Melanie Meng Xue

At long last..

I am excited to be hiring two post-doctoral positions at UCLA--please share with your networks. www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.....

We are thrilled to welcome our new members on the advisory board of @rhi-ihr.bsky.social !! (@rug.nl, @middecon.bsky.social, @melanie-xue.bsky.social)

In Conversation: Andreas Ferrara & Melanie Xue on Understanding Race and Gender through Economic History Drawing on sources like Civil War records and ancient Chinese poetry, two economic historians discuss how their work informs contemporary debates on the economic dimensions of gender and race.

Drawing on sources like Civil War records and ancient Chinese poetry, economic historians @andyferrara.bsky.social &
@melanie-xue.bsky.social discuss how their work informs contemporary debates on the economic dimensions of gender and race.

egc.yale.edu/news/260119/...

Abstract of "Women's Power in the Household": We examine women's household power in low- and middle-income countries, synthesizing theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence on its measurement, determinants, and consequences. We define women's household power as their influence over household choices, distinguishing it from broader empowerment concepts. We review economic models, including unitary, collective, and bargaining frameworks, and map these to empirical approaches. We then discuss measurement methods such as structural estimation of consumption allocation, survey measures, and laboratory experiments. On the determinants of women's power, we find that some approaches, such as transfers targeted to women, show mixed results, while others, such as increasing women's control over their earnings, show clearer positive impacts. On the effects of women's power, we pay special attention to children's human capital. Few studies provide strong evidence that mothers invest more in children than fathers do, but collectively the evidence suggests such an effect. We conclude by highlighting research and methodological gaps.

New NBER working paper with Alessandra Voena on women's power in the household in LMICs.

I'd never found a review article on this topic that met my needs as a PhD class reading, so we sought to fill this gap.

NBER : www.nber.org/papers/w34605
Ungated: seemajayachandran.com/womens_power_JEL.pdf

Luckily, I decamped from the East Coast just before the snow

Joel Mokyr at Nick Crafts 70th birthday conference in 2019 at @cagewarwick.bsky.social @warwickecon.bsky.social @warwickuni.bsky.social

Big day for LSE and Economic History! Philippe Aghion (LSE Econ), Peter Howitt and Economic Historian Joel Mokyr were awarded this year's Sverige Riksbank (Nobel) Prize. On top of that, our recent PhD graduate (2024)
@juliuskoschnick.bsky.social has been cited in the scientific statement 🥳

I have a new review article w/ Alessandra Voena on women's power in the household in LMICs (just submitted to JEL).

I've written ~6 review articles, and I think this is the best one. We make some useful conceptual points IMO. But you decide! Comments welcome!

seemajayachandran.com/womens_power...

Imperial China’s eighteenth-century quota: how an affirmative-action experiment reshaped the exam empire - Economic History Society In this blog post, Melanie Meng Xue of the London School of Economics & Boxiao Zhang of the Renmin University Of China introduce their new working paper, “The Short- and Long-Run Effects of Affirmativ...

Now on the Long Run: 'Imperial China’s eighteenth-century quota: how an affirmative-action experiment reshaped the exam empire' by Melanie Meng Xue (LSE) & Boxiao Zhang (Renmin)
ehs.org.uk/imperial-chi...

Going there next weekend..

Melanie Meng Xue on X: "Three centuries ago China tweaked a single rule in its imperial exams—and gave us a natural experiment on affirmative action that still echoes today. 🧵👇" / X Three centuries ago China tweaked a single rule in its imperial exams—and gave us a natural experiment on affirmative action that still echoes today. 🧵👇

Cool 🧵 by @melanie-xue.bsky.social elsewhere — reminded me of buying a book called “China’s Examination Hell” for someone starting NY bar exam prep.

x.com/Melanie_Xue/...

Ruling and Healing: Managing Health and Empire in Qing China 1644-1912

How did the Qing use medicine to strengthen the empire? Chinese medical and political/economic history... join us at the IHR/online on Tuesday 6 May to hear Yitong Qiu (UCL). register www.history.ac.uk/events/rulin...

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library This paper exploits ancient textual sources to develop a database of ancient trade in the Indian Ocean and model trade in the region during the Iron Age. Wind-speed data are used to construct a gravi....

This #ScholarSunday take some time to read my latest paper in the EHR

✅ Iron age trade
✅ Reconstructed trade routes
✅ The resource curse
✅ Ancient export led growth
✅ Verifying Pliny’s great complaint

A throwback to a more globalised time...

#EconSky

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

28/03/2025 Melanie Xu – QUCEH Seminar Series - CEPH - Centre for Economics, Policy and History Enlightenment Under Autocracy: The Origins of Liberalism in China  Abstract: This paper investigates how ideas influence political institutions over time, focusing on Wang Yangming’s philosophy and it...

We look forward to welcoming @melanie-xue.bsky.social of @lseechist.bsky.social to @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social for Friday's @quceh.bsky.social seminar:
​Enlightenment Under Autocracy: The Origins of Liberalism in China
ceph.ie/events/28-03... #EconSky #Economics #EconomicHistory #NSRPproject

Tomorrow Xizi Luo will present our joint work at the Cambridge History of Memory and Emotions Workshop! Looking forward to it