Guo Xu
Assistant Professor | Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, UNITED STATES
Areas of Expertise (7)
Personnel Economics of the State
Development Economics
Organizational Economics
Labor Economics
Political Economy
Economic History
International Development
About
Guo Xu is an assistant professor at Berkeley Haas. His research focuses on the selection, recruitment, and allocation of talent in private and public sector organizations. He earned a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics.
Education (4)
London School of Economics: PhD, Economics 2017
London School of Economics: MSc, Economics 2012
London School of Economics: MSc, Development Studies 2010
Humboldt-Universität Berlin: BSc, Economics 2009
Links (3)
Honors & Awards (4)
LSE Class Teacher Award
2017
Royal Economic Society Junior Fellowship
2016
LSE Class Teacher Award
2014
Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Fellowship
2007
Selected External Service & Affiliations (2)
- Referee for: Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic History, Economica
- Consultant for: Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Bank of England
Positions Held (1)
At Haas since 2017
2017 – present, Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business
Media Appearances (3)
Why the 'Deep State' Doesn't Exist in the Civil Service
Government Executive online
2021-04-27
Assist. Prof Guo Xu looked at the connection between politics and public employees and the ways ideology does or doesn’t affect civil servants' job performance. For political appointees, “we do see very large partisan cycles” as administrations changes, Xu said. But it’s not true for career civil servants. “This is a much more stable pattern,” he said.
The British Raj’s Spanish flu response has a lesson for India’s Covid-19 battle
Quartz India online
2020-09-01
During the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, Indian districts under the control of Indian officers saw up to 15% fewer deaths than those under the control of British officers, according to new research by Asst. Prof. Guo Xu. One reason may have been that the Indian officers increased their spending by twice as much as the British officers during the second wave of the epidemic, Xu found. The research shows how how bureaucratic representation can make a state more responsive during crises.
Nearly 200 New Profs At Top B-Schools
Poets & Quants online
2017-10-03
"This fall Harmeling brings her passion to another part of the world, the West Coast of the United States, joining the USC Marshall School of Business faculty as a visiting professor. She’s one of almost 200 new professors at top U.S. B-schools this year, and one of dozens who bring decades’ worth of experience to new campuses for the benefit of MBA students coast to coast."
Selected Papers & Publications (7)
The Costs of Patronage: Evidence from the British Empire
Job Market Paper, London School of Economics
Guo Xu
2017
Rewarding Schooling Success and Perceived Returns to Education: Evidence from India
Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization
Sandra Sequeira, Johannes Spinnewijn, Guo Xu
2016
The Glittering Prizes: Career Incentives and Bureaucrat Performance
Working Paper
Guo Xu, Marianne Bertrand, Robin Burgess, and Arunish Chawla
2018
The Colonial Origins of Fiscal Capacity: Evidence from Patronage Governors
Working Paper
Guo Xu
2018
How Does Collective Reputation Affect Hiring? Selection and Sorting in an Online Labour Market
Working paper
Guo Xu
2015
Who Gives Aid to Whom and When? Aid Accelerations, Shocks and Policies
European Journal of Political Economy
Tilman Brück, Guo Xu
2012
Social