Guojun He
Prof. Guojun He
經濟學
管理及商業策略
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
活躍中國碳市場的加減除法

碳排放權交易市場(以下簡稱「碳市場」)旨在利用市場機制,控制和減少溫室氣體排放,是實現「碳達峰、碳中和」目標(以下簡稱「雙碳目標」)的重要舉措。截至2023年7月16日,中國的全國碳排放權交易市場上線運行已滿兩周年,累計交易額超過110億元人民幣,碳排放配額累計成交量達2.399億噸。

活躍中國碳市場的加減除法

碳排放權交易市場(以下簡稱「碳市場」)旨在利用市場機制,控制和減少溫室氣體排放,是實現「碳達峰、碳中和」目標(以下簡稱「雙碳目標」)的重要舉措。截至2023年7月16日,中國的全國碳排放權交易市場上線運行已滿兩周年,累計交易額超過110億元人民幣,碳排放配額累計成交量達2.399億噸。

港大發現如外賣平台預設不提供餐具  每年可減少217億餐具消耗

國際知名學術期刊《科學》近期以封面論文形式刊發了題為《綠色助推減少即棄餐具:來自中國外賣行業的證據》的研究,主要探討綠色助推如何有效增加「不需餐具」訂單的份額。該研究的第一及通訊作者、港大經管學院經濟學及管理與商業策略副教授何國俊表示,是次研究利用在中國收集的數據,發現綠色助推可以顯著減少外賣產生的塑料廢物。

讓阿諛者無用「諛」之地

漢朝宗室大臣兼文學家劉向在《說苑.臣術》篇中將人臣分為十二種類型,六為正,六為邪,其中「諛」便是「六邪」之一。篇中將其描述為「主所言皆曰善,主所為皆曰可,隱而求主之所好而進之,以快主之耳目,偷合茍容,與主為樂,不顧其後害,如此者,諛臣也」,意指那些認為君主說的話都是好的、君主的行為都是對的,只會投其所好、阿諛奉承,助長君主的逸樂而不顧嚴重後果的馬屁精。

讓阿諛者無用「諛」之地

漢朝宗室大臣兼文學家劉向在《說苑.臣術》篇中將人臣分為十二種類型,六為正,六為邪,其中「諛」便是「六邪」之一。篇中將其描述為「主所言皆曰善,主所為皆曰可,隱而求主之所好而進之,以快主之耳目,偷合茍容,與主為樂,不顧其後害,如此者,諛臣也」,意指那些認為君主說的話都是好的、君主的行為都是對的,只會投其所好、阿諛奉承,助長君主的逸樂而不顧嚴重後果的馬屁精。

電價大幅上漲的健康成本

能源和電價顯著上漲,除了影響民生之外,還會產生什麼其他重要的影響?

電價大幅上漲的健康成本

能源和電價顯著上漲,除了影響民生之外,還會產生什麼其他重要的影響?

應對氣候變化不能靠抑制電力需求

氣候變化威脅地球食水供應、減少農業生產、危及沿海地區、損害人類健康,並使生態系統惡化。極端天氣造成的過度死亡,更被認為是一大災難性後果。據2017年發表於《科學》(Science)期刊的一篇文章估計,到二十一世紀末,極端氣候帶來的超額死亡成本可能佔美國氣候災難損失總額約70%之多。

應對氣候變化不能靠抑制電力需求

氣候變化威脅地球食水供應、減少農業生產、危及沿海地區、損害人類健康,並使生態系統惡化。極端天氣造成的過度死亡,更被認為是一大災難性後果。據2017年發表於《科學》(Science)期刊的一篇文章估計,到二十一世紀末,極端氣候帶來的超額死亡成本可能佔美國氣候災難損失總額約70%之多。

大灣區抗疫

新冠疫情肆虐,一波未平一波又起,在大灣區,深圳封城抗疫初見成效,廣州又開始爆發新一輪疫情,面對相對嚴格的抗疫政策,當地居民是如何適應?