Prof. Zhiqiang Liu
Prof. Zhiqiang Liu joined HUST in 1992 and left in 1999. He has been a faculty member of the Department of Economics, State University of New York at Buffalo, since 2000. He is also special-term Professor and Deputy Director of the China Center for Human Capital and Labor Market Research at Central University of Finance and Economics. His research interests include growth and development, economics of crime, and the Chinese economy.
Most of his researches focus on the Chinese economy dealing with issues such as returns to and investment in human capital, external effects of human capital, the role of institutions in economic growth and income distribution, and foreign direct investment as a conduit for technology transfer. He has published in Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Political Economy, and Journal of Urban Economics, among others. His co-edited book, “Economics of Crime” was published by Edward Elgar Publishing in 2006. He is currently on the editorial board of China Economic Review.
Zhiqiang has many fond memories of HKUST. A group of students in his econometric class constructed and estimated a model of horse racing that had amazing predicting power. He learned quite a bit from those students about horse racing – for example, blinkers are functional, contrary to his previous uneducated guess that horses wear blinkers to look cool! He regrets for not taking up on an invitation from the group to test out the model at Happy Valley. Zhiqiang enjoyed having lunch with colleagues at LG5 cafeteria where they chatted about anything and everything, sometimes seriously but mostly for fun. His favorite lunch then was triple-delights with rice and chicken feet peanut soup. He thought that the million-dollar sea view compensated more than enough for whatever blemishes a twenty-dollar meal might have. The office staff were all wonderful and helpful.
Zhiqiang and his family live in East Amherst, New Yorkâonly a short drive away from the magnificent Niagara Falls. He plays tennis regularly at a local club. His wife works at Citigroup and his daughter is on her way to earning a professional doctor degree in pharmacy. They immerse in their hobbies outside work and study.