Penn Global Awards Two Penn Wharton China Center Residency Grants
Penn Global awarded its first two Residency Grants to Chao Guo, Professor of Nonprofit Management in the School of Social Policy and Practice, and Emily Hannum, Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, and Associate Dean of Social Sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences.
Penn Wharton China Center (PWCC) Residency Grants offer funding to Penn faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows to complete a residency of up to 10 days at the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing. During their residency, faculty conduct research activities and collaborate with the Penn Wharton China Center to organize programming to generate knowledge that deepens insight into China.
This year, grants will support efforts related to Guo’s examination of time banking as an innovative model for elder care in China and Hannum’s study of the future of rural education in China.
“We’re pleased to award the first two PWCC residency grants to Chao and Emily, who each possess an exemplary record of China-focused research and collaborative engagement,” says Scott Moore, director of strategic initiatives and China programs at Penn Global. “We look forward to partnering with them to lay a solid foundation for the growth of this program and further strengthen Penn’s engagement with China and meaningful links between Penn’s campus and our China-based stakeholder communities.”
Penn Global first announced the opportunity to apply for a PWCC residency grant in January 2025. Penn Global received two dozen expressions of interest from which two candidates were ultimately selected. Penn affiliates interested in participating in this program are encouraged to contact global@upenn.edu.
Recipients of the 2025 PWCC Residency Grants include:
Time Banking as an Innovation for Elder Care – Insights from China
Chao Guo, Ph.D.
Professor of Nonprofit Management
Faculty Director, MS in Nonprofit Leadership Program
School of Social Policy and Practice
This project explores time banking as a social innovation for elder care. As the global population ages, countries around the world are grappling with how to provide sustainable, community-based eldercare. One emerging solution is time banking—a model in which individuals exchange services using time as currency to meet personal and social needs. With roots in Japan and the U.S., time banking has grown into a global phenomenon, offering a promising approach to building resilient, intergenerational support systems.
This grant will enable the research team to focus on China as a case study to examine how the model functions under different institutional and cultural conditions. Unlike in many countries where time banks are grassroots-led, China’s approach is largely government-driven. Understanding its structure, implementation, and impact can yield valuable lessons for other nations confronting similar demographic challenges.
The Future of Rural Education in China
Emily Hannum, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology and Education
Associate Dean, School of Arts and Sciences
Fertility decline, urbanization, and massive outmigration from China’s rural communities have created new challenges in providing education to children who remain in sparsely populated areas. These challenges are not unique to China–rural depopulation is an emerging problem in many societies. However, the pace of demographic change in China has been rapid and educational policy responses have been dramatic.
The purpose of this residency is to bring together experts on rural education in China to produce a working paper series tracing new problems, possibilities, and strategies being tried out in the rural educational system in China.
About the Penn Wharton China Center
Located in the Central Business District of Beijing and celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, the Penn Wharton China Center builds on Penn’s long history of collaboration with China in research and education. Building on Penn’s 200-year history of collaboration with China, the Penn Wharton China Center provides support for programs and collaborations between Penn and academic, government, and business partners throughout China.