Research Areas
Zhong Ninghua emphasizes a real-world problem-oriented approach in his academic research—focusing on several unique structural imbalance issues in China's macroeconomy, including the high macro-level debt ratio coupled with financing difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the low proportion of household consumption in GDP, and urban-rural income disparities. His main research areas include:
- Corporate Debt Issues in China and Bank Credit Allocation
- Local Government Debt and Related Bond Pricing Problems in China
- Regulatory Frameworks and Micro-Market Structures of China's Securities Market
- Analysis of the Low Proportion of Household Consumption in China's GDP
- Structural Issues in China's Labor Market (Including the Impact of Trade Unions, Corporate Governance, and Financial Markets)
- Urban-Rural Income Disparities and Rural Industrial Development
- Issues Related to Purchasing Power Parity (Early Research)
- Political Economy Issues
Publications
English Publications
Zhong Ninghua has published English papers in internationally renowned SSCI journals in economics and management, including Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Labor Economics, Public Administration, Journal of Comparative Economics, World Development, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Housing Economics, among others.
- “Unions and Workers’ Welfare in Chinese Firms” (I am the corresponding author) with Yang Yao, Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 31, no. 3 (2013):633-667.
- “How Urban Segregation Distorts Chinese Migrants’ Consumption” (I am the corresponding author) with Ming Lu and Binkai Chen, World Development, Vol. 70, page 133-146, June., 2015.
- “Corporate Governance of Chinese Privatized Firms,” (Single author) Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 43, page 1101-1121, Nov., 2015.
- “Does Corporate Governance Enhance Common Interests of Shareholders and Primary Stakeholders?” (I am the first author) with Shujing Wang and Rudai Yang, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 141, page 411-431, Mar., 2017.
- “The demand effect of yield-chasing retail investors: Evidence from the Chinese enterprise bond market”, (I am the corresponding author) with Clark Liu, Shujing Wang and K.C. John Wei, Journal of Empirical Finance, Vol. 50, page 57-77, Jan., 2019.
- “Housing demand and household saving rates in China: Evidence from a housing reform”, (I am the co-corresponding author) with Binkai Chen and Xi Yang, Journal of Housing Economics, Vol. 49, Sep., 2020.
- “Housing Wealth as Precautionary Saving: Evidence from Urban China”, (I am the co-corresponding author) with Gary Painter and Xi Yang, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 2022, 57(2):761-789.
- “Political opportunism and transaction costs in contractual choice of public–private partnerships”, with Wei Xiong, Feng Wang, Muyang Zhang and Bin Chen, Public Administration, 2022, 100(4), 1125-1144.
- “Indirect effects of trading restrictions”, (I am the corresponding author) with Shujing Wang, Hongjun Yan and Yizhou Tang, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 86, June., 2024.
- “Political uncertainty, bank loans, and corporate behavior: New investigation with machine learning”, with Yilei Qian, Feng Wang, and Muyang Zhang, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Vol. 87, October., 2024.
Chinese Publications
He has published 7 papers in Economic Research Journal (经济研究, top Chinese-language economic journal), of which 2 were independently completed; 3 papers in Management World(管理世界, top Chinese-language management journal) and Journal of Management Sciences in China (管理科学学报, top Chinese-language management science journal); 4 papers in Journal of Financial Research (金融研究, top Chinese-language finance journal); and other papers in journals such as China Industrial Economics, China Economic Quarterly, China Soft Science Magazine, among others.
Other publications include articles in the most influential magazines and websites in China, including the Jiefang Daily (解放日报),the Wenhui Daily(文汇报), the Wall Street Journal (华尔街日报中文版), the Global Times, the China Daily, the Oriental Outlook (瞭望东方周刊), the China Social Science Newspaper (中国社会科学报), XinhuaNet.com (新华网), People.com (人民网), among others.
According to China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) statistics, his papers have been cited over 3,800 times (with a single paper cited up to 852 times). Google Scholar reports that his English papers have been cited over 500 times (with a single paper cited 216 times).
Funded Projects
- November 2019: As the chief expert, his major project "Research on the Goals, Difficulties, and Implementation Paths of Local Debt Risk Management and Control under the New Situation" was approved by the National Social Science Foundation.
- Starting from 2020: Hosts a General Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Number: 71973101).
- 2015 to 2017: Hosted a Youth Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Number: 71402123).
- Participated as a sub-project leader in two major projects of the National Social Science Foundation (Project Numbers: 09ZD&020 and 15ZDA027).
- Hosted an interdisciplinary project in humanities and social sciences at Tongji University.
- June 2020: Undertook a key commissioned project "Poverty Governance and Comprehensive Well-off Society" by the Publicity Department of the Party Committee of Tongji University and the Tongji University Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.
Academic Review and Editorial Roles
Ad hoc referee for the following journals:
- Journal of Labor Economics
- Review of Finance
- Organization Studies
- International Review of Finance
- Industrial Relations
- Urban Studies
- Human Relations
- ILR Review
- International Journal of Manpower
- China & World Economy
- Emerging Markets Finance and Trade
- China Finance Review International
- Economic Research Journal (经济研究)
- Management World (管理世界)
- China Economic Quarterly (经济学季刊)
- Journal of Management Sciences in China (管理科学学报)
- Journal of Financial Research (金融研究)
- The World Economy (世界经济)
- China Industrial Economics (中国工业经济)
- Economic Perspectives (经济学动态)
- Economic Science (经济科学)
- World Economy Digest (世界经济文汇)
- Journal of Finance and Economics (财经研究)
Currently, he is a member of the 8th Editorial Board of the Journal of Tongji University (Natural Science Edition) (同济大学学报自然科学版), an editorial board member of Financial Science (金融科学), and a section editor for the journal China Finance Review International.
Since 2015, upon invitation from the Management Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), he has served as an NSFC reviewer. Since 2016, he has been an evaluation expert for the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program. Since 2017, he has served as a reviewer for projects under the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Planning. Since 2018, he has been an expert reviewer for the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC). Since 2019, he has reviewed translation projects of the NSSFC. Since 2020, as an expert in the evaluation of NSSFC project outcomes, he has participated in reviews and evaluations of major projects. Additionally, he serves as an evaluation expert for the "University Consumption Assistance Typical Case Selection", a correspondence reviewer for doctoral dissertations at the Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education, an anonymous review expert for the SAIC Education Foundation's "Publication Support Projects" and "Award Projects", and an evaluation expert for national financial professional degree case studies. He also periodically reviews application materials for senior positions at other universities.
High-Level Talent Programs
- End of 2021: Selected as a Changjiang Scholars Distinguished Professor by the Ministry of Education.
- September 2017: Selected as a Young Top-notch Talent in the third batch of the national "Ten Thousand Talents Program" implemented by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC (one of only four recipients nationwide in Applied Economics). Selected into Tongji University's "Young 100 Talents Program" (Position A) and began hosting a related project.
- March 2018: Received the 16th Young Teachers Fund for Higher Education Institutions from the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation of the Ministry of Education (one of only five recipients nationwide in the field of economics).
- 2016: Honored as a "New Talent in Social Sciences" in Shanghai. Selected as a Shanghai Dawn Scholar.
- 2014: Selected as a Shanghai Pujiang Talent.
Research Awards
In August 2015, Zhong Ninghua received the highest honor in China's economics field—the 16th Sun Yefang Economic Science Award (with only four award-winning papers that year), becoming one of the youngest recipients in the award's history.
His independently authored research papers have also won:
- Second Prize in the 7th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions from the Ministry of Education (the highest national award in humanities and social sciences in China)
- The Paper Award in the 6th "China Rural Development Research Award" (also known as the "Du Runsheng Award", with seven papers awarded that year)
- Second Prize in the 12th Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Awards
- A Nomination for the First "Masahiko Aoki Economics Paper Award"
- Second Prize in the paper category of the 10th "Mao Li Xiang Family Business Research Achievement Award"
- Best Paper on Chinese Capital Markets from the Chinese Finance Association (TCFA) in 2009 (with six papers awarded that year)
- Second Prize in the Ph.D. Student Forum at the China International Conference in Finance (CICF)
His co-authored papers have received:
- Second Prize in the 8th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions from the Ministry of Education (the highest national award in humanities and social sciences in China)
- Youth Achievement Award in the 9th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions from the Ministry of Education (the highest national award in humanities and social sciences in China)
- First Prize in the 16th Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Awards
- First Prize in the 14th Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Awards
- Second Prize in the 15th Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Awards
- Selected as one of the "Top Ten Recommended Papers" by the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations in 2016
- Third Prize in the 11th Guangdong Province Outstanding Financial Research Achievement Awards
- Outstanding Paper Award at the 2nd "Journal of Financial Research" Forum
- Included in the Top 10 Best Chinese Papers in International Investment in 2019 (selected by the World Economy Yearbook)
- Outstanding Paper in the 8th "China Industrial Economics"
- The Second China Consumer Economics Outstanding Achievement Award from the China Consumer Economics Society (with five papers awarded that year)
- Outstanding Paper Award in the first ten sessions (2001–2010) of the "China Young Economists Forum" (the ten best papers from the first ten sessions)
- The sole "Emerald Best Paper Award" at both the 8th and 4th International Conferences on China Financial Research hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- The Third Qian Xuesen Urban Studies Excellence Award, among others
