Jiaqi Liang
Associate Professor
Public Policy, Management, and Analytics
Contact
Building & Room:
Art and Exhibition Hall 2112
Address:
400 S. Peoria Street, AEH 2112 (MC 278)
Office Phone:
Email:
CV Link:
Related Sites:
About
Dr. Jiaqi Liang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics. She received a PhD in Public Administration (with a second major in Comparative Politics) from the School of Public Affairs at American University.
Research
Dr. Liang's research interests encompass public management, bureaucratic politics, policy process, policy implementation, social equity, and environmental policy. She collects, combines, and analyzes quantitative data to examine the research questions. Her research agenda has four focuses:
Policy and Institutional Design: This section of research explores the effects of policy design and public management practices on government agencies’ environmental policy implementation activities in the U.S., as well as the implications of the adoption of equity-oriented policies for government’s program management under environmental federalism.
Public Sector Diversity and Representativeness: This line of research probes the relationships between organizational diversity and inclusiveness, representativeness of the public sector, governmental performance, and social equity.
Bureaucratic Motivations: This research area examines questions related to bureaucratic motivation, performance incentives, and policy implementation in government agencies and quasi-public organizations (e.g., state-owned enterprises) in China, in the context of results-based management in environmental and energy policies.
Government Transparency: This research area focuses on the nexus of open government data, civic engagement, and bureaucratic representation.
Dr. Liang's research has appeared in a variety of public administration and public policy journals, including the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Public Administration, Public Management Review, and Policy Studies Journal.
Teaching (AY25-26)
PA 515: Bureaucracy and the Policy Process (Spring 2026)
PPOL 240: Environmental Policy (Spring 2026)
PPOL 303: Policy Implementation and Management (Fall 2025)
*** Office Hours ***
By appointment
Service to the University, College, and Department (AY25-26)
Member, Graduate College Awards Committee (Behavioral & Social Sciences Division), UIC
Member, Executive Committee, CUPPA
Member, Educational Policy Committee, CUPPA
Member, Faculty Advisory Committee, PPMA
Chair, Undergraduate Program Committee, PPMA
Selected Grants
Faculty Fellowship (2025-26), Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, University of Illinois Chicago, “Disparities in Response to Public Inquiries: Exploring the Effect of Bureaucratic Workload and Representation with a Correspondence Experiment”, PI
Civic Engagement Research Award (2021), Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, University of Illinois Chicago, “Inclusive Open Government Data Implementation for Environmental Justice: Enhancing Community Stakeholders’ Voices”, Co-PI
Faculty Fellowship (2018-19), Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, University of Illinois Chicago, “Implications of State Governments’ Performance Management for Environmental Justice”, PI
Selected Publications
* Student co-author at the time of writing
Liang, Jiaqi, Sanghee Park, and Agustina Laurito. 2025. “Representative Bureaucracy Buffering Adverse Policy Climates: Examining Immigrant Families’ Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” Governance. (First published online October 13, 2025)
Park, Sanghee, Eun Jin Shin, and Jiaqi Liang. 2025. “Advancing Transportation Justice: The Impact of Minority Representation Across Federal and State Agencies.” Social Science Quarterly. (First published online June 14, 2025)
Fusi, Federica, Fengxiu Zhang, and Jiaqi Liang. 2025. “From a Civic-tech to a Problem-driven Model for Open Government Data: Implementation Lessons from the Environmental Justice Case.” Public Administration Review. (First published online August 25, 2025)
Becerra, Marisol, Jiaqi Liang, Michael Siciliano, Federica Fusi, Fabio Miranda, Apostolis Sambanis, Phillip Boda, Sybil Derrible, and Michael Cailas. 2024. “Putting the Environment Back in “Environmental Justice”: A Dual Approach for Area Identification.” Environmental Justice. (First published online September 4, 2024)
Liang, Jiaqi, Sanghee Park, and Jun Li*. 2024. “Weathering the Cutbacks: The Buffering Role of Representative Bureaucracy in Environmental Policy Implementation.” Public Management Review 27(12): 2934-2956.
Park, Sanghee, and Jiaqi Liang. 2024. “The Effectiveness-Equity Tradeoff When Organizational Resources Change: Evidence from Environmental Policy Implementation in the U.S. States.” Public Administration Review 84(5): 888-903.
Fusi, Federica, Fengxiu Zhang, and Jiaqi Liang. 2023. “Unveiling Environmental Justice Through Open Government Data: Work In Progress for Most US States.” Public Administration 101(3): 1088-1114.
Stazyk, Edmund C., Randall S. Davis, and Jiaqi Liang. 2021. “Probing the Links between Workforce Diversity, Goal Clarity, and Employee Job Satisfaction in Public Sector Organizations.” Administrative Sciences 11(3): 77.
Zhou, Shan, and Jiaqi Liang. 2021. “Migrant Workers and Environmental Amenities and Infrastructure in Urban China: From the Lens of Environmental Justice.” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 23(6): 781-795.
Liang, Jiaqi, and Laura Langbein. 2021. “Are State-Owned Enterprises Good Citizens in Environmental Governance? Evidence from the Control of Air Pollution in China.” Administration & Society 53(8): 1263-1292.
Langbein, Laura, Jiaqi Liang, and Michaela Buenemann. 2021. “Comparing the Effects of Changes in Performance Incentives and Implementation Activities on Policy Outcomes: Evidence from Air Pollution Emissions in China.” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 23(3): 328-349.
Park, Sanghee, and Jiaqi Liang. 2021. “A Comparative Study on Gender Representation and Social Outcomes: The Effect of Political and Bureaucratic Representation.” Public Administration Review 81(2): 321-332.
Liang, Jiaqi, Sanghee Park, and Tianshu Zhao*. 2020. “Representative Bureaucracy, Distributional Equity, and Environmental Justice.” Public Administration Review 80(3): 402-414.
Liang, Jiaqi, and Liang Ma. 2020. “Ownership, Affiliation, and Organizational Performance: Evidence from China’s Results-Oriented Energy Policy.” International Public Management Journal 23(1): 57-83.
Park, Sanghee, and Jiaqi Liang. 2020. “Merit, Diversity, and Performance: Does Diversity Management Moderate the Effect of Merit Principles on Governmental Performance.” Public Personnel Management 49(1): 83-110.
Liang, Jiaqi, and Laura Langbein. 2019. “Linking Anticorruption Threats, Performance Pay, Administrative Outputs, and Policy Outcomes in China.” Public Administration 97: 177-194.
Ma, Liang, and Jiaqi Liang. 2018. “The Effects of Firm Ownership and Affiliation on Government’s Target Setting on Energy Conservation in China.” Journal of Cleaner Production 199: 459-465.
Liang, Jiaqi. 2018. “Latinos and Environmental Justice: Examining the Link between Degenerative Policy, Political Representation, and Environmental Policy Implementation.” Policy Studies Journal 46(1): 60-89.
Liang, Jiaqi. 2017. “Regulatory Effectiveness and Social Equity in Environmental Governance: Assessing Goal Conflict, Trade-Off, and Synergy.” The American Review of Public Administration 48(7): 761-776.
Liang, Jiaqi. 2016. “Defining Environmental Justice Communities for Regulatory Enforcement: Implications from a Block-Group-Level Analysis of New York State.” Review of Policy Research 33(6): 666-685.
Liang, Jiaqi. 2016. “The Shadow of the Politics of Deservedness? The Implications of Group-Centric Policy Context for Environmental Policy Implementation Inequalities in the United States.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 26(3): 552-570.
Liang, Jiaqi, and Laura Langbein. 2015. “Performance Management, High-Powered Incentives, and Environmental Policies in China.” International Public Management Journal 18(3): 346-385.
Liang, Jiaqi. 2014. “Who Maximizes (or Satisfices) in Performance Management? An Empirical Study of the Effects of Motivation-Related Institutional Contexts on Energy Efficiency Policy in China.” Public Performance & Management Review 38(2): 284-315.
Liang, Jiaqi, and Daniel J. Fiorino. 2013. “The Implications of Policy Stability for Renewable Energy Innovation in the United States, 1974 – 2009.” Policy Studies Journal 41(1): 97-118.
Service to Community
* AY25-26
Associate Editor, International Journal of Public Administration, 1/2022 – present
Member, Editorial Board, Urban Governance, 1/2023 – present
Member, Leonard D. White Award Committee, American Political Science Association, 2026
Reviewer, Equity and Inclusion Fellowship Program, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, 2025
Notable Honors
2018, 40 for 40 Fellowship Award for Outstanding Early Career Research Professionals, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
2016, Young Scholar Manuscript Award, China-America Association of Public Affairs
Education
PhD, Public Administration, American University (Washington, DC), 2014
MPA, Public Affairs, University of Missouri (Columbia, MO), 2009
LL.M., Dispute Resolution, University of Missouri (Columbia, MO), 2007