Naiyu Jiang

Graduate Student Research Funding | 2023–2024 Academic Year

Market-dominant Minority as Middleman: How Chinese investment influences ethnic relations in Malaysia

 

This project examines the impact of Chinese investment on ethnic relations in Malaysia, focusing on the interplay between economic benefits and social tensions in a country with a market-dominant minority. The study measures intergroup relations through intermarriage rates, rental advertisements with ethnic preferences, and racial segregation in public dining spaces. Preliminary findings suggest that Chinese investment promotes intergroup cohesion and reduces racial segregation, challenging prevailing theories that such investments exacerbate ethnic tensions. Upcoming fieldwork will further explore the dynamics through interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders and local residents.

Naiyu Jiang, Department of Political Science

Naiyu Jiang is a second-year Ph.D. student in Political Science at Stanford University, studying the political economy of development and authoritarian institutions, with a particular focus on China and Southeast Asia. Her research centers on economic inequality, ethnic cooperation, and ingroup-outgroup relations. She explores the conditions under which there is peaceful ethnic coexistence and economic development in countries with market-dominant minorities. Prior to her doctoral studies, Jiang earned an MA in Computational Social Science from the University of Chicago.

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