I am an undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying political economy and applied mathematics. I study how institutions organize collective production and shape how people understand the sources of its success.
My current work explores two related questions: how institutions develop productive capacity, and how they shape people's interpretations of that capacity. I am especially interested in how people attribute contributions, judge whether a leader or organization is replaceable, and form beliefs about alternatives they cannot directly observe. I am learning to use formal models to make these mechanisms precise, while taking historical settings and the limits of each representation seriously. How institutions reshape people's standards of value remains a longer-term question.
Education
University of California, Berkeley
Undergraduate · Political Economy & Applied Mathematics
Research interests
Political economy of institutions · Productive and interpretive capacity · Belief formation and formal theory
Academic training
My coursework includes quantitative microeconomics, probability, and mathematics, alongside political economy, world history, and Chinese literary history. This fall, I am taking courses in formal models of political science and the economic institutions of capitalism, with course papers planned in both.
In progress · Fall 2026
- POLSCI 232BFormal Models of Political Science
- PHDBA 279PDThe Economic Institutions of Capitalism in Historical Perspective
- ECON 141Econometrics (Quantitative)
- MATH 104Introduction to Analysis
Selected completed coursework
- ECON 101AMicroeconomics (Quantitative)Spring 2026
- STAT 134Concepts of ProbabilitySummer 2026
- MATH 53Multivariable CalculusFall 2025
- MATH 55Discrete MathematicsSummer 2026
- MATH 54Linear Algebra and Differential EquationsSummer 2026
- POLECON 100Classical Theories of Political EconomySpring 2026
- CHINESE 230Seminar in Chinese Literary HistorySpring 2026
- GLOBAL 45Survey of World HistorySpring 2026
- SOCIOL 127Development and GlobalizationSpring 2026
Course papers in progress
Formal theory
A planned PhD-level course paper in formal theory. The topic and mentor have not yet been determined.
PhD-level course paper · Abstract coming soonEconomic institutions of capitalism
A planned PhD-level course paper on the economic institutions of capitalism. The topic and mentor have not yet been determined.
PhD-level course paper · Abstract coming soonSelected course research
The 1991 Neoliberal Shift in Bangladesh
A course research project examining the drivers of Bangladesh’s transition toward market-oriented policy and the role of party-state institutions.
Development and Globalization, UC Berkeley · Instructor: Edwin Lin
Chinese–Spanish Trade in Manila, 1589–1603
An economic-history review of Chinese–Spanish maritime trade in Manila, approaching early-modern exchange in Asia from non-Eurocentric perspectives.
Survey of World History, UC Berkeley · Instructor: Devin Leigh
The CV includes selected academic training, course papers in development, and previous course research.