John A. Donaldson, associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University, is the author of Small Works: Poverty and Economic Development in Southwestern China (Cornell University Press, 2011). His research focuses on seeking effective solutions to rural poverty reduction around the world, local rural poverty reduction policies in China, the transformation of China’s agrarian system, and central-provincial relations. Recently, he has extended his research on China’s rural transformation by comparing it with that of India. His research has been published in such journals as World Development, International Studies Quarterly, Politics and Society, China Journal, China Quarterly and Journal of Contemporary China. John has served as a faculty member at SMU since graduating in 2005 from George Washington University in Washington DC.