Lanjun Peng

I am an assistant professor at the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. I have earned my PhD from Indiana University Bloomington.

My research examines local autonomy under fiscal and regulatory constraint. I study how intergovernmental transfers, revenue shocks, state policy frameworks, and fiscal pressures shape government decision-making across fiscal, administrative, and regulatory domains. My work considers how governments respond to fiscal shocks and intergovernmental incentives, how state rules constrain or enable local discretion, and what these choices mean for public spending, taxation, service delivery, urban development, and fiscal equity.

Prior to my doctoral program, I completed an MPA and M.A. in International Relations at Syracuse University. In addition, I earned a B.A. in Public Administration from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

Publications

Peng, Lanjun and Justin Ross. “Is Trust in Local Government Influenced by the 'Marketplace' of Choice?” Public Administration Review 85 (3), 768-786 (2025).
Ross, Justin and Lanjun Peng. 2023. “Municipal revenues: data dilemmas, structures, and trends.” In Research Handbook on City and Municipal Finance, pp. 8-23. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Lee, Jongmin, Lanjun Peng, Joanna Woronkowicz, and Douglas Noonan. "Filling the Social Welfare Gap: The Impact of a Nonprofit’s Guaranteed Income Program for Artists." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (2025): 08997640251329786.
Peng, Lanjun, Joanna Woronkowicz and Doug Noonan. “A Systematic Literature Review of the Effects of Guaranteed Income Programs.” (under review)
Peng, Lanjun. "Public Agents Discretion in Welfare Administration: Evidence on Discrimination from an Experiment" (under review)
Peng, Lanjun. "Revenue Motivated Zoning in Local Governments: Evidence from Commercial Zoning Regulation and Sales Tax Authority." (under review)
Peng, Lanjun, Doug Noonan, and Joanna Woronkowicz. "Can Guaranteed Income Keep Up with the Cost of Living: Evidence from New York City" (under review)
Xu, Ziyue, Shuangyu Chen, Justin Ross, and Lanjun Peng. "The Incidence of ‘Pink Taxes’: Evidence from the Elimination of State Sales Taxes on Feminine Hygiene Products" (under review)

Working Papers

Lanjun Peng. "The Effect of State Aid to Schools on Local School Expenditures: Causal Evidence from State Pension Excess Returns"
Lanjun Peng. "Rules or Incentives? How Regulatory Design Shapes Floodplain Development Outcomes"
Lanjun Peng. "Designing for Equity: State School Funding Regimes and the Distribution of Educational Opportunity”

Teaching

PAF 201 Economics in Public Policy, Fall 2025
PAF 506 Public Bugetding and Finance, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
V-202 Contemporary Economic Issues in Public Affairs, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023
F-764 Policy Analysis, Spring 2025 (Guest Lecturer)
F-766 Public Revenue Seminar, Spring 2024 (Guest Lecturer)

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