Victor Shih is the Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations and associate professor of political science, as well as director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. He is the author of Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation (Cambridge University Press, 2008). It is the first book to explore the linkages between elite politics and banking policies in China. His second book, Economic Shocks and Authoritarian Stability, will be published by the University of Michigan Press. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including the American Political Science Review, China Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Politics, Wall Street Journal, and China Business Review, and he is a frequent adviser to the financial community. Dr. Shih holds a B.A. from the George Washington University and a doctorate in government from Harvard University. He also was a former principal at the Carlyle Group in the global market group. His current research concerns coalition composition under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Specifically, the research inquires whether Mao and Deng strategically promoted certain types of officials into senior positions in the military and in the party in order to safeguard their power. Dr. Shih also has ongoing research projects on quantitative measurements of factions and the impact of factions on elite promotions, rent-seeking activities, and the growth of the private sector. He is also researching the footprints of Chinese defense firms around the world.
