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3469 2282
ajwhe@ust.hk
Room 4616A
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Prof. Jingwei Alex HE
PhD in Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Professor, Division of Public Policy

Research Areas

Research Interests

Comparative social policy
Policy innovation and entrepreneurship
Health policy and governance

Biography

Jingwei Alex He is Professor in the Division of Public Policy at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He received his PhD in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His research specialises in public policy analysis, health policy and governance, and social policy reforms, with a particular focus on East Asia. Professor He has published extensively in these areas, contributing to leading international journals and publishing houses including Public Administration Review, Policy Sciences, Policy Studies Journal, Governance, The China Quarterly, Journal of Social Policy, Health Policy & Planning, Social Science & Medicine, Social Policy & Administration, Policy & Society, and Health Policy. He also maintains a rich portfolio of academic articles and book chapters published in Chinese. Since 2021, Professor He has been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scholars in political science and public administration by Stanford University's global citation database.

In May 2021, the University Grants Committee (UGC) announced the results of the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Hong Kong’s official scheme for evaluating the research performance of its public universities. All eight public universities participated in the disciplinary area of political science—including public administration, public policy, and international relations—designated as Unit of Assessment 25 (UoA 25), submitting their strongest research impact cases. Professor He’s submission was one of only two impact cases unanimously rated “outstanding” (four-star)—the highest possible score—by the international expert panel.

Since 2014, Professor He has received numerous external and internal research grants, including twelve major projects funded by the Research Grants Council's Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship (HSSPFS), the General Research Fund (GRF, ×5), the Early Career Scheme (ECS), and the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (PPR) administered by the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the World Health Organization (APO, ×3). Two of his GRF projects received full marks (5.0) from the international review panel.

Professor He is Editor of Policy Design and Practice (ESCI) and Associate Editor of Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI Q1) and Policy and Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy Research (SSCI Q1, 2020–2025). He serves as Adjunct Research Fellow at the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance, Tsinghua University and assessment panel member of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. He also sits on the editorial boards of Urban Governance (Elsevier), Teaching Public Administration (Sage), Societal Impact (Elsevier), Journal of Public Administration (公共行政評論), and Chinese Public Administration Review (公共管理評論). His honours include the International Public Policy Association's Transition and Developing Economies Award (as the first Chinese recipient), the 2023 Best Policy Research Award of the Chinese Policy Scholars Group (留美公共政策學會), and two EdUHK President’s Awards for Outstanding Performance in Research. He has held the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship, the Lowenstein Fellowship, and the Ronald Coase Institute Fellowship.

Professor He is actively engaged in policy advocacy. His commentaries have appeared in leading newspapers including China Daily, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Ming Pao, and Sing Tao Daily. He has been interviewed by Phoenix TV, China Central Television (English Channel), The Straits Times, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), ATV, China Radio International, and CBS News on various policy issues.

HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

  • He, J., Qian, J., and Zhu, L. (2025). Policy design and policy feedback in welfare retrenchment: a survey experiment in China. Policy Studies Journal (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=4.9), 53(2), 307-327.
  • Wang, Q., and He, J.* (2025). Central-local relations, accountability, and defensive administration: unravelling the puzzling shrinkage of China’s urban social safety net. Journal of Social Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=2.5), DOI: 10.1017/S0047279425000054.
  • He, J., Fu, H., and Tang, N. (2025). From local innovation to national policy: cross-boundary policy entrepreneurship in China’s health regulatory reform. Australian Journal of Public Administration (SSCI, Q2, 5-year IF=2.2), 10.1111/1467-8500.12687.
  • Zhang, Q., Wang, J.S.H., He, J., Peng, C., Abe, A., Ku, I., Ng. I.Y.H., and Zhao, X. (2025). Providing financial protection in health for low-income populations: a comparison of health financing designs in East Asia. International Journal for Equity in Health (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=5), 24, 215, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02568-2.
  • Shi, Y., and He, J.* (2025). Subnational policy entrepreneurs in action: a systematic quantitative review. Journal of Public Policy (SSCI, Q3, 5-year IF=2.4), 45(2), 372-398.
  • He, J., Zhang, Z., Anand, P., & McMinn, S. (2025). Embracing generative artificial intelligence tools in higher education: a survey at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=1.9), 18(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2024.2447195
  • Capano, G., He, J.*, & McMinn, S. (2025). Riding the tide of generative artificial intelligence in higher education policy: an Asian perspective. Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=1.9), 18(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2025.2450571.
  • He, J., Qian, J., and Zhu, L. (2024). Policy design and policy feedback in welfare retrenchment: a survey experiment in China. Policy Studies Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12569.
  • He, J.*, Fan, Y., and Su, R. (2024). Unpack the black box of pilot sampling in policy experimentation: a qualitative comparative analysis of China’s public hospital reform. Governance, 37(3), 803-824 (CPSG Best Policy Research Award 2023).
  • Mintrom, M., Maurya, D., and He, J. (eds.), 2020. Policy Entrepreneurship: An Asian Perspective, London: Routledge.
  • He, J., Fan, Y., & Su, R. (2022). Seeking policy solutions in a complex system: experimentalist governance in China’s healthcare reform. Policy Sciences, 55(4), 755-776.
  • He, J., Zhang, C., & Qian, J. (2022). Covid-19 and social inequality in China: the local-migrant divide and the limits of social protections in a pandemic. Policy & Society, 41(2), 275-290.
  • Guo, Y., He, J.*, and Wang, F. (2022). Local policy discretion in social welfare: explaining the subnational variation in the de facto poverty line in urban China. The China Quarterly, 249, 114-138.
  • He, J. (2022). The welfare is ours: rural-to-urban migration and domestic welfare chauvinism in urban China. Journal of Contemporary China, 31(134), 202-218.
  • Bali, A.Z., He, J., and Ramesh, M. (2022). Health policy and COVID-19: path dependency and trajectory. Policy & Society, 41(1), 83-95.
  • He, J., Qian, J., Chan, W.S., and Chou, K.L. (2021). Preference for private long-term care insurance products in a super-ageing society: a discrete choice experiment in Hong Kong. Social Science & Medicine, 270, 1136232.
  • He, J., Ratigan, K., and Qian, J. (2021). Attitudinal feedback towards sub-national social policy: a comparison of popular support for social health insurance in China. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 23(3), 350-371.
  • He, J. (2018). Manoeuvring within fragmented bureaucracy and vested interests: policy entrepreneurship in China’s local health care reform, The China Quarterly, 236, 1088-1110.
  • Yin, J.D.C. and He, J.* (2018). Health insurance reforms in Singapore and Hong Kong: How the two ageing Asian Tigers respond to health financing challenges? Health Policy, 122(7), 693-697.
Prof. Jingwei Alex HE
PhD in Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Professor, Division of Public Policy
3469 2282
Room 4616A
Google Scholar:
ORCID:
ResearcherID:
Scopus ID:
Comparative social policy
Policy innovation and entrepreneurship
Health policy and governance

Jingwei Alex He is Professor in the Division of Public Policy at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He received his PhD in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His research specialises in public policy analysis, health policy and governance, and social policy reforms, with a particular focus on East Asia. Professor He has published extensively in these areas, contributing to leading international journals and publishing houses including Public Administration Review, Policy Sciences, Policy Studies Journal, Governance, The China Quarterly, Journal of Social Policy, Health Policy & Planning, Social Science & Medicine, Social Policy & Administration, Policy & Society, and Health Policy. He also maintains a rich portfolio of academic articles and book chapters published in Chinese. Since 2021, Professor He has been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scholars in political science and public administration by Stanford University's global citation database.

In May 2021, the University Grants Committee (UGC) announced the results of the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Hong Kong’s official scheme for evaluating the research performance of its public universities. All eight public universities participated in the disciplinary area of political science—including public administration, public policy, and international relations—designated as Unit of Assessment 25 (UoA 25), submitting their strongest research impact cases. Professor He’s submission was one of only two impact cases unanimously rated “outstanding” (four-star)—the highest possible score—by the international expert panel.

Since 2014, Professor He has received numerous external and internal research grants, including twelve major projects funded by the Research Grants Council's Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship (HSSPFS), the General Research Fund (GRF, ×5), the Early Career Scheme (ECS), and the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (PPR) administered by the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the World Health Organization (APO, ×3). Two of his GRF projects received full marks (5.0) from the international review panel.

Professor He is Editor of Policy Design and Practice (ESCI) and Associate Editor of Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI Q1) and Policy and Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy Research (SSCI Q1, 2020–2025). He serves as Adjunct Research Fellow at the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance, Tsinghua University and assessment panel member of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. He also sits on the editorial boards of Urban Governance (Elsevier), Teaching Public Administration (Sage), Societal Impact (Elsevier), Journal of Public Administration (公共行政評論), and Chinese Public Administration Review (公共管理評論). His honours include the International Public Policy Association's Transition and Developing Economies Award (as the first Chinese recipient), the 2023 Best Policy Research Award of the Chinese Policy Scholars Group (留美公共政策學會), and two EdUHK President’s Awards for Outstanding Performance in Research. He has held the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship, the Lowenstein Fellowship, and the Ronald Coase Institute Fellowship.

Professor He is actively engaged in policy advocacy. His commentaries have appeared in leading newspapers including China Daily, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Ming Pao, and Sing Tao Daily. He has been interviewed by Phoenix TV, China Central Television (English Channel), The Straits Times, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), ATV, China Radio International, and CBS News on various policy issues.

HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

  • He, J., Qian, J., and Zhu, L. (2025). Policy design and policy feedback in welfare retrenchment: a survey experiment in China. Policy Studies Journal (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=4.9), 53(2), 307-327.
  • Wang, Q., and He, J.* (2025). Central-local relations, accountability, and defensive administration: unravelling the puzzling shrinkage of China’s urban social safety net. Journal of Social Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=2.5), DOI: 10.1017/S0047279425000054.
  • He, J., Fu, H., and Tang, N. (2025). From local innovation to national policy: cross-boundary policy entrepreneurship in China’s health regulatory reform. Australian Journal of Public Administration (SSCI, Q2, 5-year IF=2.2), 10.1111/1467-8500.12687.
  • Zhang, Q., Wang, J.S.H., He, J., Peng, C., Abe, A., Ku, I., Ng. I.Y.H., and Zhao, X. (2025). Providing financial protection in health for low-income populations: a comparison of health financing designs in East Asia. International Journal for Equity in Health (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=5), 24, 215, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02568-2.
  • Shi, Y., and He, J.* (2025). Subnational policy entrepreneurs in action: a systematic quantitative review. Journal of Public Policy (SSCI, Q3, 5-year IF=2.4), 45(2), 372-398.
  • He, J., Zhang, Z., Anand, P., & McMinn, S. (2025). Embracing generative artificial intelligence tools in higher education: a survey at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=1.9), 18(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2024.2447195
  • Capano, G., He, J.*, & McMinn, S. (2025). Riding the tide of generative artificial intelligence in higher education policy: an Asian perspective. Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI, Q1, 5-year IF=1.9), 18(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2025.2450571.
  • He, J., Qian, J., and Zhu, L. (2024). Policy design and policy feedback in welfare retrenchment: a survey experiment in China. Policy Studies Journal, https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12569.
  • He, J.*, Fan, Y., and Su, R. (2024). Unpack the black box of pilot sampling in policy experimentation: a qualitative comparative analysis of China’s public hospital reform. Governance, 37(3), 803-824 (CPSG Best Policy Research Award 2023).
  • Mintrom, M., Maurya, D., and He, J. (eds.), 2020. Policy Entrepreneurship: An Asian Perspective, London: Routledge.
  • He, J., Fan, Y., & Su, R. (2022). Seeking policy solutions in a complex system: experimentalist governance in China’s healthcare reform. Policy Sciences, 55(4), 755-776.
  • He, J., Zhang, C., & Qian, J. (2022). Covid-19 and social inequality in China: the local-migrant divide and the limits of social protections in a pandemic. Policy & Society, 41(2), 275-290.
  • Guo, Y., He, J.*, and Wang, F. (2022). Local policy discretion in social welfare: explaining the subnational variation in the de facto poverty line in urban China. The China Quarterly, 249, 114-138.
  • He, J. (2022). The welfare is ours: rural-to-urban migration and domestic welfare chauvinism in urban China. Journal of Contemporary China, 31(134), 202-218.
  • Bali, A.Z., He, J., and Ramesh, M. (2022). Health policy and COVID-19: path dependency and trajectory. Policy & Society, 41(1), 83-95.
  • He, J., Qian, J., Chan, W.S., and Chou, K.L. (2021). Preference for private long-term care insurance products in a super-ageing society: a discrete choice experiment in Hong Kong. Social Science & Medicine, 270, 1136232.
  • He, J., Ratigan, K., and Qian, J. (2021). Attitudinal feedback towards sub-national social policy: a comparison of popular support for social health insurance in China. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 23(3), 350-371.
  • He, J. (2018). Manoeuvring within fragmented bureaucracy and vested interests: policy entrepreneurship in China’s local health care reform, The China Quarterly, 236, 1088-1110.
  • Yin, J.D.C. and He, J.* (2018). Health insurance reforms in Singapore and Hong Kong: How the two ageing Asian Tigers respond to health financing challenges? Health Policy, 122(7), 693-697.