Guojun He
Prof. Guojun He
经济学
管理及商业策略
Professor in Economics
Associate Director, Institute of China Economy

3917 7729

KK 903

Academic & Professional Qualification
  • Ph.D. UC Berkeley
  • B.A. Peking University
Biography

Guojun HE is an economist working on environmental, development, and governance issues. Currently, he is a professor in Economics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He serves as the director of HKU’s ESG Research Institute and the associate director of HKU’s Institute of China Economy. He holds a concurrent appointment at the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago (EPIC) and leads research activities of its China center (EPIC-China).

HE’s research tries to address some of the most challenging problems faced by developing countries and seeks to produce empirically grounded estimates for optimal policy design. The majority of his work focuses on understanding the benefits and costs of environmental policies, while he also has a broader research interest in development and governance issues.

He has won multiple academic awards, including the Zhang Pei-Gang Award for Outstanding Achievement in Development Economics (the highest award in China for development economics research) and the Gregory Chow Best Paper Award from the Chinese Economists Society. In addition, He is also a Fellow of the Asian Bureau of Financial Economic Research, an external research affiliate of the Institute of Sustainable and Green Finance at the National University of Singapore, a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago, and a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, CICC Research Institute and other institutions.

Teaching
  • Environmental Economics
  • Applied Econometrics (Causal Inference)
Selected Publications
  • Mark Buntaine, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He, Shaoda Wang, Mengdi Liu, and Bing Zhang, “Does the Squeaky Wheel Get More Grease? Citizen Participation, Social Media, and Environmental Governance in China,” American Economic Review, forthcoming.
  • He, Guojun, Jeffrey T. LaFrance, Jeffrey M. Perloff, and Richard Volpe, “How Do Everyday-Low-Price Supermarkets Adjust Their Prices?” Review of Industrial Organization, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11151-023-09922-0.
  • He, Guojun, Yuhang Pan, Albert Park, Yasuyuku Sawada, and Elaine S. Tan. “Reducing Single-Use Cutlery with Green Nudges: Evidence from China’s Food Delivery Industry,” Science, 8 Sep 2023, Vol 381, Issue 6662.
  • He, Guojun and Takanao Tanaka. “Energy Saving May Kill: Evidence from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2023, 15(2): 377-414.
  • de Janvry, Alain, Guojun He, Elisabeth Sadoulet, Shaoda Wang, and Qiong Zhang. “Subjective Performance Evaluation, Influence Activities, and Bureaucratic Work Behavior: Evidence from China,” American Economic Review, 2023, 113(3): 766-99.
  • Fan, Maoyong and Guojun He. “Clean Water and Infant Health: Evidence from Piped Water Provision in China,” Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2023 10(1), 159-193.
  • He, Guojun and Wenwei Peng. “Guns and Roses: Police Complicity in Organized Prostitution,” Journal of Public Economics, 2022, 207: 104599.
  • Greenstone, Michael, Guojun He, Ruixue Jia, and Tong Liu. “Can Technology Solve the Principal-Agent Problem? Evidence from China’s War on Air Pollution,” ​​American Economic Review: Insights, 2022, 4(1): 54-70.
  • Greenstone, Michael, Guojun He, Shanjun Li, and Eric Yongchen Zou​. “​China’s War on Pollution: Evidence from the First 5 Years,” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2021, 15(2): 281-299.
  • Qi, Jinlei, Dandan Zhang, Xiang Zhang, Tanakao Takana, Yuhang Pan, Peng Yin, Jiangmei Liu, Shuocen Liu, George F. Gao, Guojun He, and Maigeng Zhou, “Short and Medium-Term Impacts of Strict Anti-Contagion Policies on Non-COVID-19 Mortality in China,” Nature Human Behaviour, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01189-3.
  • He, Guojun, Shaoda Wang and Bing Zhang. “Watering Down Environmental Regulation in China,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2020, 135(4): 2135-2185.
  • He, Guojun, Yuhang Pan, and Takanao Tanaka. “The Short-term Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown on Urban Air Pollution in China,” Nature Sustainability, 2020, 3: 1005-1011.
  • He, Guojun, Yang Xie, and Bing Zhang. “Expressways, GDP, and the Environment: The Case of China,” Journal of Development Economics, 2020, 145: 102485.
  • He, Guojun, Tong Liu, and Maigeng Zhou. “Straw Burning, PM2.5 and Death: Evidence from China,” Journal of Development Economics, 2020, 145: 102468.
  • He, Guojun, Maoyong Fan, and Maigeng Zhou. “The Winter Choke: Coal-Fired Heating, Air Pollution, and Mortality in China,” Journal of Health Economics, 2020, 71: 102316.
  • Cheung, Chun Wai, Guojun He, and Yuhang Pan. “Mitigating the Air Pollution Effect? The Remarkable Decline in the Pollution-Mortality Relationship in Hong Kong,” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2020, 101: 102316.
  • He, Guojun and Shaoda Wang. “Do College Graduates Serving as Village Officials Help Rural China?” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2017, 9(4): 186-215.
  • Ebenstein, Avraham, Maoyong Fan, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He and Maigeng Zhou. “New Evidence on the Impact of Sustained Exposure to Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China’s Huai River Policy,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017, 114(39): 10384-10389.
  • He, Guojun, Maoyong Fan, and Maigeng Zhou. “The Effect of Air Pollution on Mortality in China: Evidence from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2016, 79: 18-39. ​
  • He, Guojun and Jeffrey M. Perloff. “Surface Water Quality and Infant Mortality in China,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2016, 65(1): 119-139.
  • Ebenstein, Avraham, Maoyong Fan, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He, Peng Yin, and Maigeng Zhou. “Growth, Pollution, and Life Expectancy: China from 1991-2012,” American Economic Review (P&P), 2015, 105(5): 226-231.
Recent Publications
活跃中国碳市场的加减除法

碳排放权交易市场(以下简称「碳市场」)旨在利用市场机制,控制和减少温室气体排放,是实现「碳达峰、碳中和」目标(以下简称「双碳目标」)的重要举措。截至2023年7月16日,中国的全国碳排放权交易市场上线运行已满两周年,累计交易额超过110亿元人民币,碳排放配额累计成交量达2.399亿吨。

活跃中国碳市场的加减除法

碳排放权交易市场(以下简称「碳市场」)旨在利用市场机制,控制和减少温室气体排放,是实现「碳达峰、碳中和」目标(以下简称「双碳目标」)的重要举措。截至2023年7月16日,中国的全国碳排放权交易市场上线运行已满两周年,累计交易额超过110亿元人民币,碳排放配额累计成交量达2.399亿吨。

港大发现如外卖平台预设不提供餐具  每年可减少217亿餐具消耗

国际知名学术期刊《科学》近期以封面论文形式刊发了题为《绿色助推减少即弃餐具:来自中国外卖行业的证据》的研究,主要探讨绿色助推如何有效增加「不需餐具」订单的份额。该研究的第一及通讯作者、港大经管学院经济学及管理与商业策略副教授何国俊表示,是次研究利用在中国收集的数据,发现绿色助推可以显著减少外卖产生的塑料废物。

让阿谀者无用「谀」之地

汉朝宗室大臣兼文学家刘向在《说苑.臣术》篇中将人臣分为十二种类型,六为正,六为邪,其中「谀」便是「六邪」之一。篇中将其描述为「主所言皆曰善,主所为皆曰可,隐而求主之所好而进之,以快主之耳目,偷合苟容,与主为乐,不顾其后害,如此者,谀臣也」,意指那些认为君主说的话都是好的、君主的行为都是对的,只会投其所好、阿谀奉承,助长君主的逸乐而不顾严重后果的马屁精。

让阿谀者无用「谀」之地

汉朝宗室大臣兼文学家刘向在《说苑.臣术》篇中将人臣分为十二种类型,六为正,六为邪,其中「谀」便是「六邪」之一。篇中将其描述为「主所言皆曰善,主所为皆曰可,隐而求主之所好而进之,以快主之耳目,偷合苟容,与主为乐,不顾其后害,如此者,谀臣也」,意指那些认为君主说的话都是好的、君主的行为都是对的,只会投其所好、阿谀奉承,助长君主的逸乐而不顾严重后果的马屁精。

电价大幅上涨的健康成本

能源和电价显著上涨,除了影响民生之外,还会产生什么其他重要的影响?

电价大幅上涨的健康成本

能源和电价显著上涨,除了影响民生之外,还会产生什么其他重要的影响?

应对气候变化不能靠抑制电力需求

气候变化威胁地球食水供应、减少农业生产、危及沿海地区、损害人类健康,并使生态系统恶化。极端天气造成的过度死亡,更被认为是一大灾难性后果。据2017年发表于《科学》(Science)期刊的一篇文章估计,到二十一世纪末,极端气候带来的超额死亡成本可能占美国气候灾难损失总额约70%之多。

应对气候变化不能靠抑制电力需求

气候变化威胁地球食水供应、减少农业生产、危及沿海地区、损害人类健康,并使生态系统恶化。极端天气造成的过度死亡,更被认为是一大灾难性后果。据2017年发表于《科学》(Science)期刊的一篇文章估计,到二十一世纪末,极端气候带来的超额死亡成本可能占美国气候灾难损失总额约70%之多。

大湾区抗疫

新冠疫情肆虐,一波未平一波又起,在大湾区,深圳封城抗疫初见成效,广州又开始爆发新一轮疫情,面对相对严格的抗疫政策,当地居民是如何适应?