Prof Ran Tao is the Director of China Center for Public Economics and Governance at Renmin University in Beijing. A specialist in the Chinese economy, he has published on the political economy of China’s economic transition, land and household registration reform in China’s urbanization, local governance and public finance in rural China. His research has appeared most recently in the Journal of Comparative Economics, the Journal of Development Studies, Land Economics, Urban Studies, Political Studies, China Quarterly and Land Use Policy. He is also a nonresident senior fellow and professor of the School of Economics of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy, where his research focuses on topics related to China’s ongoing economic transition.