I am Assistant Professor of Political Science (tenure-track) at the University of Toronto, jointly appointed by the Department of Political Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs (Asian Institute). I was An Wang Postdoctoral Fellow at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University in 2008-09. My theoretical interests are comparative political economy, politics of development, politics of finance & public finance, fiscal federalism, climate change and environmental politics. My regional interests are primarily China, followed by East and Southeast Asia. My first book project, "Prosper or Perish: The Political Economy of Credit and Fiscal Systems in Rural China" is forthcoming at Cornell University Press. Email: Lynette [dot] Ong at utoronto [dot] ca
Refereed Journal Articles
Between Development and Clientelist States: Explaining Rural Industrialization in China, Comparative Politics (forthcoming, 2012) (2012)
Fiscal Federalism and Soft Budget Constraint: The Case of China, International Political Science Review (2012)
"Greasing the Wheels of Development: Rural Credit in China", Politics and Markets in Rural China, Bjorn Alpermann ed. (2011)
Communist Party and Financial Institutions: Institutional Design of China's Post-Reform Rural Credit Cooperatives, Pacific Affairs (2008)
The Political Economy of Township Government Debt, Township Enterprises, and Rural Financial Institutions in China, China Quarterly (2006)
Unpublished papers
The Apparent 'Paradox' in China's Climate Policies: Weak International Commitment on Emission Reduction and Aggressive Renewable Energy Policy, Article under review at an environmental politics journal. (2010)
The Political Economy of Credit in Rural China: The Rural Credit Cooperatives, Ph.D. Thesis, The Australian National University (2007)
Conference Papers & Presentations
Between Developmental and Clientelist States: Explaining Rural Industrialization in China, Association of Asian Studies (AAS) (2008)
Fiscal Federalism and Soft Budget Constraints: The Case of China, Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) (2006)
The Political Economy of the Rural Credit Cooperatives’ Institutional Design, Association of Asian Studies (AAS) (2006)
The Political Economy of the Rural Credit Cooperatives’ Institutional Design, Association of Chinese Political Science (ACPS) (2006)