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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · 13d

📑 Social Competition @pnas.org: Demonstrates how social competition between neighborhoods reduces informal waste burning, creating durable norm shifts that cut pollution.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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PNAS

The Political Regulation Wave

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · 13d

📘 The Political Regulation Wave @cambup-law.cambridge.org: Explores how political and bureaucratic incentives shape environmental outcomes—and how they can be harnessed to drive real improvements.

doi.org/10.1017/9781...

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Cambridge Core - Environmental Policy, Economics and Law - The Political Regulation Wave

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · 13d

I'm delighted and honored to receive the 2025
@appam.bsky.social 🌍 World Citizen Prize in Environmental Performance 🌍

polisci.wustl.edu/news/shiran-...

recognizing a body of works on #pollution control, including:

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · 20d

📑 Social Competitions @pnas.org: Demonstrates how social competitions between neighborhoods reduce informal waste burning, creating durable norm shifts that cut pollution.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

3/5

PNAS

The Political Regulation Wave

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · 20d

📘 The Political Regulation Wave @cambup-law.cambridge.org: Shows how political and bureaucratic incentives shape environmental outcomes—and how they can be harnessed to drive real improvements.

doi.org/10.1017/9781...

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Cambridge Core - Environmental Policy, Economics and Law - The Political Regulation Wave

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

These findings show how extreme weather can spark bottom-up political engagement—even in authoritarian settings.

Incorporating citizen perspectives can strengthen adaptation policy—especially where top-down, technocratic approaches (e.g., costly but ineffective “sponge city” pilot) dominate.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

Concern over the flood and disaster preparedness spilled over beyond Henan—prompting petitions in unaffected provinces that explicitly referenced the 2021 Henan flood.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

The 2021 Henan flood stands out for the scale of destruction—and its political aftermath.

Other major, but less devastating, floods did not trigger comparable surges in adaptation-related petitions on the LLMB.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

Topic modeling shows that appeals focused on concrete, localized vulnerabilities—demands that weren’t framed as “climate” issues but were functionally aligned with adaptation.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

Using a dynamic DiD model, I find a sustained rise in adaptation-related requests in Henan.

These estimates are likely conservative, given:

1️⃣ Spillover effects in other provinces
2️⃣ Concurrent but less severe flooding elsewhere

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

The flood triggered a sharp rise in climate adaptation petitions across Henan—a surge that persisted for months.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

The 2021 Henan flood was among the deadliest floods in recent 🇨🇳 history.

Official source found that anthropogenic climate change increased rainfall intensity by 7.5%: doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...

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Redirecting

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

In authoritarian regimes, public sentiment carries less direct political weight.

But state-sanctioned petition platforms can still channel bottom-up pressure.

This study focuses on one such system: China’s Local Leaders’ Message Board (LLMB).

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

Why study the Global South and authoritarian regimes?

1️⃣ They face acute climate risks but often lack capacity and resources.
2️⃣ The focus has largely been on politicians and bureaucrats—not citizens.
3️⃣ Studies on public response often rely on commercial social media and are mainly descriptive.

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‘Keeping us hooked on fossil fuels’: how can we negotiate with autocracies on the climate crisis?

Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Sep 2

🚨New Article🚨

What happens after a major climate disaster in developing and authoritarian contexts?

My new study ‪@commsearth.nature.com‬ examines how citizens made adaptation demands to local governments in 🇨🇳 after the 2021 Henan flood.

doi.org/10.1038/s432...

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Reposted by Shiran Victoria Shen

Fiona Harvey @fionaharvey.bsky.social · Jul 18

‘Keeping us hooked on fossil fuels’: how can we negotiate with autocracies on the climate crisis? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions come from countries that are not democratic, and many big oil and gas exporters are also authoritarian

www.theguardian.com

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Jul 10

We conduct an extensive set of robustness checks—see the full paper for details.

Although the empirical case is situated in an authoritarian context, the theory should be applicable to democratic settings as well.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Jul 10

Notably, the effect was indistinguishable from zero in 2018—a year with no active central campaigning, suggesting a sustained impact of regularized campaigns.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Jul 10

Using confidential government data, we find that firms with greater economic significance were more likely to violate standards prior to the CEI.

After the CEI, this compliance gap narrowed and became statistically insignificant.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Jul 10

Central environmental inspections (CEIs) were introduced in campaign-style waves to address persistent compliance gaps—defined as disparities in compliance outcomes among regulated entities.

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Shiran Victoria Shen @svshen.bsky.social · Jul 10

retain discretion over enforcement, and enforcement data is often reported by agents themselves, creating opportunities for manipulation.

This creates a classic principal-agent problem.

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