SPEA students to work with Chinese universities

Students at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs will collaborate with Chinese universities to examine the financing of public infrastructure in China’s \nGuangdong Province.\nThe study allows SPEA public finance students to work alongside three doctoral students from China’s Renmin and Sun Yat-Sen universities. Together they will look at how the Chinese government is using finances to pay for public expenses like highways, buildings and \nwater supplies.\nThe Guangdong Province, located in southeast China, is China’s wealthiest and most populous province. With more than 93 million residents, it’s experiencing rapid economic growth and increased \nurbanization.\nThe escalated growth has caused pressure on the Chinese government to keep up with demands of public infrastructure.\nJohn Mikesell, project director and IU public finance professor, said Chinese government officials are looking for new ways to meet the challenge the rapid growth creates.\n“They’re interested in problems of public finance,” Mikesell said. “Their population growth and their economic growth have outstripped the capacity of public \ninfrastructure.”\nStudents will use the Guangdong Province as a case study to look at how infrastructure financing decisions are made and overseen by different governments.\nThe project lets students take their education in the classroom and apply it to actual international problems, said doctoral student \nJaney Wang.\n“This is a good project to utilize the knowledge taught in SPEA to a real world environment,” \nWang said.\nUsing information on public fees, debt financing and private capital, students will give the report to the Chinese government and recommend future reforms, such as the adoption of a property tax. The study will give the government knowledge needed to answer the challenges caused by rapid growth.\nThe study, made possible by a grant from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a nonprofit organization that sponsors public research, is scheduled for completion this fall.