Prof. dr. ir. P.P.S. (Peter) Ho

Position:
  • Professor
Expertise:
  • Chinese economy & development


Telephone number: +31 (0)71 527 2555
E-Mail: p.p.s.ho@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, SAS China
Office Address: Arsenaal
Arsenaalstraat 1
2311 CT Leiden
Room number 1.26

Research

Peter Ho is Chair Professor of Chinese Economy and Development and Co-Director of the Modern East Asia Research Centre (www.mearc.eu). For many years, Ho was Chair Professor of International Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Ho serves on various high-level commissions as an advisor for the Chinese and Dutch government, the OECD, the EU, and the private sector. Furthermore, he provides frequent advice and interviews to the media, including the BBC, The Economist, the American PBS, Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, and the National TV News (NOS Journaal).

Professor Ho has published 10 books with (amongst others) Oxford University Press, Routledge and Blackwell Publishers. He has also published widely in the leading ISI-rated journals of Development, Environmental and Area Studies with impact factors ranging from 3.0 to 8.25. Ho is a highly-cited researcher in the social sciences and humanities and is cited with an average of 8.64 citations per year (see: ISI citation reports 1999-2010).

Projects and grants

Peter Ho has recently been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for Consolidators. With the 1.5 million Euro grant, Professor Ho aims to carry out research on China’s collapse and institutional development. For more info, see the project section at www.mearc.eu.

Professor Ho has initiated several large-scale research projects on key issues of Chinese development. In recent years, he has overseen projects with a total budget of over € 3.0 million, funded by various financiers including the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW), the National Research Council (NWO), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and international foundations. His research has been presented to the National People’s Congress of China, the Chinese State Council, and members of the Dutch Cabinet, including the Prime Minister. Moreover, his projects have also been visited in person by the Minister of Housing, Environment and Spatial Planning and the Vice Minister of Chinese Land and Resources.

Ho is currently coordinating an international research project on land rights and the effects of national policies on resource-poor pastoralists in China funded by the Ford Foundation. In addition, he oversees a research project on what is pejoratively termed Chinese “land grabbing”, with particular reference to property rights and social impact assessment in Tajikistan, Malaysia and Peru.

Key publications

Only selected key publications shown (for full overview, see Tab “published work”). Articles can be sent to interested persons upon request.

Books

  • Peter Ho, Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights and Social Conflict in China, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2005)
  • Peter Ho and Eduard B. Vermeer (eds.), China’s Limits to Growth: Prospects for Greening State and Society (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2006)
  • Peter Ho and Richard L. Edmonds (eds.), Embedded Environmentalism: Limitations and Constraints of a Social Movement in China, (New York : Routledge, 2008)
  • Peter Ho (ed.), Developmental Dilemmas: Land Reform and Institutional Change in China, (New York: Routledge, 2009 reprint)


Selected ISI-rated articles

  • Peter Ho and Hossein Azadi, “Degradation of Grassland in China: Pastoralists' Perceptions of Ecological Change”, Environmental Research, 2010, 110(3), 302-307
  • Peter Ho, Jennifer H. Zhao and Dayuan Xue, “Rethinking Agro-Biotechnological Innovations in Emerging Economies”, Journal of Peasant Studies, 2009, Vol 36, No.3 July, pp. 345-364
  • Peter Ho and Max Spoor, “Whose land? The Political Economy of Cadastral Development in Transitional States”, Land Use Policy, 2006, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 580-587
  • Peter Ho, “Credibility of Institutions: Forestry, Social Conflict and Titling in China”, Land Use Policy, 2006, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 588-603
  • Peter Ho, “Trajectories for Greening in China: Between Theory and Practice,” Development and Change, 2006, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 3-28
  • Peter Ho, Eduard B. Vermeer and Jennifer H. Zhao, “Biotech and Food Safety in China: Consumers’ Acceptance or Resistance?”, Development and Change, 2006, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 227-253
  • Peter Ho, “Mao’s War Against Nature? The Environmental Impact of the Grain-first Campaign in China”, The China Journal, July 2003, No.50, pp. 37-59
  • Peter Ho, “Greening without Conflict? Environmentalism, Green NGOs and Civil Society in China”, Development and Change, Vol. 32, 2001, pp. 893-921
  • Peter Ho, “Who Owns China’s Land? Policies, Property Rights and Deliberate Institutional Ambiguity”, The China Quarterly, Vol. 166, June 2001, pp. 387-414


Some reactions to Prof. Ho’s books

  • Embedded Activism’s “attempt at a new conception of China’s civil society is highly commendable” and ”provides a helpful theoretical lens through which current civil activism in China could be seen.” (China Quarterly, Cambridge University Press)
  • Embedded activism was discussed on national radio by Jan Marijnissen, former President of the Socialist Party, VPRO De Ochtenden
  • The book was also commended by the renowned architect and Harvard professor, Rem Koolhaas in NRC Handelsblad
  • Dat is Chinees voor mij: “Humoristic book (...) in which Ho in particular highlights the philosophy, history, family relations and social customs of traditional China” (NRC Handelsblad)
  • China ’s Limits to Growth: “This is a fascinating and indispensable book for anyone interested in the environmental impact of China's economic growth.” A. J. Sutter, Amazon.com

Teaching

Professor Ho is the Academic Co-Director of the joint Master Program in Chinese Economy and Bussiness in collaboration with the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM). In this capacity, he oversees the overall administration, course curriculum, and development of this MSc program together with the RSM of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Ho teaches several graduate and undergraduate courses including on Chinese economy and development, institutional change and transition, and sustainable development.

Anciliary positions

Peter Ho is co-founder of the Steering Committee of the European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China (ECARDC), and founder of the Dutch Academic China Meeting (ACO). He is member of the Board of the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS); the academic commission of the Centre for World Food Studies, Amsterdam; the advisory board of the China Centre, University of Wellington; the Board of Advisors of the China Rural Education Foundation; and the Advisory Panel of the Triodos Bank.

Ho also serves as editorial board member of the Journal of Peasant Studies, the Open Environmental Journal, Conservation and Society, and Biodiversity Science (Chinese Academy of Sciences). He has been an invited guest editor of the journals Development and Change, the International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, China Information, and Land Use Policy.

LIAS
Last Modified: 22-09-2011