Areas of expertise

• Economic Development And Growth 140202
• Labour Economics 140211
• Applied Economics 1402
• Other Economics 1499

Publications

• Giles, J, Meng, X, Xue, S et al. 2021, 'Can information influence the social insurance participation decision of China's rural migrants?', Journal of Development Economics, vol. 150, pp. 1-20.
• Meng, X & Zhao, G 2021, 'The long shadow of a large scale education interruption: The intergenerational effect', Labour Economics, vol. 71, pp. 1-20.
• Booth, A, Freeman, R, Meng, X et al. 2021, 'Trade Unions and the Welfare of Rural-Urban Migrant Workers in China', Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
• Meng, X & Xue, S 2020, 'Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural-urban migrant experience', Journal of Population Economics, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 155-195.
• Meng, X & Xue, S 2020, 'Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural-urban migrant experience', Journal of Population Economics, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 155-195.
• Cameron, L, Meng, X & Zhang, D 2019, 'China's Sex Ratio and Crime: Behavioural Change or Financial Necessity?', The Economic Journal, vol. 129, no. 618, pp. 790-820.
• Iyer, L, Meng, X, Qian, N et al. 2019, 'Economic transition and private-sector labor: Evidence from urban China', Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 579-600.
• Booth, A, Fan, E, Meng, X et al 2019, 'Gender Differences in Willingness to Compete: The Role of Culture and Institutions', The Economic Journal, vol. 129, no. 618, pp. 734-764pp.
• Meng, X 2017, 'The Labor Contract Law, Macro Conditions, Self-Selection, and Labor Market Outcomes for Migrants in China', Asian Economic Policy Review, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 45-65.
• Meng, X & Yamauchi, C 2017, 'Children of Migrants: The Cumulative Impact of Parental Migration on Children's Education and Health Outcomes in China', Demography, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 1677-1714pp.
• Fan, E, Meng, X, Wei, Z et al. 2017, 'Rates of Return to Four-Year University Education: An Application of Regression Discontinuity Design', The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol. 120, no. 4, pp. 1011-1042.
• Frijters, P, Gregory, R & Meng, X 2015, 'The Role of Rural Migrants in the Chinese Urban Economy', in Christian Dustmann (ed.), Migration: Economic Change, Social Challenge, Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, pp. 33-67pp.
• Meng, X 2015, 'BLOG - Harnessing China's Untapped Labor Supply'.
• Meng, X, Qiang, N & Yared, P 2015, 'The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959-1961', Review of Economic Studies, vol. 82, no. 4, pp. 1568-1611pp.
• Meng, X 2014, 'China's Labour Market Tensions and Future Urbanisation Challenges', in Ligang Song, Ross Garnaut, Cai Fang (ed.), Deepening Reform for China's Long-term Growth and Development, ANU Press, Canberra, pp. 379-405.
• Meng, X 2014, 'Rural-urban migration in China', in Shenggen Fan, Ravi Kanbur, Shang-jin Wei & Xiabo Zhang (ed.), The Oxford Companion to the Economics of China, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 382-387.
• Meng, X 2014, 'People Flocking to China's Cities: A Book Review on China's Urban Billion: The story Behind the Biggest Migration in Human History', Science, vol. 343, no. 10 January 2014, p. 138.
• Cameron, L & Meng, X 2014, 'China's One Child Policy', in Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume (ed.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (online edition), Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, Basingstoke (Hants) U.K..
• Cameron, L, Erkal, N, Gangadharan, L et al 2013, 'Little Emperors: Behavioral Impacts of China's One-Child Policy', Science, vol. 339, no. 6122, pp. 953-957.
• Meng, X 2013, 'Rural-Urban Migration: Trend and Policy Implications (2008-2012)', in Ross Garnaut, Cai Fang and Ligang Song (ed.), China: A New Model for Growth and Development, ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 179-197.
• Cameron, L, Erkal, N, Gangadharan, L et al 2013, 'Little emperors pose behavioral challenges', Science, vol. 340, no. 6130, pp. 272-273.
• Meng, X, Shen, K, & Xue, S., 2012, 'Economic reform, education expansion, and earnings inequality for urban males in China, 1988-2009', Journal of Comparative Economics.
• Golley, J & Meng, X 2012, 'Income inequality and carbon dioxide emissions: The case of Chinese urban households', Energy Economics, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 1864-1872.
• Meng, X 2012, 'Labor Market Outcomes and Reforms in China', Journal of Economic Persepctives, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 75-101.
• Gong, H, Leigh, A & Meng, X 2012, 'Intergenerational Income Mobility in Urban China', Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 481-503.
• Gorgens, T, Meng, X & Vaithianathan, R 2012, 'Stunting and selection effects of famine: A case study of the Great Chinese Famine', Journal of Development Economics, vol. 97, no. 1, pp. 99-111.
• Gong, C, Leigh, A & Meng, X 2012, 'Intergenerational Income Mobility in Urban China', Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 481-503. (with 133 Google Scholar citations)
• Meng, X, Frijters, P & Liu, A.Y.C. (2012). 'Are optimistic expectations keeping the Chinese happy?', Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 81(1):159-171.
• Golley, J & Meng, X 2011, 'Has China run out of surplus labour?', China Economic Review, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 555-572.
• Frijters, P, Meng, X & Resosudarmo, B 2011, 'The effects of institutions on migrant wages in China and Indonesia', in Jane Golley and Ligang Song (ed.), Rising China: Global Challenges and Opportunities, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 245-284.
• Meng, X & Ryan, J 2010, 'Does a food for education program affect school outcomes? The Bangladesh case', Journal of Population Economics, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 415-447.
• Kong, T, Meng, X & Zhang, D 2010, 'The Global Financial Crisis and Rural Urban Migration', in Ross Garnaut, Jane Golley & Ligang Song (ed.), China: The Next Twenty Years of Reform and Development, ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 241-265.
• Kong, T & Meng, X 2010, 'The Education and Health Outcomes of the Children of Migrants', in Xin Meng, Chris Manning, Li Shi and Tadjuddin Noer Effendi (ed.), The Great Migration: Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA, pp. 93-116.
• Hamermesh, D, Meng, X & Zhang, J 2010, 'Discrimination and Development: The Case of Beauty in China', in Gordon Liu, Shufang Zhang, and Zongyi Zhang (ed.), Investing in Human Capital for Economic Development in China, World Scientific eBooks, Singapore, pp. 377-390.
• Frijters, P, Lee, L & Meng, X 2010, 'Jobs, working hours and remuneration packages for migrant and Urban workers', in Xin Meng, Chris Manning, Li Shi and Tadjuddin Noer Effendi (ed.), The Great Migration: Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA, pp. 47-73.
• Hamermesh, D., Meng, X., and Zhang, J., 2010, "Discrimination and development: the case of beauty in China", in Gordon Liu, Shufang Zhang, and Zongyi Zhang (eds) Investing in Human Capital for Economic Development in China. New Jersey, London, Singapore: World Scientific.
• Kong, S. T., Meng, X., and Zhang, D., 2010, "The global financial crisis and rural-urban migration" in Ross Garnaut, Jane Golley and Ligang Song (eds) China: The Next 20 Years of Reform and Development, China Update Book Series. Brookings Institution Press.
• Manning, C & Meng, X 2010, 'The Great Migration in China and Indonesia: Trends and Institutions', in Xin Meng & Chris Manning with Li Shi & Tadjuddin Noer Effendi (ed.), The Great Migration: Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA, pp. 1-22.
• Meng, X, Manning, C, Shi, L et al, eds, 2010, The Great Migration: Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA.
• Kong, T, Meng, X & Zhang, D 2009, 'Impact of economic slowdown on migrant workers', in Ross Garnaut, Ligang Song and Wing Thye Woo (ed.), China's New Place in a World in Crisis: Economic, Geopolitical and Environmental Dimensions, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 233-260.
• Meng, X & Meurs, D 2009, 'Intermarriage, Language, and Economic Assimilation Process: A case study of France', International Journal of Manpower, vol. 30, no. 1/2, p. 19.
• Meng, X, Wang, Y & Gong, X 2009, 'Impact of Income Growth and Economic Reform on Nutrition Availability in Urban China: 1986-2000', Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 261-295.
• Meng, X, Gregory, R & Wan, G 2008, 'China's Urban Poverty and its Contributing Factors, 1986-2000', in Guanghua Wan (ed.), Understanding Inequality and Poverty in China: Methods and applications, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, Great Britain, pp. 218-249.
• Meng, X & Chuliang, L 2008, 'What Determines Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Urban China', in Bjorn A. Gustafsson, Li Shi, Terry Sicular (ed.), Inequality and Public Policy in China, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, pp. 267-286.
• Gong, X, Kong, T, Li, S et al. 2008, 'Rural-urban Migrants: A Driving Force for Growth', in Ligang Song & Wing Thye Woo (ed.), China's dilemma: economic growth, the environment and climate change, ANU ePress, Canberra, Australia, pp. 110-152.
• Golley, J, Meagher, D & Meng, X 2008, 'Chinese urban household energy requirements and CO2 emissions', in Ligang Song & Wing Thye Woo (ed.), China's dilemma: economic growth, the environment and climate change, ANU ePress, Canberra, Australia, pp. 334-366.
• Meng, X & Bai, N 2007, 'How much have the wages of unskilled workers in China increased? Data from seven factories in Guangdong', in Ross Garnaut & Ligang Song (ed.), China: Linking Markets for Growth, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, Australia, pp. 151-175.
• Meng, X 2007, 'Wealth accumulation and distribution in urban China', Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 761-791.
• Meng, X, Gregory, R & Wan, G 2007, 'Urban poverty in China and its contributing factors, 1986-2000', Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 167-89.
• Meng, X 2006, 'Unemployment, consumption smoothing and precautionary saving in urban China', in Li Shi and Hiroshi Sato (ed.), Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty in Urban China, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London & New York, pp. 90-112.
• Cai, F, Giles, J & Meng, X 2006, 'How well do children insure parents against low retirement income? An analysis using survey data from urban China', Journal of Public Economics, vol. 90, no. 2006, pp. 2229-2255.
• Daly, A, Kawaguchi, A, Meng, X et al 2006, 'The gender wage gap in four countries', Economic Record, vol. 82, no. 257, pp. 165-176.
• Yang, D, Gregory, R & Meng, X 2006, 'The impact of the guest worker system on poverty and well-being of migrant workers in urban china', in Ross Garnaut & Ligang Song (ed.), The Turning Point in China's Economic Development, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, Australia, pp. 172-202.
• Meng, X 2006, 'Economic restructuring and income inequality in urban China', in Li Shi and Hiroshi Sato (ed.), Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty in Urban China, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London & New York, pp. 65-89.
• Meng, X 2005, 'Introduction: Poverty and labor markets in China', Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 641-643.
• Meng, X & Gregory, R 2005, 'Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants', Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 135-175.
• Meng, X 2005, 'Restructuring state-owned enterprises: labour market outcomes and employees welfare', in Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song (ed.), The China Boom and its Discontents, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, Australia, pp. 139-157.
• Meng, X, Gregory, R & Wang, Y 2005, 'Poverty, inequality, and growth in urban China, 1986-2000', Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 710-729.
• Meng, X 2004, 'Private sector development and labour market reform', in Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song (ed.), China's Third Economic Transformation: The rise of the private economy, Routledge Curzon, London, pp. 146-165.
• Meng, X, Gregory, R & Wang, Y 2004, 'Poverty and inequality in urban China in the 1990s', in Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song (ed.), China: Is rapid growth sustainable?, Asia Pacific Press, ANU, Canberra, pp. 197-211.
• Meng, X 2004, 'Gender earnings gap: the role of firm specific effects', Labour Economics, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 555-573.
• Cai, F, Meng, X & Wang, M 2004, 'China's aging population and pension reform: Challenges and options (in Chinese)', International Economic Review (In Chinese), vol. 7-8, pp. 40-43.
• Meng, X & Meurs, D 2004, 'The gender earnings gap: effects of institutions and firms - a comparative study of French and Australian private firms', Oxford Economic Papers, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 189-208.
• Meng, X 2004, 'Economic restructuring and income inequality in Urban China', Review of Income and Wealth, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 357-379.
• Meng, X 2003, 'Unemployment, consumption smoothing, and precautionary saving in urban China', Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 465-485.
• Meng, X 2003, 'Political capital and wealth accumulation', in Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song (ed.), China: New Engine of World Growth, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, pp. 316-329.
• Meng, X & Cai, F 2003, 'Demographic change, pension reform, and the sustainability of the pension system', in Jin Liam Wu (ed.), Comparative Studies, CITIC Publishing House, Beijing, pp. 179-206.
• Meng, X 2003, 'Liberalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty in urban China', in Kishor Sharma (ed.), Trade Policy, Growth and Poverty in Asian Developing Countries, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York, pp. 59-73.
• Meng, X & Gregory, R 2002, 'The Impact of Interrupted Education on Subsequent Educational Attainment: A Cost of the Chinese Cultural Revolution', Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 935-959.
• Hamermesh, D, Meng, X & Zhang, J 2002, 'Dress for success: does primping pay?', Labour Economics, vol. 9, pp. 361-373.
• Meng, X 2002, 'Radical economic reform and income distribution', in Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song (ed.), China 2002: WTO entry and world recession, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, pp. 171-183.
• Meng, X & Huang, Y 2001, 'China's Industrial Growth and Efficiency: a Comparison Between the State and the TVE Sectors', in Ross Garnaut and Yiping Haung (ed.), Growth Without Miracles, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 292-307.
• Meng, X 2001, 'Wage Determination and Occupational Attainment in the Rural Industrial Sector of China', in Ross Garnaut and Yiping Haung (ed.), Growth Without Miracles, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 347-362.
• Meng, X & Zhang, J 2001, 'The Two-Tier Labor Market in Urban China', Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 485-504.
• Meng, X 2001, 'The Informal Sector and Rural-Urban Migration - A Chinese Case Study', Asian Economic Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 71-89.
• Meng, X & Kidd, M 2001, 'The Chinese State Enterprise Sector: Labour Market Reform and the Impact on Wage Structure', Asian Economic Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 405-423.
• Gregory, R & Meng, X 2001, 'Immigrant Employment and Economic Change in Australia', in Jeff Borland, Bob Gregory and Peter Sheehan (ed.), Work Rich, Work Poor: Inequality and Economic Change in Australia, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 60-77.
• Meng, X & Meurs, D 2001, 'Differences de structure des emplois et ecart salarial entre hommes et femmes en France', Economie and Provision, vol. 148, no. 2, pp. 113-126.
• Liu, P, Meng, X & Zhang, J 2000, 'Sectoral gender wage differentials and discrimination in the transitional Chinese economy', Journal of Population Economics, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 331-352.
• Meng, X 2000, Labour Market Reform in China, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Projects and Grants

Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.

• Inequality of health, wealth and education in China (Primary Investigator)
• Labor Market Dynamics and Social Protection for Rural-Urban Migrants in China (Primary Investigator)
• A New Phase and New Issues of Rural-Urban Migration in China (Primary Investigator)
• Height, Body Mass Index and Demographic Changes in the Asian Giants (Secondary Investigator)
• Study of Rural-Urban Migration in Vietnam with Insights from China and Indonesia (Primary Investigator)
• Impact of rural-urban migration on income and health status: a comparative study for China and Indonesia (Primary Investigator)
• Listing of Migrant Household in China (Primary Investigator)
• An Economic Analysis of the Effect of Networks on Jobs and Mental Health in China: Patterns, Consequences and Policy Implications (Primary Investigator)
• Rural-Urban Migration in China and Indonesia: Patterns, Consequences and Policy Intervention (Primary Investigator)