The paper titled "Economic Shocks on the Selection of Bureaucrats in a Meritocracy: Evidence from a Trade Regulation in China", co-authored by Professor Sun Shengmin from the School of Economics, Renmin University of China (corresponding author) and Cai Yang, associate research fellow at the Department of Economics, Business School of Nanjing University (first author), has been officially accepted for publication in the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization (JLEO).

Abstract of the paper:

By examining an international trade regulation in 1757 of China, this study examines how economic shocks influence the selection of bureaucrats in the context of the world's earliest political meritocracy. Using a unique county-level dataset, it shows that areas with greater exposure to the trade-induced economic shock experienced a larger decline in the number of selected bureaucrats. Suggestive evidence indicates that the regulation-induced economic decline makes it harder for potential candidates to afford the costs of taking civil service exams. The results highlight the role of economic shocks in a meritocracy that aims to select talented bureaucrats.

About the authors:

Sun Shengmin

Sun Shengmin is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Economics, RUC. He holds a PhD in Economics and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in History. Sun has been a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics and a visiting professor at the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University. His research interests cover economic history, institutional economics, development economics and economic philosophy. His academic works have appeared in leading international journals including Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Cliometrica, and Economics of Transition, among others.

Cai Yang

Cai Yang is an associate research fellow at the Department of Economics, Business School of Nanjing University. He obtained his PhD in Economic History from the School of Economics, RUC. His research focuses on economic history and quantitative history, and his papers have been published in prestigious international journals such as European Economic Review, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Empirical Finance and Researches in Chinese Economic History.