Dr Yundan Gong is a Reader in Development Economics. She is eager to understand how countries like China or the UK can best use foreign direct-investment to improve their overall economic performance.

She is passionate about teaching students from a wide range of different backgrounds and introducing them to economic topics. She also likes to combine academically rigorous research with insights from industry, for example from her experience as an angel investor and from having industry experts giving guest lectures.

Yundan completed her PhD at University of Nottingham. Before joining King's, she worked as a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University, Aston Business School and as a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics at University of Nottingham.

Before embarking on her academic career, Yundan successfully worked as a manager in a Chinese commercial bank and now works as an angel investor and provides advice to start-ups, in which she gained insightful experience on business and economic growth. She is the proud mother of two children.

Research

Yundan's main research interests are in the area of development economics, in particular, related to firm-level response to globalisation, innovation and firm performance, applied micro-econometric analysis and emerging economies.

She has a strong interest in the implications of foreign direct investment (FDI) for economic development in emerging countries and has worked extensively with policymakers in China in this area. Her research also extends to the area of institutional economics.

Further details

See Yundan's research profile