The Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) was proud last week to unveil the Quantitative History Research Center of the SUSTech School of Business. SUSTech University Council Vice Chairperson Li Fengliang attended the ceremony.

The Quantitative History Research Center was established in collaboration with Chen Zhiwu, a professor from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Business. Chen Zhiwu was appointed as an advisor to the Center’s Academic Advisory Board and the International Academic Advisory Committee of the SUSTech School of Business.

As an interdisciplinary study, “quantitative history” spans multiple disciplines such as economics, finance, society, and history. It uses modern economic theory, the latest quantitative analysis, and big data methods to conduct research on historical topics. The 2018 Nobel Prize winners in economics Paul Romer and William Nordhaus introduced quantitative methods into the theoretical framework of economics research. Their Nobel Prizes were for integrating technological innovations and climate change respectively into long-run macroeconomic analysis.

The Quantitative History Research Center will focus on the long-term fundamentals of social and economic development. It will study China’s past, present, and future with market development as its primary focus. By starting from its historical origins, the Center will try to grasp the future trends of China’s market economy and society. The Quantitative History Research Center shall strive to become a first-class research institution of the social sciences with international influence. By providing academic institutions with a quantitative historical research talent pipeline, SUSTech will better support and promote the development of its liberal arts curriculum.

Professor Zhiwu Chen is Director of the Asia Global Institute (AGI) and Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Professor Chen is a former Professor of Finance at Yale University (1999-2017). His research covers finance theory, the sociology of finance, economic history, emerging markets, as well as China’s economy and capital markets. He was also a Special-Term Visiting Professor at Peking University (School of Economics) and Tsinghua University (School of Social Sciences). In 2012, he was named one of the “Most Influential People in China” by the G20 National Most Influential People Report. He was awarded the Graham-Dodd Award and the Merton Miller Research Award.