Carsten A. Holz --- Homepage

Carsten A. HOLZ

Professor of Social Science, HKUST

Research interests: China's economy (in particular economic growth, regional economic development, Chinese statistics)
Field in economics: development economics, applied macroeconomics and monetary economics

ORCID 0000-0003-1293-5578

Google Scholar NIxNLlUAAAAJ

Scopus 6701402577

For publications and courses scroll down beyond top section

A backup of this webpage is at https://hkust.carstenholz.com/. (For a backup of linked webpages and documents replace, in their individual URLs, the beginning section https://carstenholz.people.ust.hk/ [or, in earlier versions, https://ihome.../ ] by https://hkust.carstenholz.com/ .) The backup may not always be up to date.

China Studies

"Have China Scholars All Been Bought?" Far Eastern Economic Review 170, no. 3 (April 2007): 36-40.
Article: free at FEER website; as pdf file. Criticism and response.

Along a similar vein: Book review China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development 1978-2018, edited by Ross Garnaut, Ligang Song, and Cai Fang. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2018. In China Journal, no. 83 (January 2020): 179-192. Review

Hong Kong Academic Freedom

“By academic freedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right implies also a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true. It is evident that any restriction of academic freedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge among people and thereby impedes rational judgment and action.” Albert Einstein (Source)

3 September 2020. “Is Hong Kong Academia “Perfectly Safe” Or Is It “Dead?”,” Written in response to a colleague’s Op-ed in the South China Morning Post. (Here.) More on the publication practices / ‘red lines’ of the South China Morning Post is here.

20 September 2020. “Hong Kong Academic Freedom – Is It ‘Safe’ or ‘Dead’ under the National Security Law?” Hong Kong Free Press

”Silence in the face of evil is evil itself” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

31 October 2020. Application for allocation from General Research Fund for project “Academic Freedom at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology” (here). Not funded. Review Panel comments, Comments by reviewer 1, 2, 3, 4. In the next grant application round, I stop reviewing proposals for the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (see item 2022-2-15 here).

19 November 2020. “University Rankings: Comparing Apples and Pears.” (Institutions of Higher Education without academic freedom have no place in university rankings) Here

29 December 2020. “Institutions of Higher Education without Academic Freedom Have No Place in University Rankings.” International Higher Education, no. 106 (Spring 2021): 3-5.

The article is, exceptionally, censored (omitted) in the Chinese language edition of this issue of International Higher Education, which appeared belatedly in March 2022. (My article was included in the earlier released Portuguese, Russian, and Vietnamese editions.)

17 April 2021. Reprinted in University World News as “World University Rankings Are Rewarding Totalitarianism.”

15 March 2021. “University Rankings: Comparing Apples and Pears.” Academia Letters, Article 290.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

(Martin Niemöller)

First they came for the democratic activists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a democratic activist.

Then they came for the independent parliamentarians, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a parliamentarian.

Then they came for RTHK, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not working at RTHK.

Then they came for the independent judges, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a judge.

Then they came for the Professional Teachers’ Union, and I did not speak out—

Because I was just an ordinary member.

Then they came for the academics—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

2 April 2021. A colleague in the Social Science Division at HKUST is attacked in the “newspaper” of the “Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.” My take on the matter, shared with colleagues, is here (direct link to the email to colleagues here).

An article by Postiglione and Altbach in University World News (“Hong Kong higher education reaches an inflection point” (31 August 2021)) triggered a lengthy response by me (here), a much revised version of which appeared as:

21 November 2021. “Hong Kong Academia Is Well Past Its Inflection Point.” University World News. (Original submission here)

27 January 2022. “Hong Kong’s Contested Academic Freedom.” The Diplomat (Original submission here.)

“For fear of losing his job, the schoolteacher teaches things he does not believe; fearing for his future, the pupil repeats them after him; for fear of not being allowed to continue his studies, [...].” Václav Havel (From “Dear Dr. Husák,” April 1975, letter addressed to Dr. Gustáv Husák, then general secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party)

Others on academic freedom in Hong Kong

Peter Baehr (through 2021 Research Professor in Social Theory, Lingnan University):

“Hong Kong Must Now Rely on Its Own Efforts to Protect Academic Freedom” (2 June 2020)

“Dictatorship and Responsibility in Hong Kong” (1 February 2021)

“Academic Life within Hong Kong’s Increasingly Repressive Political Atmosphere” (33min, undated Quillette podcast interview, likely April/May 2021,

“Hong Kong Universities in the Shadow of the National Security Law” (25 April 2022)

Sean Tierney’s very personal departing observations on the academic climate in Hong Kong today (9 December 2022), or here, also raising the question of at what point, by staying in Hong Kong academia, one endorses a system of, in his words “craven authoritarianism and malignant stupidity.”

The story of a(nother) academic leaving Hong Kong, this one out of fear of arrest, after his university allegedly contacted the police over an article he had written (7 January 2023, here)

Michael C. Davis. “Hong Kong: How Beijing Perfected Repression.” With section on academic freedom. Journal of Democracy 33, no. 1 (January 2022): 100-15.

Hong Kong now has an academic freedom index of 0.23 (in 2022, bottom 10-20% worldwide, just below Russia, with the index down from 0.89 in 1997, the year of the handover, here) and ranks 140^th worldwide in press freedom (2022 ranking, here).

On Hong Kong’s judicial independence also see, for example, here (in Hong Kong via VPN only) and here (Financial Times, possibly paywalled)

On the intimidation and the exit of lawyers see, for example, here.

On Hong Kong’s “invisible red lines” and their constitutionality see, for example, here.

“So far, it is the worst in us which is being systematically activated and enlarged--egotism, hypocrisy, indifference, cowardice, fear, resignation, and the desire to escape every personal responsibility, regardless of the general consequences.” Václav Havel (From “Dear Dr. Husák”)

24 September 2024. Human Rights Watch released an excellent, lengthy report on academic freedom in Hong Kong, at https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/09/24/we-cant-write-truth-anymore/academic-freedom-hong-kong-under-national-security-0 . After reading Human Rights Watch’s report, the Hong Kong government’s response of 25 September 2024 is highly illuminating about today’s Hong Kong, at https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202409/25/P2024092500747.htm .

Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Basic Law regarding academic freedom

Basic Law (here)

Article 34. Hong Kong residents shall have freedom to engage in academic research, literary and artistic creation, and other cultural activities.

Article 137. Educational institutions of all kinds may retain their autonomy and enjoy academic freedom. [...]

Definition of academic freedom (also as promoted by HKUST president, here)

“[...] 5. Academic freedom gives both students and faculty the right to study and do research on the topics they choose and to draw what conclusions they find consistent with their research, though it does not prevent others from judging whether their work is valuable and their conclusions sound. [...] 6. Academic freedom means that the political, religious, or philosophical beliefs of politicians, administrators, and members of the public cannot be imposed on students or faculty. [...]”

”Academic freedom does not protect faculty members from non-university penalties if they break the law.” [Emphasis added]

October 2023. “A scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) specialising in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown has had her work visa rejected by the Hong Kong government. Her employment with CUHK was terminated immediately after the rejection” (here, as well as in the Financial Times and in many other, international news outlets).

Should a law—the “National Security Law” comes to mind—trump the constitution with its constitutionally guaranteed “fundamental rights:” The scholar in question has not been (publicly) accused of violating any Hong Kong law, let alone been convicted by a court for having violated one of Hong Kong’s laws.

“True enough, the country is calm. Calm as a morgue or a grave, would you not say?” Václav Havel (From “Dear Dr. Husák”)

Academic freedom declarations at HKUST

HKUST’s first “core value” (here) is: “Excellence, Integrity, and Academic Freedom. The University is committed to being a leader in academic world through excellence in teaching, research and people, while placing utmost value on the freedom to conduct academic activities, subject to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty.”

7 September 2020. HKUST President’s message to the HKUST community (emailed to all staff and students) includes the passage

“We remain steadfast in our support for academic freedom (see, e.g., https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/about/faq/what-is-academic-freedom/; https://www.britannica.com/topic/academic-freedom; https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/12/21/defining-academic-freedom;) and scholarly endeavours. If there are any concerns that our values are being put to the test, it is up to us to show, first ourselves, and then the rest of the world, that HKUST, consistent with our established standing, can and will rise to the challenge. We are determined to contribute our utmost efforts to the future of Hong Kong and beyond.”

26 March 2021. HKUST President’s email to all staff and students titled “Our Position Regarding Teaching, Research and Individual Conduct”:

“As exchanges and comments on matters related to teaching, research and other activities of HKUST members are played out in public from time to time, we wish to remind everyone that the University is guided by certain principles:

(1) All activities of our members should comply with the law. Hong Kong’s judicial system, through its due process, addresses allegations of illegal conduct. The University has a responsibility to uphold our own standards, and will assess and review the implications of members’ conduct after, not before, any legal process is concluded.

[...]

(4) Underpinning our activities as members of the University is academic freedom, a principle so fundamental that it is enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law Article 137:

"Educational institutions of all kinds may retain their autonomy and enjoy academic freedom."

HKUST’s curriculum, course contents, and delivery of teaching are the province of the faculty, subject to the Senate’s oversight. They are always handled transparently and openly through collective discussion and debate by all Senate members, together with the University community. In addition, academic freedom is an internationally respected norm, deemed important to the successful pursuit of knowledge and the concomitant betterment of society: scholars are supported to explore and communicate ideas and evidence (including those that may be inconvenient, disagreeable, or contentious to certain groups or individuals) without repercussion.

[...]”

-- Compare to the HKUST reality a few months later, here (half way through the article).

Fall 2022 greetings from (new) provost and message from (new) president, fall 2023 president’s message (with no such fall 2024 message): No mentioning of academic freedom; focus on such things as institution building, HKUST 3.0, and the adoption of a HKUST anthem. I am not aware of these new managers raising the issue of academic freedom at other occasions.

According to the (as of early 2023) University Grants Council numbers, in the academic year 2021/22, 56 faculty members (out of a total of approximately 490) left HKUST, compared to 24 in the previous year. For all of Hong Kong, “of the 5,000 academic staff listed last year, 362 had left their posts – up by about 30 per cent on the 277 who departed the previous year and the highest figure since 1997-98.” (here) In 2022/23, 380 academic staff left Hong Kong (here, no numbers for HKUST).

As of fall 2024, I wonder if top HKUST managers have any understanding of what academic freedom means. The provost ordered all faculty members to take a 7.5 hour mandatory course on AI in education (with quizzes one has to pass). My response of 16 September 2024 to the provost, shared with all faculty members, is here. (A separate issue that subsequently came up in a couple of communications with colleagues is how useful is AI in our teaching? My communication with one colleague is here.) While I received a response from the provost to my email of 16 September 2024, I can’t very well post a personal email received. My response to his response is here.

Hong Kong’s firewall

Hong Kong telecommunications providers nowadays block numerous websites, ranging from Hong Kong Watch (here) to Samuel Bicket’s substack (here). At my home in Hong Kong (but not in downtown Hong Kong), even HKUST’s websites have been blocked by the telecommunications provider; after I complained to the telecommunications provider I regained access to the HKUST websites at home but did not receive an explanation (here, July 2024). I wonder how Hong Kong telecommunications providers decide which websites to block, and in which geographic areas of Hong Kong to block HKUST (and possibly other employers’) websites. It is only on campus that a VPN is not needed. Hong Kong Free Press provides an overview of the current degree of censorship, here (12 October 2024).

University values

“University Values in Cooperation Projects,” European University Association annual conference, write-up of presentation on 29 April 2022

Published as a European University Association ‘Expert Voice:’ ”The irrelevance of “university values”.” 17 October 2022

“Forget values statements. Universities need to support academic freedom” Times Higher Education, 16 November 2022. Heavily edited version of the original submission here.

HKUST -- for many more of my initiatives see here

2008. The Hong Kong Model of Academia (March 2008) http://ihome.ust.hk/~socholz/HKUST-SOSC/HK-university-model-March08.pdf

2014. Open letter to the Provost of HKUST (20 Feb. 2014) http://ihome.ust.hk/~socholz/OpenLetter.html

2014. My experience with the HKUST grievance procedure 2013/2014. 22 December 2020. (Opens new webpage: Here)

2018. “The >Gleichschaltung< of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.” Mimeo, 3 December 2018. Paper (or at Researchgate).

2020. HKUST (new) Guangzhou (GZ) campus: Critique (25 June 2020); earlier: Questions for the Provost (16 April 2020)

2020 Reflections on the Provost’s statements at the Social Science Division meeting on 7 December 2020 – A critique of the Provost’s view of current HKUST issues. 22 December 2020. Here

2020 HKUST’s pension fiasco. 13 September / 22 December 2020. Here

Publications (journals, books)
Abstracts of publications (through 2010)

“The Process of Economic Development in West Sichuan: The Case of Daocheng County.” The China Quarterly, no. 257 (March 2024): 119-35. (“First View” online published 20 July 2023.) Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741023000784. Appendices. An identical paper except for approx. 10% more article text and five times more footnote text (including more discussion and field work experiences), with all appendices appended, is here.

“PRC Industrial Policies Postdate Rather than Lead Economic Activity.” Chapter 8 in Erik Baark, Bert Hofman, and Jiwei QIAN (eds.), Innovation and China's Global Emergence, Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, August 2021. Chapter (27 November 2019), Chapter (22 June 2020)

“Understanding PRC Investment Statistics.” Mimeo, 12 April 2019. Paper including appendices (earlier version of 28 January 2019). Only appendices. China Economic Review 61 (June 2020), 19pp.

“The Unfinished Business of State-owned Enterprise Reform in the People’s Republic of China.” Mimeo, 2 December 2018. Paper.

“Industrial Policies and the Changing Patterns of Investment in the PRC Economy.” The China Journal 81 (January 2019): 23-57. Paper (including appendices). Solely appendices. Earlier: “The Changing Patterns of Investment in the PRC Economy.” 16 March 2017. (Here)

“Physical Capital Estimates for China’s Provinces, 1952-2015 and Beyond.” With SUN Yue. China Economic Review 51 (October 2018): 342-57. (Paper and Dataset/Results),

“China’s Investment Rate: Implications and Data Reliability.” 1 November 2016 (Here). Revised 13 May 2018 (Here). Revised 22 April 2019 (Here). Journal submission experience.

“The Role of Investment in Structural Change in the PRC,” ADB Consultant’s Report, 7 March 2017. (Here)

“Wage and Price Dynamics in China.” With Aaron Mehrotra. The World Economy 39, no. 8 (Aug. 2016): 1109-27. Also: “Wage and Price Dynamics in a Large Emerging Economy: the Case of China.” Stanford University, SCID Working Paper 474, 13 May 2013 (http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/2575); Bank for International Settlements Working Papers No. 409, April 2013 (http://www.bis.org/publ/work409.htm); and The Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition BOFIT Discussion Papers 3/2014, 20 January 2014 (http://www.suomenpankki.fi/bofit_en/tutkimus/tutkimusjulkaisut/dp/Pages/dp0314.aspx).

“The Quality of China’s GDP Statistics.” China Economic Review 30 (September 2014): 309-38. Also Stanford University, SCID Working Paper 487, 2 December 2013 (http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/2681), or published version here. Appendices.

“Understanding Money Demand in the Transition from a Centrally Planned to a Market Economy.” With Anne-Laure Delatte and Julien Fouquau. Post-Communist Economies 26, no. 3 (September 2014): 376-400. Earlier version of October 2011 titled “Explaining Money Demand in China During the Transition from a Centrally Planned to a Market-based Monetary System” as Bank of Finland BOFIT Discussion Paper 27 (2011). At: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1949078.

“Wage Determination in China during the Reform Period.” The Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition, BOFIT Discussion Paper 13/2014. 6 May 2014. Working paper of 25 June / 3 Oct. 2014.

“Chinese Statistics: Classification Systems and Data Sources.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 54, no. 5/6 (2013): 532-71. Earlier version: Stanford University, SCID Working Paper 471, 8 January 2013 (http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/2557). Appendices (sectoral classification systems, representativeness of directly reporting industrial enterprises, data sources)

“Monthly Industrial Output in China 1980-2012.” China Economic Review 28 (March 2014): 1-16. Earlier version: Stanford University, SCID Working Paper 472, (revised version of) 12 September 2013 (http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/2559).

“Chinese Statistics: Output Data.” (Not designed as journal article.) Stanford University, SCID Working Paper 473, 1 March 2013 (http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/2561).

"The Unbalanced Growth Hypothesis and the Role of the State: the Case of China's State-owned Enterprises." Journal of Development Economics 96, no. 2 (Nov. 2011): 220-38.

"No Razor's Edge: Reexamining Alwyn Young's Evidence for Increasing Inter-Provincial Trade Barriers in China." The Review of Economics and Statistics 91, no. 3 (Aug. 2009): 599-616.

"China's Economic Growth 1978-2025: What We Know Today about China's Economic Growth Tomorrow." 26 Dec. 2006 (not final). (Appendices.) World Development 36, no. 10 (Oct. 2008): 1665-1691. Appendices of final version.

"China's 2004 Economic Census and 2006 Benchmark Revision of GDP Statistics: More Questions Than Answers." The China Quarterly, no. 193 (March 2008): 150-63. Published version. Copyright holder: The China Quarterly / School of Oriental and African Studies.

"Spatial Price Differences in China: Estimates and Implications." With Loren Brandt. Economic Development and Cultural Change 55, no. 1 (Oct. 2006): 43-86.

"New Capital Estimates for China." China Economic Review 17, no. 2 (2006): 142-85. Paper. Appendices
Also in the same issue: "Response to Gregory C. Chow's 'New Capital Estimates for China: Comments'," pp. 193-97.

"China's Reform Period Economic Growth: How Reliable Are Angus Maddison's Estimates." Review of Income and Wealth 52, no. 1 (March 2006): 85-119. Paper. Appendices. My response to Maddison's reply to my paper, published as: "China’s Reform Period Economic Growth: How Reliable Are Angus Maddison’s Estimates? Response to Angus Maddison’s Reply." Review of Income and Wealth 52, no. 3 (Sept. 2006): 471-5.

"Deconstructing China's GDP Statistics." China Economic Review 15, no. 2 (2004): 164-202. Paper.

"China's Statistical System in Transition: Challenges, Data Problems, and Institutional Innovations." Review of Income and Wealth 50, no. 3 (Sept. 2004): 381-409. Paper.

China's State-owned Enterprises between Profitability and Bankruptcy. World Scientific, 2003. (monograph)
Update on the definition of "state-owned and state-controlled enterprises." Abstract and table of contents

"'Fast, Clear and Accurate:' How Reliable Are Chinese Output and Economic Growth Statistics?" The China Quarterly, no. 173 (March 2003): 122-63. Paper.

"Long Live China's State-owned Enterprises: Deflating the Myth of Poor Financial Performance." Journal of Asian Economics 13, no. 4 (July/August 2002): 493-529. Paper.

"Institutional Constraints on the Quality of Statistics in a Developing and Transitional Economy: the Case of China." China Information 16, no 1 (2002): 25-67. Paper

"The 1997-1998 Break in Industrial Statistics: Facts and Appraisal." With Yi-min Lin. Contribution to symposium on China's statistics. China Economic Review 12, no. 4 (2001): 303-16. Paper.

"Pitfalls of China's Industrial Statistics: Inconsistencies and Specification Problems." With Yi-min Lin. The China Review 1, no. 1 (Fall 2001): 29-71. Paper.

"Identifying the Patterns of Profitability Across Chinese State-owned Enterprises: Which Industrial State-owned Enterprises in China Are Profitable?" Journal of Asian Business 17, no. 2 (2001): 33-62. Paper.

"The Impact of the Liability-Asset Ratio on Profitability in China's Industrial State-owned Enterprises." China Economic Review 13, no. 1 (2002): 1-26. Paper.

"The Impact of Competition and Labor Remuneration on Profitability in China's Industrial State-owned Enterprises." Journal of Contemporary China 11, no. 32 (Aug. 2002): 515-38. Paper.

"Why Do Aggregate Production Functions Work? Fisher's simulations, Shaik's Identity and Some New Results." With Jesus Felipe. International Review of Applied Economics 15, no. 3 (July 2001): 261-85. Paper.

"Economic Reforms and State Sector Bankruptcy in China." The China Quarterly, no. 166 (June 2001): 342-67. Paper. Appendix.

"Banking and Enterprise Reform in the People's Republic of China after the Asian Financial Crisis: An Appraisal." With Tian Zhu. Asian Development Review 18, no. 1 (2001): 73-93. Paper.

"China's Monetary Reform: The Counterrevolution from the Countryside." Journal of Contemporary China 10, no. 27 (2001): 189-217. Paper.

"The Changing Role of Money in China and Its Implications." Comparative Economic Studies 42, no. 3 (Fall 2000): 77-100. Paper.

"Contractionary Investment Policies in China 1988/89: Accounting for the Implementation Difficulties and Successes." The China Quarterly, no. 160 (Dec. 1999): 881-918. Paper.

The Role of Central Banking in China's Economic Reforms. Cornell East Asia Series, No. 59. Ithaca: Cornell University East Asia Program, 1992. (monograph)

Other publications

“In Memoriam Universities Service Center.” October 2021. (here) Chapter in USC的故事 — Both links (to the USC website) are broken as of July 2024. Alternatively, here (in English) and here (in Chinese).

“Is Excessive Domestic Investment Hurting China?” MERICS China Monitor No. 29, 18 November 2015. (here)

“China’s GDP Data Are Better Than You Think.” Bloomberg Brief: Building China’s Data System, September 2014, p. 4. At: http://www.bloombergbriefs.com/content/uploads/sites/2/2014/09/EN-China_Data_System-WEB.pdf.

“Can We Trust the Numbers?” China Economic Quarterly 18, no. 1 (March 2014): 43-50.

“Here Be Dragons? China’s Economic Data May Not Be All Bad.” The Conversation, 3 March 2014 (https://theconversation.com/here-be-dragons-chinas-economic-data-may-not-be-all-bad-23047).

"Statistics." Entry in Encyclopedia of Modern China, Charles Scribner's Sons / Gale Group, forthcoming.

"Have China Scholars All Been Bought?" Far Eastern Economic Review 170, no. 3 (April 2007): 36-40.
Article: free at FEER website; as pdf file. Criticism and response.

"More Number Games." China Economic Quarterly 10, no. 3 (third quarter, 2006): 40-44.

"Why China's Growth is Sustainable." Far Eastern Economic Review 169, no. 3 (April 2006): 41-6.

"Why China's New GDP Data Matters." Far Eastern Economic Review 169, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 2006): 54-7.

"The Institutional Arrangements for the Production of Statistics." OECD---China Governance Project. OECD Statistics working paper, STD/DOC (2005) 1, 19 Jan. 2005.

"China's Economic Growth Statistics: Trustworthy in the Long Run, Less So in the Short Run." Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, APARC Dispatch October 2004. For full text click here.

Book reviews (since 2015)

Garnaut, Ross, Ligang Song, and Cai Fang (eds.). China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development 1978-2018. (Acton ACT, Australia: Australian National University Press, 2018.) The China Journal, no. 83 (January 2020). Here.

Subacci, Paola. The People’s Money: How China Is Building a Global Currency. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.) China Information 31, no. 2 (July 2017). Here.

Yueh, Linda. China’s Growth: The Making of an Economic Superpower. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.) The China Journal 74 (July 2015): 169-171. Here.

Xu, Yi-chong (ed.). The Political Economy of State-owned Enterprises in China and India. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.) The Journal of Asian Studies 74, no. 2 (May 2015): 486-8. Here.

SHENG Hong, and ZHAO Nong. China’s State-owned Enterprises: Nature, Performance, and Reform. (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company, 2013.) The Journal of Asian Studies 74, no. 2 (May 2015): 482-3. Here.

Academic employment and qualifications

	2022/23	Visiting Professor, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
	2014/15	Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard University (on sabbatical leave)
	9/12-5/13	Visiting Professor, Stanford Center for International Development, Stanford University
	8/10-5/12	Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, University of Southern California
7/10-		Professor, Social Science Division, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST)
	9/07-6/08	Visiting Research Scholar, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, and Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
	8/03-7/04	Visiting Scholar, Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University (on sabbatical leave)
7/02-6/10		Associate Professor, Social Science Division, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST)
	8/99-5/00	Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Cornell University
8/95-6/02		Assistant Professor, Social Science Division, HKUST
9/91-5/95		Ph.D., Department of Economics, Cornell University

Earlier working papers and other research

"How can a subset of industry produce more output than all of industry?" 2pp. note on 2006 and 2007 industrial value added. 27 Nov. 08

"The Quantity and Quality of Labor in China 1978-2000-2025." (Manuscript constructing labor data) May 2005. 81pp.

"Financing Constraints and Investment in China's Township and Village Enterprises." e December 1999. Paper.

"China's Bad Loan Problem." 7 April 1999. Paper.

Course outlines

Most recent

SOSC 1440 Introduction to Economics (Fall 2023)

and SOSC 1449 Understanding Our Economy (Fall 2023)

SPI594x Economic Growth and Reform in China (Spring 2023), Master in Public Affairs program, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

SPI512b Macroeconomics Analysis for Policymakers (Spring 2023), Master in Public Affairs program, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

SPI482 The Chinese Economy (Fall 2022), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

SOSC 1440 Introduction to Economics (Spring 2018)

SOSC 4260 China’s Economic Transformation (Spring 2018, Spring 2024)

Earlier (course outlines on the HKUST teaching server are apparently no longer accessible)

SOSC 181 Introduction to China's Economy
http://teaching.ust.hk/~sosc181/

SOSC 260 China's Economy
http://teaching.ust.hk/~sosc260/

SOSC 301B Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
http://teaching.ust.hk/~sosc301b

SOSC 340 International Monetary and Financial Economics

SOSC 359 Money and Banking in China
http://teaching.ust.hk/~sosc359/

Principles of Economics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Introductory Macroeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics (standard textbook courses)

SOSC 341 East Asian Economic Development [course outline of spring 2009]
[syllabus of spring 2008, as taught in the Economics Department at Princeton University]
USC Econ 343 Economics of East Asia

SOSC 511 Social Science Research Methods
http://teaching.ust.hk/~sosc511/

SOSC 515 China's Economic Growth [course outline of spring 1998]

SOSC 534 Quantitative Analysis in the Social Sciences [course outline of spring 2007]

The Chinese Economy [syllabus of spring 2008, as taught in the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University]

SOSC 543 The Chinese Economy [fall 2008]
SOSC 543 / 323 The Chinese Economy [fall 2009]
USC Econ 346 Economics of Transition and Development: China

SOSC 544 Economics of Development [course outline of spring 2010]

How to get to HKUST http://ihome.ust.hk/~socholz/directions.html (Written up around 2000. Minibus 11 from Choi Hong to HKUST now stops at the back gate of HKUST (2014). As of 2022, office allocations have changed with the general office now on the 2^nd floor, Room 2338, and my/Carsten’s office at 2368.)

University homepage http://www.ust.hk -> https://hkust.edu.hk/

Hong Kong model of academia, HKUST matters (webpage discontinued mid 2000s) http://ihome.ust.hk/~socholz/HKUST-SOSC.html

Social Science Division homepage https://sosc.hkust.edu.hk/

My mailing address: Carsten Holz, SOSC, HKUST, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [HK doesn't have zip codes.]

Tel. in Hong Kong (+852): 2358-7835 (office); dept. general office 2358-7811.

Last (partial) update: 13 October 2023 (and I tend to forget to update this date when I update the page)