Welcome! My name is Siyao Li, and I am an Assistant Professor of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. 

About me 

I am an Assistant Professor of International Affairs with a focus on international political economy at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and an affiliated faculty with the University of Pittsburgh Department of Political Science.

My research focuses on the politics of foreign direct investment and trade, and business-government relations. My book project investigates why and how foreign direct investment into weak institutional environments achieve property protection through host government institutions, especially in terms of technology assets. My other papers are published at Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of European Public Policy, and Political Science Research and Methods. 

I am currently a non-resident Center Associate with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Study of Contemporary China. I obtained my PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022. I also hold a Master’s degree in Statistics from The Wharton School. Previously, I was a GPEP predoctoral fellow at Georgetown University's Mortara Center for International Studies for the 2020-2021 academic year.


I am on research leave in the Spring 2024 semester.

Please feel free to reach out at: 

siyao[dot]li[at]pitt[dot]edu


Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Wesley W. Posvar Hall 

230 South Bouquet Street 

Pittsburgh, PA 15260