The public policies modeling and simulation laboratory in the School of Public Economics and Administration of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics was developed from the old Finance and Public Administration Laboratory. It now has four laboratories: the Taxation Simulation Laboratory, the GIS Laboratory, the CGE Laboratory and the Social Survey and Investigation Laboratory.
Since the establishment of the new lab in December 2006, it has been supporting teachers and students in various research projects and activities, particularly encouraged the creation of new teaching and research methods through experimental teaching and case studies. At present, the laboratory is partially undertaking a number of important national-level research projects such as projects funded by the State Natural Science Funds Commission, the State Social Science Funds Commission, the National Ministries and Commissions, and other provincial projects, on the other hand, the laboratory plays an essential role in facilitating the School’s teaching activities for the undergraduate and post-graduate programs which include the teaching on key courses such as “the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Its Application ”, “Spatial Data Analysis”, “Computable General Equilibrium Model (CGE): Fundamental Theories and Programming”, “the Application of SAS, SPSS and STATA”, “Research Methods in Social Science”, “Investment Projects Assessment”, “Hospital Cost Database Application”, “Urban Planning and Administration” etc. The laboratory is also providing technical support and facility supplying for College Students’ Innovative and Experimental Projects, College Students’ Innovative Scientific Research Projects and other student projects.
In 2013, the rebuilt Public Policies Modeling and Simulation Laboratory functions as a “Cloud Platform” to support the School’s teaching, learning, and researching activities. The desktop cloud environment and virtualization technology solved problems in the traditional teaching environment by proficiency enhancement in IT management, cost reduction, and function improvement. The laboratory’s 10 different types of software environment (statistical, computing, stimulating, GIS, professional, and word processing etc.) ultimately meet teachers and students’ personalized needs, providing high quality service for various teaching and research activities.