Lixin Colin Xu is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank. After studying at Peking University and the University of Chicago, he joined the Research Group of the World Bank in 1996. His current research has focused on applied microeconomic topics such as development, conflicts, economic history, corporate governance, governance and institutions, political economy, cultural change, and Chinese economy in transition. He has published widely with articles appearing in AER, AER (papers and proceedings), Review of Econ. & Statistics, J. of Financial Econ., J. Public Econ., J. Labor Econ., J. Law and Econ., J. Development Econ., and J. Comparative Econ. His papers are widely cited in the area of development, transition, and China.