Shaoda Wang, a scholar at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and assistant professor at the Harris School of Public Policy since 2021, was awarded tenure at the school. He will begin in his new role on July 1.
“Shaoda is a rising star and expands EPIC in exciting and important ways. In his seven years at the University, he has led multiple ground-breaking research projects, investigating the most pressing questions at the intersection of economics, the environment, and policy,” says Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the director of EPIC and the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth. “I join many colleagues across EPIC and the University in saying that I look forward to learning from and collaborating with Shaoda for the foreseeable future.”
In February, Wang was named a 2026 Sloan Research Fellow, one of the most prestigious honors available to early-career scholars in the social sciences and sciences. He is the deputy faculty director at EPIC China, and his research—spanning development economics, environmental economics and political economy—regionally focuses there. A notable strand of his work explores the political economy of environmental regulation. Wang conducted one study in this area that provided one of the first rigorous estimates of the overall costs of environmental regulation in China. Another study found citizen engagement triggers government enforcement and pollution reductions.
“There is no better place to undertake innovative economics research—and especially environmental and energy economics—on a global scale than the University of Chicago,” Wang says. “During my time at the University, I have been constantly inspired by the caliber of our faculty and research community. I look forward to continuing my work at UChicago with my exceptional colleagues at Harris and EPIC.”
In addition to his role at EPIC China, Wang serves as the deputy faculty director of the China branch of the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and an affiliate of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis in Development.
Wang joined the Harris School of Public Policy after completing his undergraduate studies at Peking University, his doctoral training at UC Berkeley, and a postdoctoral fellowship in UChicago’s Department of Economics and EPIC.