Yan Li

Yan Li is a Boya Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Government, Peking University. Her research lies at the intersection of political economy and public administration, with a particular focus on information asymmetries in government, local debt governance, and state strategies of soft power. Her doctoral dissertation, Fake it Until You Make it, examined how local governments in China manipulate economic statistics to stimulate growth, contributing to broader debates on fiscal incentives and administrative behavior in non-democratic systems.

Li received her Ph.D. in Government and Public Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022. She also holds dual B.A. degrees in International Politics and English Language and Literature from Shanghai International Studies University, and an M.A. in International Politics from Peking University.

During her visit, she will continue her work on the asymmetric information and carry out a project that reconceptualizes soft power through a behavioral lens, focusing on how cultural and political resources are transmitted and translated into measurable influence across national boundaries.