Beginning with her first visit to China in 1976, Penelope Prime has over 30 years of experience studying and working within Chinese culture and the dynamic Chinese economy. After majoring in Chinese studies and studying Mandarin as an undergraduate, she earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan. She was one of the first U.S. graduate students to visit China for dissertation research after the U.S. and China normalized relations in the late 1970s.
Dr. Prime is currently Professor of International Business in the Institute of International Business at the J. Mack College of Business, Georgia State University. Prior to joining GSU, Dr. Prime taught at Mercer University and Kennesaw State University.
Dr. Prime’s experience includes directing study abroad programs, taking over 300 students to China; conducting field research in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; traveling across most of China and living in Nanjing and Beijing for extended periods of time; analyzing China’s economy for the Center for International Research at the U.S. Bureau of the Census from 1991-1998; and working with companies on China strategy, business environment, negotiations and cultural understanding.
Dr. Prime’s research focuses on China’s economy and business environment, including topics such as China’s foreign trade and investment, industrial and technological progress, and provincial development, as well as applied business and economics cases on China and Asia. Her most recent books are Global Giant: Is China Changing the Rules of the Game? (co-edited with Eva Paus and Jon Western, Palgrave McMillan, 2009) and Taiwan’s Democracy: Economic and Political Challenges, (co-edited with Robert Ash and John W. Garver, Routledge, 2011).
Her articles have been published in Growth & Change, Applied Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, China Economic Review, The Chinese Economy, Pacific Economic Review, Osaka Economic Papers, and Business Economics, among others, as well as in journals in China. She serves on the editorial boards of China Economic Review, Eurasia Geography & Economics and the Indian Journal of Economics and Business, and has received numerous grants, including from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Scholarly Communications with the PRC, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
In 2001, Dr. Prime launched the China Research Center. This organization is a center of expertise on contemporary China whose mission is to promote research and education about greater China. Dr. Prime is also on the Research Board of the ICA Institute, which focuses on the development and interactions of India, China and America, and is one of the U.S. based Secretariats of the West China Development Studies Consortium. She serves as a board member for the Georgia China Alliance and is a member of the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations.
