Ying Bai is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He earned his Ph.D. degree at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests encompass development economics, economic history, and the political economy of China. He employs cutting-edge statistical techniques and novel datasets to address historical issues of paramount importance in China’s development, such as the causes and consequences of conflict, the impact of the West (especially Protestantism) on modern economic growth, and the political and economic consequences of China’s most important institutions—the imperial civil exam system and the hierarchical administration system. Much of his research has been disseminated in prestigious journals, such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal, the International Economic Review, and the Journal of the European Economic Association. His paper received the 2018 Distinguished CESifo Research Affiliate Award and the 2021 Masahiko Aoki Award. Additionally, in 2018, he was honored with the CUHK Young Researcher Award.