Yue Lin, Political Science, UC Berkeley

About Me

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, with a Designated Emphasis on Political Economy. My dissertation explores a key element of de-globalization: the rising trend of advanced democracies leveraging economic national security to restrict foreign investment. First, I unpack why, when, and how political elites do so in Congress. Second, I investigate how societal groups, such as consumers, employees, and private companies, may respond to this growing trend. Empirically, I draw on original and commercial data, elite interviews, and experimental methods (both survey and field experiments). My other projects focus on geopolitics, political risk, industrial policy, and corporate non-market strategy. I am grateful for funding support from Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative, Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research, Helsinki Geoeconomics Society, and Institute for Humane Studies.

Prior to doctoral studies, I worked at the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. I received an M.A. in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). I earned a B.Soc.Sci. in Government and International Relations from Hong Kong Baptist University, where I was awarded a national scholarship and graduated as the highest-ranking student.

You can access my CV here. (Last updated: May 2025)

Research Interests

Substance: Geopolitics, Economic Security, Congress, Multinational Enterprises, Firm Strategy
Methodology: Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Experiment, Interview

Publications

Lin, Y. (2025). “How Foreign Investment Fuels Social Conflicts in Africa.” In S. M. Mitchell, V. Nchotu, & L. L. Atanga (Eds.), Legalization of Human Rights in Africa: The Institutionalization of Laws Prohibiting State-Sanctioned Violence and Torture (pp. 149–170). Routledge.

Current Projects

Nationality Backlash: Multinational Corporations in the Shadow of Home-Host State Rivalry
(Revise & Resubmit)
Sink or Swim Together? How the Rule of Law Affects Cross-Border Investment
Striking but Fleeting: Why National Security Hits Headlines in Regulating Foreign Investment
Benefits as Buffers? Public Reactions to National Security Bashing of Foreign Investment
For Whose Sake? Corporate Motivations Behind Economic National Security
(Nominated for Best Paper Prize and PhD Paper Prize, Strategic Management Society 2025 Annual Conference)
Geopoliticized Industrial Policy: Power Rivalries and the Allocation of Government Subsidies (with Boliang Zhu)
Transformative Techno-Nationalism: Corporate Reactions, Labor Policies, and Automation (with Zhizhen Lu)