CHRISTINE WEN
Assistant Professor @ Texas A&M University
in Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning
Keep up with the exciting adventures of me, my colleagues, and the students
in our quest for stronger, happier, brighter communities
Dr. Christine Wen is an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning (LAUP) and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Housing and Urban Development (CHUD) and Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University studying the impact of economic development policy on social equity.
Christine received her Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University in 2019 with her interdisciplinary research, supported mainly by the C.V. Starr Fellowship, that bridges developmental sociology, critical geography, political economy, and labor studies. She was also part of an award-winning team that pushed for a more just and equitable tax system for the rural parts of upstate New York.
In her former life, she worked a year-long hydrology research project for the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Prior to that, she helped out with the cosmic microwave background radiation group at Princeton University while completing a bachelor's degree in physics there. And before that, at age 15, she received First-Class Honors with Distinctions in professional piano performance for the Associate Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada where she lived as a teenager.
Christine now resides in eastern Texas with her cat Salem and dog Arthur. She loves literature, science, philosophy, music, theater, and interior design, and spends her spare time writing stories, boating, bushcrafting, boxing, gaming on occasion, cooking, studying foreign languages, hanging with friends, and finally picking up piano again.
RESEARCH
EQUITY IMPACT FORECAST IN POLICY AND BUDGET
This project will result in social cost models that can be used for scoring programs and legislations.
INDUSTRIAL POLICY, AUSTERITY, AND GENTRIFICATION
The project puts governmental intervention in steering the placement and flow of production factors under a critical lens by examining the politics behind the location choice for manufacturing and warehousing facilities and the effects on surrounding neighborhoods, which are typically Hispanic and/or of color.
GROWTH MACHINE VS. SOCIAL EQUITY
This project aims to center children and public education in economic development planning by seeking greater accountability in government policy. A classic prisoner's dilemma scenario, the intergovernmental war over private sector investment in the is driving educational funding into the ground and undermining the collective utility of U.S. communities. Things need to change right now, and collective action/impact may just be the way to do it.
FISCAL POLICY AND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This project resulted in an original database of disaggregated index measuring the severity of U.S. state restrictions with regard to local taxation. Regression analysis using this index shows that more restrictive policy corresponds to lower revenue for counties and larger share of regressive revenue sources for cities, with state aid playing a limited role in covering the local property tax revenue shortfall.
(PAST) SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION
This project examines the socioeconomic integration of rural migrant families in Chinese cities with multi-level policy research, statistical analysis on housing and social security, and fieldwork on informal schooling for migrant children.
(PAST) NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
An offshoot from the hydrological research at the Earth Institute, his project compares centralized and decentralized mode of governance in regard to the outcomes for groundwater depletion.
REFEREED ARTICLES
Christine Wen. 2023. "Do economic development tax abatements affect school finances?" (forthcoming in Economic Development Quarterly)
Christine Wen and Greg LeRoy. 2022. "Making the students pay? The gross fiscal cost of tax incentives for U.S. school districts." Community Development. Click here to read.
Christine Wen. 2020. "Educating rural migrant children in interior China: The promise and pitfall of low-fee private schools." International Journal of Educational Development 79. Click here to read.
Christine Wen, Yuanshuo Xu, Yunji Kim, and Mildred Warner. 2020. "Starving counties, squeezing cities: Tax and expenditure limits in the U.S." Journal of Economic Policy Reform 23 (2), 101-119. Click here to read.
Christine Wen and Jeremy Wallace. 2019. "Toward human-centered urbanization? Housing ownership and access to social insurance among migrant households in China." Sustainability 11 (13), 3567-3581. Click here to read.
REPORTS AND PAPERS
Christine Wen. 2023. "Corporate subsidies versus public education: How tax abatements cost New York public schools."
Christine Wen. 2022. "The revenue impact of corporate tax incentives on South Carolina public schools 2017-2021."
Christine Wen et al. 2021. "Mapping Amazon 2.0: Where the online giant locates and why."
Christine Wen et al. 2021. "Revealing the true costs of tax incentives: Eight critical improvements needed for GASB Statement No. 77."
Christine Wen et al. 2021. "Abating our future: How students pay for corporate tax breaks."
OP-EDS
"School boards must speak up when money goes away." The Cincinnati Enquirer.
"NY school boards needn't be powerless against corporate tax breaks." The Post-Standard.
"Black and Brown students pay for this tax break. Texas should not extend it." The Houston Chronicle.
How economic development is killing Michigan school funding." The Detroit News.
ANNUAL CONFERENCES OF ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS OF PLANNING
2021. "Making the students pay? The impact of tax incentives on school finance." Miami, Florida.
2018. "Migrant housing ownership in urban China: Evidence from survey data." Buffalo, New York.
2015. "Restrictiveness of TEL (tax and expenditure limits) and impact on local fiscal stress." Houston, Texas.
INTERVIEWS
2021. America's Work Force (AWF) Union Podcast on new report "Abating our future: How students pay for corporate tax breaks."
2021. In the Public Interest (ITPI) on "Corporate subsidies not only rarely work, but they're also starving public schools."
2021. Sanctuary for Independent Media, Hudson Mohawk Radio Network on how "Corporate tax breaks hurt schools."
MISCELLANEOUS
2022. "Where do Amazon.com locate its warehouses?" (accepted for Esri User Conference)
2022. "How tax incentives constrain K-12 education." Delivered virtually at the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) Conference.
2021. "Researching the impact of tax abatements on educational inequality: A how-to guide." Delivered virtually at the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Symposium.
2018. "Development, education, and the urban integration of rural migrants in interior China." Delivered at the International Conference of China Urban Development in Glasgow, U.K.
2017. "Engineering urbanization and growth in China's poor periphery." Delivered at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.
DEGREES
PH.D. IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING, CORNELL UNIVERSITY (2019)
M.S. IN URBAN PLANNING, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (2014)
A.B. IN PHYSICS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (2012)
FUNDS
NATIONAL CENTER FOR FACULTY DIVERSITY FACULTY SUCCESS PROGRAM ($4,150)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY C.V. STARR FELLOWSHIP ($21,620)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY EAST ASIA PROGRAM TRAVEL GRANT ($1,250)
INSTITUTE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANT ($2,000)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANT ($2,000)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANT ($1,500)
VARIOUS CORNELL UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE TRAVEL GRANTS ($1,315)
MEDIA MENTIONS
QUOTED IN MINNPOST: "THERE'S LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT FILM AND TV TAX CREDITS WORK. WHY MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS FUNDED A NEW ONE ANYWAY. CLICK HERE TO READ.
QUOTED IN CHALKBEAT PHILADELPHIA: "REPORT STATING PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS LOSE $112 MILLION A YEAR TO TAX BREAKS IS INCOMPLETE, CITY SAYS" CLICK HERE TO READ.
QUOTED IN THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: "PHILLY SCHOOLS LOSE MORE MONEY TO TAX BREAKS THAN ANY DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY, A NEW REPORT SAYS." CLICK HERE TO READ.
QUOTED IN BLOOMBERG CITYLAB: "WHAT CORPORATE TAX BREAKS MEAN FOR SCHOOL FUNDING." CLICK HERE TO READ.
LEAD-AUTHOR REPORT FEATURED IN "COSTLY CORPORATE TAX BREAKS ARE TAKING AWAY MONEY TO IMPROVE SOUTH CAROLINA'S SCHOOLS" BY KENDALL DEAS IN THE STATE. CLICK HERE TO READ.
LEAD-AUTHOR REPORT FEATURED IN "TRACKING THE ELUSIVE TAX DODGE" BY PAUL BOWERS IN BRUTAL SOUTH. CLICK HERE TO READ.
LEAD-AUTHOR STORYMAP FEATURED IN "WHY ARE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PAYING AMAZON TO DESTROY MAIN STREET IN FORTUNE. CLICK HERE TO READ.
COURSES TAUGHT
TAMU PLAN 662: APPLIED PLANNING I
TAMU URPN 202: BUILDING BETTER CITIES
TAMU URPN 361: URBAN ISSUES (CO-INSTRUCTOR)
TAMU URPN 460: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
CORNELL CRP 5450: INFERENTIAL STATISTICS FOR PLANNING AND PUBLIC POLICY (TA)
CORNELL CRP 1101: THE GLOBAL CITY (TA)
CORNELL CRP 2000: THE PROMISES AND PITFALLS OF CONTEMPORARY PLANNING (TA)
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
FELLOW, TAMU CENTER FOR HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
FELLOW, TAMU HAZARD REDUCTION AND RECOVERY CENTER
GOOD JOBS FIRST (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TAX POLICY)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY EAST ASIA PROGRAM (ENVIRONMENT, URBANIZATION)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS (URBANIZATION, MIGRATION)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (PUBLIC FINANCE)
THE EARTH INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (WATER, SUSTAINABILITY)
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY URBAN PLANNING (POVERTY REDUCTION, NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE)
TECHNICAL SKILLS
ARCGIS, STATA, MATLAB, ATLAS.TI, IMPLAN, R, JAVA, C, C++
LANGUAGES
NATIVE CHINESE MANDARIN
ADVANCED COLLEGE RUSSIAN
CANADIAN GRADE 12 FRENCH
BASIC POLISH
CONTACT
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