About

Maurer-Fazio is the Betty Doran Stangle Professor of Applied Economics at Bates College. She is also a Research Fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. in economics and an advanced certificate in Asian Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. She studied Chinese at the Inter-university Program for Chinese Language in Taipei. She received both her M.A. and Honors B.A. in economics at the University of Western Ontario. She has served on the editorial boards of the China Economic Review, the Journal of Contemporary China, and Eurasian Geography and Economics  and on the advisory board of the Chinese Women Economists Network.

Maurer-Fazio’s research program focuses on labor market developments in China. Her most recent work includes: (1) a series of papers on China’s rural elders (their work to “retirement” transitions, the relationship between their co-residency with adult children and happiness, and the extent, causes and consequences of being “left behind” when adult children migrate) and; (2) a series of resume (correspondence) audit studies, which focus on the role of ethnicity, facial attractiveness, and employment status in the hiring practices of Chinese firms using Internet job boards. She is co-editor (with Sarah Cook) of The Workers’ State Meets the Market: Labour in China’s Transition. She publishes in both economic and China journals such as The Journal of Human Resources, The China Journal, The Journal of Comparative Economics, China Economic Review, International Journal of Manpower, Feminist Economics, and the Journal of Contemporary China.

Her teaching includes courses on introductory microeconomics, economic development, China’s economic reforms, work and workers in China, food and famines in China, the Japanese economy, and the nexus between environmental protection and economic development in China. During her time at Bates College, Maurer-Fazio has co-directed four fall-semester programs in Nanjing, one fall-semester program in Kunming, brought students to China and Taiwan several times for 5-week intensive courses, and taught for a semester in the Associated Kyoto Program.

Education
– Ph.D. in Economics and Advanced Certificate in Asian Studies, University of Pittsburgh
– M.A. in Economics, University of Western Ontario
– Honors B.A. in Economics, University of Western Ontario

Selected publications

Ngan Dinh, Conor Hughes, James Hughes & Margaret Maurer-Fazio “Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Results from a Household Survey in Vietnam,” Journal of Human Trafficking, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2019.1650527 (Published Online August, 2019)

Maurer-Fazio, Margaret and Sili Wang, “Does Marital Status Affect How Firms Interpret Job Applicants’ Un/Employment Histories?” International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 39 No. 4, 2018, pp. 567-580. DOI 10.1108/IJM-09-2017-0251

Ding, Sai, Xiao-yuan Dong and Margaret Maurer-Fazio, “Childcare, Household Composition, Muslim Ethnicity, and Off-Farm Work in Rural China,” Feminist Economics, 2018, Volume 24, Issue 2, pp.77-99. DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2017.1407032 (Published Online December 22, 2017.)

Maurer-Fazio, Margaret and Rachel Connelly, “How Do Caregiving Responsibilities Shape the Time Use of Women and Men in Rural China?” in Gender and Time Use in a Global Context edited by Rachel Connelly and Ebru Kongar, Palgrave Macmillan: London, 2017.

Connelly, Rachel and Margaret Maurer-Fazio, “Left Behind, At-Risk, and Vulnerable Elders in Rural China,” China Economic Review, 2016, Volume 37, Issue 1, pp.140-153, DOI:10.1016/j. chieco.2015.10.005

Maurer-Fazio, Margaret and Lei Lei, “As Rare as a Panda”: How Facial Attractiveness, Gender, and Occupation Affect Interview Callbacks at Chinese Firms, International Journal of Manpower, 2015, Volume 36, Issue 1, pp.68-85.

“Childcare, Eldercare, and Labor Force Participation of Married Women in Urban China: 1982−2000” (with Rachel Connelly, Lan Chen, Lixin Tang) Journal of Human Resources, Spring 2011, Volume 46, Number 2, pp.261-294.

“An Ocean Formed from One Hundred Rivers: The Effects of Ethnicity, Gender, Marriage, and Location on Labor Force Participation in Urban China,” (with James W. Hughes and Dandan Zhang) Feminist Economics, July/October 2007, Volume 13, Number 3-4, pp. 125-153.

“The Effects of Market Liberalization on the Relative Earnings of Chinese Women,” (with James Hughes) the Journal of Comparative Economics, December 2002, Volume 30, No.4, pp.709-731

“Education and Earnings in China’s Transition to a Market Economy: Survey Evidence from 1989 and 1992,” China Economic Review, 1999, Volume 10, No. 1, pp.17-40”