疆臣天下：清代中国的地域纽带与国家能力 | 香港中文大学（深圳）经管学院

标题	疆臣天下：清代中国的地域纽带与国家能力
日期和时间	2025年10月17日（周五） 10:30-12:00
地点	综合教学楼D904会议室
主讲人	席天扬教授北京大学
摘要	How do centralized states address local demands across vast territories? We argue that regional ties to senior officials enhanced state capacity in crisis response by smoothing information transmission between subnational and central authorities. Linking biographical records of Qing officials (1644–1911) with prefecture-level data on weather shocks and disaster relief, we show that prefectures connected to incumbent officials were more likely to receive famine relief. The effect was strongest for provincial officials and was amplified when reciprocal ties arose through service in each other’s native provinces. Using large language models and machine learning methods to analyze confidential memorials to the throne, we further show that disasters in connected regions were reported more frequently and elicited favorable imperial responses. These findings demonstrate how embedded regional ties improved policy responsiveness, shedding light on the role of informal networks in centralized bureaucracies.
主讲人简介	席天扬现任北京大学国家发展研究院副教授。其研究兴趣集中于发展与制度的政治经济学，重点探讨国家形成与国家能力、官僚政治与区域发展，以及腐败等议题。其学术论文已发表于 Journal of Politics、British Journal of Political Science、Comparative Political Studies、Journal of Development Economics 和 Journal of Comparative Economics 等期刊。在加入北京大学之前，他于纽约大学获得政治学博士学位。