Speaker: Professor Jiang Mingming (School of Economics, Shandong University)

Host: Assistant Professor Lan Lan (Li Anmin Economic Research Institute, Liaoning University)

Guest Introduction: Associate Professor Zhang Yan (School of Economics, Liaoning University)

Time: Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 14:00-15:30 (Beijing Time)

Venue: Conference Room on the First Floor, Wuzhou Garden, Chongshan Campus, Liaoning University

Language: Chinese/English

Abstract:

We examine how early-life disaster experiences shape households’ social network formation. Using the 2017 China Household Finance Survey and a famine severity index derived from exogenous weather shocks during China’s Great Famine, we implement a difference-in-differences strategy combining birth cohorts with county-level variation in famine intensity. We find that individuals exposed to famine in childhood or adolescence spend significantly more on gifts to strengthen social networks. Mechanism analysis shows that the effect is particularly pronounced for households facing higher perceived risks, in regions characterized by underdeveloped financial markets and more initial social capital, suggesting that heightened risk perception—rather than background risks—links famine experiences to later-life network formation. Our findings underscore the long-lasting role of early-life traumatic experiences in shaping households’ risk-management behavior.

Speaker Profile

Jiang Mingming is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Economics, Shandong University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Riverside, USA. His research focuses on macroeconomics and macrofinance, with publications in journals such as Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Macroeconomic Dynamics, Journal of Banking and Finance, Economica, and Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. His research achievements have been awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in Humanities and Social Sciences by Shandong Provincial Universities, the Outstanding Achievement Award by Shandong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Outstanding Achievement Award in Statistical Scientific Research by Shandong Province. He has presided over various research projects, including those funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Young Scientists Fund), the Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars of the Ministry of Education, the Shandong Provincial Social Science Foundation, and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation.