The Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR,暨南大学经济与社会研究院) was founded at Jinan University in December 2015. Since then, IESR has played a leading role in economics education, research, public service, and international cooperation. Operating under the leadership of internationally renowned scholars, including Professor Shuaizhang Feng as Dean and Professor James Heckman as Chair of the Advisory Board, IESR currently has 42 full-time faculty members, many of whom are graduates of renowned institutions such as Yale University, University of Chicago, LSE, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. Research at IESR covers all major economic fields, and undergraduate and graduate students receive rigorous training in economics. The Institute runs a Survey Data Center for data collection and management, as well as a Policy Research Center for policy analysis and evaluation. The mission of the Institute is to advance policy-oriented economic and social research by addressing pressing social and economic issues in China. Our work is driven by the following objectives: — Developing China-based research programs in applied economics and other fields — Collecting original survey data related to China’s economic and social development — Building a leading Chinese think tank to inform and influence national policymaking — Guiding IESR students to become future leaders in economic and social research — Facilitating academic exchanges between scholars in China and abroad