style of authoritarianism may have some successes on paper, Beatriz Magaloni and Alberto Diaz-Cayeros argue that the regime is headed for a reckoning.

Time for Iran to Make a No-enrichment Nuclear Deal

The time has come for Iran’s leaders to reconsider their past intransigent, deceptive posture and instead pursue a nuclear power program that will benefit the Iranian people, write Abbas Milani and Siegfried Hecker.

Featured Faculty

https://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/people/karen_eggleston

Karen Eggleston

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Deputy Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Eggleston Full Bio

https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/people/beatriz_magaloni

Beatriz Magaloni

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Professor of Political Science

Magaloni Full Bio

https://reap.fsi.stanford.edu/people/scott_rozelle

Scott Rozelle

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Co-Director, Rural Education Action Program

Rozelle Full Bio

https://fsi.stanford.edu/people/kiyoteru-tsutsui

Kiyoteru Tsutsui

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Tsutsui Full Bio

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Publications

Working Papers

COVID-19 Incidence and the Timing of Quarantine Measures and Travel Restrictions: A Cross-country Analysis

Asia Health Policy Program working paper # 58, 2020

Journal Articles

Impacts of Chilean forest subsidies on forest cover, carbon and biodiversity

Nature Sustainability, 2020

Journal Articles

Independent Reading in Rural China's Elementary Schools: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

International Journal of Educational Development, 2020

Journal Articles

Intermediation in Mortgage-Backed Securities: The Plantation Business of F.W. Hudig, 1759-1797

SSRN, 2020

Journal Articles

Using Conjoint Experiments to Analyze Elections: The Essential Role of the Average Marginal Component Effect (AMCE)

SSRN, 2020

Journal Articles

Reassessing American Democracy: The Enduring Challenge of Racial Exclusion

Michigan Law Review Online, 2020

Commentary

How the West could win a technological ‘shadow war’ with China

2020

Commentary

Coronavirus Could Make America’s Gun Problem Even Deadlier

The New York Times , 2020

Journal Articles

School Quality and Peer Effects: Explaining Differences in Academic Performance between China’s Migrant and Rural Students

The Journal of Development Studies, 2020

Journal Articles

Using Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) to Value Nature In Decision Making

PNAS, 2020

Significance
To achieve sustainable development, there is a pressing need to move beyond conventional economic measures like gross domestic product (GDP). We develop gross ecosystem product (GEP), a measure that summarizes the value of the contributions of nature to economic activity. We illustrate the calculation of GEP in Qinghai Province, China, to show that the approach is tractable both across China and globally. Known as the water tower of Asia, Qinghai is the source of the Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers and nearly two-thirds of GEP derives from water-related values. GEP was greater than GDP in Qinghai in 2000, and was three-fourths as large as GDP in 2015. China is using GEP to guide investments in ecosystem conservation and restoration.

Abstract
Gross domestic product (GDP) summarizes a vast amount of economic information in a single monetary metric that is widely used by decision makers around the world. However, GDP fails to capture fully the contributions of nature to economic activity and human well-being. To address this critical omission, we develop a measure of gross ecosystem product (GEP) that summarizes the value of ecosystem services in a single monetary metric. We illustrate the measurement of GEP through an application to the Chinese province of Qinghai, showing that the approach is tractable using available data. Known as the “water tower of Asia,” Qinghai is the source of the Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow Rivers, and indeed, we find that water-related ecosystem services make up nearly two-thirds of the value of GEP for Qinghai. Importantly most of these benefits accrue downstream. In Qinghai, GEP was greater than GDP in 2000 and three-fourths as large as GDP in 2015 as its market economy grew. Large-scale investment in restoration resulted in improvements in the flows of ecosystem services measured in GEP (127.5%) over this period. Going forward, China is using GEP in decision making in multiple ways, as part of a transformation to inclusive, green growth. This includes investing in conservation of ecosystem assets to secure provision of ecosystem services through transregional compensation payments.

Journal Articles