This position has been deemed critical by the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Office and is exempt from the hiring freeze.
Work Arrangement: This is an on-site position, based on the Stanford campus
Budgeted Salary: The expected pay for this position is $32.45 per hour.
The School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) is the foundation of a liberal arts education at Stanford. The school encompasses 24 departments and 25 interdisciplinary programs. H&S is home to fundamental and applied research, where free, open, and critical inquiry is pursued across disciplines. As the university’s largest school, H&S serves as the foundation of a Stanford undergraduate education no matter which discipline students pursue as a major. Graduate students work alongside world-renowned faculty to pursue and shape foundational research that leads to breakthroughs and discoveries that shed new light on the past, influence the present, and shape the future. Together, faculty and students in H&S engage in inspirational teaching, learning, and research every day.
Department/Program Description:
Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS)
Expanding access to novel data sources, the development of powerful computing tools, and innovation in quantitative and qualitative research methods are opening a new frontier for social scientists to explore bold, inventive research questions. In this era of burgeoning social-science research, the Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS) facilitates first-rate interdisciplinary collaborations, trains the next generation of scholars, and incubates medium- to long-term research projects to address critical social challenges. IRiSS ensures that world-class, evidence-based research is produced to meet evolving problems in areas of governance and democracy, economic inequality, immigration policy, and other social issues that affect communities across the globe.
IRiSS Predoctoral Researchers Program
The Predoctoral Researchers Program at the Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS) aims to expand research capacity in the social sciences, and strengthen the pool of scholars, while providing opportunities through mentorship of new research scholars.
The IRiSS Predoctoral Researchers Program provides early-career scholars an opportunity to work directly with a faculty mentor to contribute to cutting-edge social science research. During your predoctoral research, you will develop research skills, explore academic research careers, and network with a multidisciplinary community of scholars. The goal of the program is to enhance your capacity to succeed in careers in academia and social science research. Successful outcomes for Predoctoral Researchers include continuing to competitive graduate programs in the social sciences or impactful careers involving social science skills.
IRiSS offers a welcoming and inclusive environment for scholars from diverse backgrounds.
Brief Position Summary:
The Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS) is seeking Predoctoral Researchers to participate in our 2026-2027 cohort. The Predoctoral Researchers will work under general supervision of individual faculty in one of the following social science departments: communication, economics, political science, psychology, or sociology. Please see the “How to Apply” section below. The complete list of faculty mentors and Predoctoral Researcher projects for 2026-27 can be found on the program’s website.
Predoctoral Researchers are in a staff category allowing them to enroll in one course per year for credit.
This is an 100% FTE 1-year fixed-term non-exempt position, with the possibility of renewal for a second year. The extension is based on renewed funding of the program and individual circumstances of each faculty project. The start date is September 14, 2026.
Project Description:
Jean C. Oi—From Borrower to Venture Capitalist: The Evolution of Local Government Financing Vehicles
For three decades, China's local governments filled their annual fiscal gaps and generated growth their debt financing. The institutional vehicle for this was the specially created local government financing (LGFV) that borrowed on behalf of local governments. Revenues related to land and real estate—land finance became the essential source of revenues of local governments across China that fueled two decades of high speed growth. But this source of local government financing suffered a major blow when the real estate markets collapsed in 2021. Since then localities have tried various strategies to grow out of their huge local government debt burden. One of the most surprising ways that localities are attempting to generate new revenues is to use LGFVs, the same special purpose vehicles used to borrow in the earlier period, to act as venture capitalists.
My project is to understand how LGFVs were able to transform from debtor to venture capitalist. When did this occur and how common this strategy is, i.e., how many localities and where, are able to do this. Moreover, the localities that are most successful in their equity investments, did they diversify from land finance much earlier? If so, when and why? How and where LGFVs are repositioning themselves as equity investors? Where do they have venture capital funds to take stakes in firms, including those far beyond their home jurisdictions?
This project seeks to map that transformation at scale. Beginning from the full population of LGFVs, one can trace ownership through China's business registration records across successive layers of subsidiaries and investment platforms, separating investment funds from them at each step. The procedure identifies LGFV-linked funds, which can then be match to records of tens of thousands of state venture investments spanning nearly two decades.
With these data, the project studies where and why local state capital enters venture capital markets, which regions and industries it targets, how it co-invests with private capital, and what this shift implies for capital allocation, industrial policy, and the fiscal foundations of local government in China.
What You Will Learn
The predoctoral researcher will work with large-scale registry and firm-level data, contributing to data construction, entity classification, and empirical analysis.
It is essential that the candidate have a good understanding of China’s political economy, especially knowledge of the earlier role of LGFVs, as well as good methodological skills, including handling large data sets. The predoc should have strong quantitative skills, including experience working with large datasets in Python and R. Familiarity with data cleaning, ownership-chain tracing, statistical analysis, and reproducible workflows is highly desirable. Experience with Chinese corporate registry data, financial statements, commercial databases such as WIND and QCC, and LLM-assisted data extraction would be especially useful. The predoc should be comfortable combining substantive knowledge of China’s political economy with empirical data construction. The predoc will use the collected data on LGFVs to trace the ownership records and LGFV-linked funds to trace state venture investments.
Application Deadline: July 27, 2026
Core Duties:
- Participating in the planning and performing/conducting research tasks by applying basic knowledge and understanding of scientific theory using precedents or other published guidelines and knowledge of theory and methods when specific precedents do not exist. General instruction provided by the supervisor or principal investigator. May interpret study results in collaboration with supervisor or PI.
- Participate in the development and administration of survey instruments and rating scales requiring judgment in applying non-routine procedures or methods. Analyze and summarize results for review with supervisor. Audit the accuracy and validity of data
- Review and audit case report forms for completion and accuracy with source documents and ensure compliance with research protocols.
- Identify, select, extract and summarize data and structured information. Present summary of findings to supervisor.
- Conduct literature searches, and write literature summaries and manuscripts, requiring preliminary judgments after the supervisor outlines conceptual approach.
- Build and organize data as requested by principal investigator or supervisor; use common statistical programs requiring the application of job control language in generating and organizing data.
- Adapt new, nonstandard methods outlined by supervisor in designing and evaluating phases of research projects, (i.e., educational materials, questionnaires, strategies for recruitment, data quality control procedures and processes). May follow up with to ensure approvals and completion, seeking guidance where necessary.
- Assist with development, communication and design of research findings to internal and external audiences, which may include web updates, social media, and/or white papers, for use in recruitment, educational, or awareness of programs, with guidance from supervisor.
Minimum Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in an applicable life science, social science, physical science or similar specific discipline
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- General understanding of scientific theory and methods, typically gained through completion of an undergraduate degree in a related field.
- General computer skills and ability to quickly learn and master computer programs.
- Ability to work under deadlines with general guidance.
- Excellent organizational skills and demonstrated ability to complete detailed work accurately.
- Effective oral and written communication skills.
- Ability to work with study participants.