Portrait of Yi Feng

Yi Feng is the Luther Lee Jr. Memorial Chair Professor at Claremont Graduate University. He has additionally served as provost and vice president for academic affairs (2006-2011), as dean of the Division of Politics & Economics (2003-2006), and was the founding chair of the Department of International Studies (2016-2020). His areas of concentration are international political economy, public policy analysis, and quantitative methodology. He has taught a wide variety of courses, including International Political Economy, International Relations, Political Economy of Regional Integration and Globalization, Public Policy Research, Political Economy of Pacific Asia, Quantitative Research Methods, and Computer Applications for Data Analysis.

Following his undergraduate and graduate work in China with an MA degree in English, Feng obtained several graduate degrees from the University of Rochester, New York, including an MA and PhD in political science, followed by an MS in public policy analysis. Since then, he has served in many professional appointments, including as the general program chair for the International Studies Association Annual Conference (Hawaii, 2004-2005) and as editor of International Interactions, a premier journal in international studies (2001-2005).

Feng has published extensively on such topics as economic growth, investment, human capital, international trade, demographic transition, and political regime transitions in various economics and political science peer-reviewed journals. His works on regional development deal with political and economic issues in Latin America, Pacific Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also published on China’s financial markets, labor and human capital, economic growth, state enterprises, foreign direct investment, and trade policy. His book Democracy, Governance and Economic Performance: Theory and Evidence (MIT, 2003, 2005) earned the following review from Eirik G. Furubotn: “notable for its broad scope, its thorough grounding in empirical evidence and for the insights it offers into complex social processes. This is interdisciplinary research at its best.”

His current research interests include global power shifts, globalization, and regional political, economic, and business development. He has also been continuing his research on China and other major emerging powers.

Office Location
McManus 222

“Do Economic Relations with China Affect Income Distribution and Poverty Levels in Latin America?  An Empirical Analysis of Sixteen Latin American Countries.” Asian Journal of Economics and Finance (2025) Forthcoming (with Miriam Xochitl Sierra Aguilar).

“How Would Legal Systems Affect US and Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Africa? An Exploration of the Roles of Origins, Customary Law, and Legal Integration” Chinese Economy Journal, Vol 17 (2024) (with Zhijun Gao and Wanjun Jiang).

China and World Politics in Transition: How China Transforms World Political Order. Ed. Fulvio Afina and Yi Feng. Springer, 2023.

“Economic Relations and Public Image of China in Latin America:  A Cross-Country Time-Series Analysis.” Economic and Political Studies Volume 10 (2022), No. 2: 181-207 (with Qingjie Bob Zeng).

“Do the ‘Dragon’s Gifts’ Improve China’s National Image? An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Relations and Public Perceptions of China in Africa”Journal of Chinese Political Studies, 2022 (with Jingjing An)

“Does Foreign Aid Stimulate Economic Growth in Developing Countries? Further Evidence in Both Aggregate and Disaggregated Samples.” Quality & Quantity (April 2021) (with Muhammad Azam) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01143-5

“Friction, Competition, or Cooperation? Menu of Choice for the United States and China – A Power Transition Perspective.” In World Order Transition and the Atlantic Area, Ed. Fulvio Attina, pp. 39-66.  Springer, 2021.

SPE410 Political Economy of International Development
SPE411 International Political Economy
ECON370 World Economy: Trade and Finance
SPE313 Microeconomics and Public Policy