Longjiao Yu
Comparative Environmental Politics · Climate Adaptation · Governance under Shocks
I am a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. My research sits at the intersection of comparative environmental politics, the political economy of energy transitions, and how governments and communities respond to climate-driven shocks — wildfires, floods, and droughts. I use causal inference, spatial analysis, and remote sensing, complemented by fieldwork.
I am currently developing a research agenda on government adaptation and drought resilience in Indonesia, building on prior research experience across Southeast Asia and on Belt & Road policy at Peking University's iGCU.
- Department of Political Science, UC Santa Barbara
- Email: longjiao_yu@ucsb.edu
- Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Selected Recent Work
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Indonesia · Fieldwork
Government Adaptation and Drought Resilience in Indonesia.
Investigates when and where decentralized government adaptation effort actually reaches the agricultural communities most exposed to drought across Indonesia, combining satellite-derived drought exposure with administrative data on adaptation spending and fieldwork in drought-prone provinces. Aims to extend the literature on accountability under shocks from rapid-onset disasters to slow-onset climate stress in a major decentralized democracy, and to inform policy debates on adaptation finance and targeting.
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Political Mobilization of Clustered Interests: Evidence from the Residential Solar Revolution
Shows that geographic clustering enables otherwise diffuse interests to overcome collective-action barriers: counties with exogenously higher solar potential saw substantially greater growth in environmental NGOs after the rise of affordable rooftop solar.
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Deforestation as a Strategy of Authoritarian Survival: Evidence from Myanmar
Studies the ecological consequences of Myanmar's 2021 military coup, showing through a difference-in-differences design with georeferenced data on teak suitability, state extractive infrastructure, and access to international markets that the restored junta sharply accelerated deforestation in commercially valuable, accessible forests.