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zhao zhong
professor
qiushi building 329
86-10-82502201
zhao.zhong@ruc.edu.cn
labor economics
zhao zhong is the dean of the school of labor and human resources at renmin university of china and the director of the china institute for employment and welfare studies. he holds the title of distinguished professor under the "yangtze river scholars award program" of the ministry of education and is a wu yuzhang honorary professor at renmin university of china. he earned his ph.d. in economics from johns hopkins university in the united states.
professor zhao's research areas include labor economics, health economics, and applied microeconometrics. his interests cover employment theory and policy, labor markets, income distribution and common prosperity, technological progress and the digital economy, human capital investment, urban-rural migration, and economic analyses of health and healthcare.
professor zhao's significant editorial and research roles include vice chair of the editorial board of the applied economics review, associate editor of the journal of population economics, and researcher affiliations with the institute for the study of labor (iza) in germany, the united nations university - maastricht economic and social research institute on innovation and technology (unu-merit), and the centre for development economics and sustainability at monash university, australia. he is also a member of the human capital and economic opportunity working group.
professor zhao has received numerous awards such as the kuznets prize for best paper from the journal of population economics, the ministry of education's "new century excellent talent support plan", and the distinguished visiting scholar at the university of canberra in australia. his research has been published in various chinese journals such as economic research journal, china economic quarterly, world economy, journal of renmin university of china, economic theory and business management, sociological studies, and in english journals like review of economics and statistics, journal of population economics, economic development and culture change, journal of comparative economics, journal of economic behavior & organization, review of income and wealth, journal of the royal statistical society (series a), labour economics, review of development economics, economics letters, and china economic review.
professor zhao has also undertaken multiple national and international research projects on employment, common prosperity, income distribution, and technological advancement funded by organizations including the national natural science foundation of china, national development and reform commission, ministry of human resources and social security, national bureau of statistics of china, all-china federation of trade unions, high-level think tanks in china, and the european union. his expertise has been featured multiple times in media outlets such as people's daily, guang ming daily, beijing daily, china daily, and people's daily online.
selected publications
"hukou status and children’s education in china," (with yue sun and liqiu zhao), economic development and cultural change , forthcoming.
"the effect of the spatial distribution of state-owned enterprises on the location of private-owned enterprise births," (with liang zheng), journal of regional science , vol. 64(1), january 2024.
"women’s education and fertility in china," (with zheyuan zhang), china economic review , vol. 78, april 2023.
"informal institution meets child development: clan culture and child labor in china," (with can tang), journal of comparative economics , vol. 51(1), march 2023.
"parental socioeconomic status and children’s cognitive ability in china," (with hui xu, zheyuan zhang), journal of asian economics , vol. 84, february 2023.
"brain drain from europe to china in a digital economy era?" (with cao ma), econpol forum , vol. 23, september 2022.
"higher education expansion in china, 1999–2003: impact on graduate employability," (with dongshu ou), china & world economy , vol. 30(2), march 2022.
"one-child policy and marriage market in china," (with jun han), review of development economics , vol. 26(1), february 2022.
"the impact of grandparental care on children's non-cognitive skills: evidence on locus of control from china family panel studies," (with xiang ao, xuan chen), china economic review , vol. 71, february 2022.
"construction and testing of china's labor marketization index," (with wenkai sun, shuang shan, and wending liu), china economic quarterly international , vol. 1(2), june 2021.
"employment structure in china from 1990 to 2015," (with peng ge and wenkai sun), journal of economic behavior & organization , vol. 185, may 2021.
"trade liberalization and child labor in china," (with fei wang and liqiu zhao), china economic review , vol. 65, february 2021.
"disruptive peers in classroom and students' academic outcomes: evidence and mechanisms," (with liqiu zhao), labour economics , vol. 68, january 2021.
"free education helps combat child labor? the effect of a free compulsory education reform in rural china," (with can tang and liqiu zhao), journal of population economics , vol. 33, issue 2, april 2020.
"unintended consequences of china’s new labor contract law on unemployment and welfare loss of the workers," (with randall akee and liqiu zhao), china economic review , vol. 53, february 2019.
"child labor in china," (with can tang and liqiu zhao), china economic review , vol. 51, october 2018.
"the health implications of social pensions: evidence from china’s new rural pension scheme," (with lingguo cheng, hong liu, and ye zhang), journal of comparative economics , vol. 46, march 2018.
"where are migrants from? inter- vs. intra-provincial rural-urban migration in china," (with yaqin su and petros tesfazion), china economic review , vol. 47, february 2018.
"the heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from china's new rural pension scheme," (with lingguo cheng, hong liu, and ye zhang), journal of population economics , vol. 31, issue 1, january 2018.
"what drives spatial clusters of entrepreneurship in china?" (with liang zheng), china economic review , vol. 46, december 2017.
"height, weight and well-being for rural, urban, and migrant workers in china," (with wang-sheng lee), social indicators research , vol. 132, issue 1, may 2017.
"glass ceiling effect in urban china: wage inequality of chinese rural-urban migrants during 2002–2007," (with zhaopeng qu), china economic review , vol. 42, february 2017.
"china’s family planning policies and their labor market consequences," (with fei wang and liqiu zhao), journal of population economics , vol. 30, issue 1, january 2017.
"the impact of rural-urban migration on the health of the left-behind parents," (with xiang ao and dawei jiang), china economic review , vol. 37, february 2016.
"social-family network and self-employment: evidence from temporary rural-urban migrants in china," (with junfu zhang), iza journal of labor & development , 4:4, 2015.
"parental job loss and children’s health: ten years after massive layoff of soes’ workers in china," (with hong liu), china economic review , vol. 31, december 2014.
"does health insurance matter? evidence from china’s urban resident basic medical insurance," (with hong liu), journal of comparative economics , vol. 42, issue 4, december 2014.
"evolution of the chinese rural-urban migrant labor market from 2002 to 2007," (with zhaopeng qu), china agricultural economic review , vol. 6, issue 2, june 2014.
"social learning and health insurance enrollment: evidence from china's new cooperative medical scheme," (with hong liu and qi sun), journal of economic behavior & organization , vol. 97, january 2014.
"vouchers and caseworkers in training programs for the unemployed," (with ulf rinne and arne uhlendorff), empirical economics , vol. 45, issue 3, december 2013.
"the impact of training duration on employment outcomes: evidence from late estimates," (with jochen kluve, ulf rinne, and arne uhlendorff), economics letters , vol. 120, issue 3, september 2013.
"urban–rural disparities of child health and nutritional status in china from 1989 to 2006," (with hong liu and hai fang), economics and human biology , vol. 11, issue 3, july 2013.
"evaluating continuous training programs using the generalized propensity score," (with jochen kluve, hilmar schneider, and arne uhlendorff), journal of the royal statistical society: series a , vol. 175, issue 2, april 2012.
"the fertility effect of catastrophe: u.s. hurricane births," (with richard evans and yingyao hu), journal of population economics , vol. 23, issue 1, january 2010.
"earnings differences between chinese and indian wage earners, 1987-2004," (with olivier bargain, sumon kumar bhaumik, and manisha chakrabarty), review of income and wealth , vol. 55, issue s1, july 2009.
"sensitivity of propensity score methods to the specifications," economics letters , vol. 98, issue 3, march 2008.
"health demand and health determinants in china," journal of chinese economic and business studies , vol. 6, issue 1, february 2008.
"migration, labor market flexibility, and wage determination in china: a review," the developing economies , vol. 43, no. 2, june 2005.
"using matching to estimate treatment effects: data requirement, matching metrics and monte carlo evidence," the review of economics and statistics , vol. 86, issue 1, february 2004.