Ruoran Cheng

About

I have a PhD in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science. I now work full-time at a coffee company. In my spare time, I continue to pursue academic research as a personal interest, although coffee—and especially brewing it well—matters much more to me. I firmly believe that coffee makes life better.

Publications

Cheng, R.^*, Yu, X., Li, D. et al. Topographic accessibility and proto-urban settlement organization in Neolithic China. Nat Cities (2026).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00511-2

^* Corresponding author.

How landscapes shaped the spatial foundations of cities in pre-state China. Nat Cities (2026).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00524-x

Working Papers

Route To Cities: Natural Endowments Under Varying Institutions

Transportation Cost in the Great Divergence: Yangtze China VS. England

Teaching

LSE

Teaching Assistant

EC204: Financial Markets and the Global Economy: The History of Bubbles, Crashes and Inflations (Evaluation: 4.5/5)

Other

Transportation Network in Late Imperial China: I have georeferenced all courier stations in Ming China, which formed the official transportation network from the 14th to the 19th century.