A. Student: Graduates and New RPGs (p2)
B. Publication and Conference Presentation (p3)
C. Quantitative Social Science Training Workshop at HKUST (p4)
D. My Experience of Applying for Overseas PhD Programs in Economics (Sen MA) (p4)
E. Hong Kong Field Trip (Qin JIANG) (p5)
F. My Experience at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting 2012 (Hao DONG)(p6) G. My Experience in Attending RC28
Meetings (Fangqi WEN) (p7)
RPG Newsletter
Issue 2, Summer, 2012
DIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY IN THIS ISSUE
“
From PG Coordinator
by Professor Xiaogang WU
This is a season to welcome 11 MPhil students and 5 PhD students to the Division. They come from diverse academic background with research interests in economics, environmental science, political science, psychology, and sociology. This year we nominated 3 students for Hong Kong PhD Fellow-ship and got 100% success rate! This is both an honor to the awardees and also recognition to our RPG training program in social science.
For some of you, Clear Water Bay is the place where you will spend 5 to 6 years of the meaningful age to pursue your dream. For others, HKUST may be only a short stop of your long journey. In any case, “SoSc Life: RPG News-letter” will stay as a corner for you to memorize, to share, and to enrich the learning and life experience in this wonderful institution!
Enjoy reading! “SoSc Life: RPG Newsletter”
(Sum-mer Issue, 2012) is now in print. The issue records the publications, academic presentations and social activities of RPG students and alumni in the Division of Social Science since Janu-ary, 2012.
This is a season to celebrate the graduation of 11 MPhil students and 4 PhD students. Many MPhil graduates will continue their PhD study either at HKUST or in North America, while PhD graduates will start their faculty job in mainland universities or stay in Hong Kong to continue their research. We wish them all the best!
Students:
Graduates and New RPGs
A.
Graduates
a) PhD graduates in 2012,
(Thesis, Advisor)
Qin JIANG, “Essays on Social Mobility in Late Imperial China: Attainment in Civil Exam and Officials’ Career Mobility”, Prof. James K S KUNG
Jun LI, “Three Essays on Dynamics of China's Urban Labor Market: Hukou-based Stratification, Size-earnings Relation, and Sector-segmented Mobility”, Prof. Xiao-gang,WU
Hua YE, “College Expansion and School-to-Work Transition in China”, Prof. Xiaogang WU
Lin ZHU, “The Disciplining of Government Officials in China”, Prof. Yongshun CAI
b) MPhil Graduates in 2012,
(Thesis, Advisor)
Hao DONG,”Kinship Matters: Long-Term Mortality Consequences of Childhood Migration, Historical Evidence from Northeast China, 1792-1909”, Prof. James Z LEE
Guangye HE, “Gender Earnings Inequality in Reform-era Urban China”, Prof. Xiaogang WU
Jing HU, “Does Economic Status Affect Nationalism Fostering within a Nation? ---Evidence from Secondary School Students in three cities of China”, Prof. Wenkai HE Sen MA, “The Effects of Environmental Regulation on Industrial Pollution and Industrial Activities: Evidence from China”, Prof. Yi ZHU
Meng SUN, “China’s Trade Unions Disoriented: A Case Study of Direct Elections of Workplace Unions”, Prof. David ZWEIG
Tong Karin WANG, “On the Differences between Ideal Affect and Normative Affect: A Mixed-Method Examination”, Prof. Michelle YIK
Yige WANG, “Meritocracy or Cronyism: Ethnicity, Bureaucracy Competency and Natural Disaster Relief in Ch’ing China”, Prof. James K S KUNG
b) Mphil students
Hoi Wing CHAN, CUHK (UG)
Xinguang FAN, Peking University (UG)
Kwan Ho LI, HKUST (UG)
Jia MIAO, Fudan University (UG), Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (PG)
Yuan TIAN, HKUST (UG, PG)
Lingwei WU, Peking University (UG, PG)
Nuannuan XIANG, Shanghai International
Studies University (UG), HKUST (PG)
Xiaolu ZANG, Tongji University (UG),
Ghent University (PG)
Shengyuan ZHANG, Tsinghua University
(UG, PG)
Donglin ZENG, China University of
Geosciences (UG)
Runze ZHENG, Peking University (UG) Fangqi WEN, “The Later the Less? A
Sibling Analysis of Birth Order Effect on Educational Attainment in Taiwan”, Prof. Raymond Sin-kwok WONG
Jiaxin XIE, “University Presidents' Career Concerns and the Allocation of Education Resources in China”, Prof. Li HAN
Feng YANG, “Terms, Incentives and Social Services Provision: Evidence from Chinese Mayors”, Prof. Yongshun CAI
Zhaojin ZENG, “The Long-Run Impact of China's “Anti-Rightist Campaign” on Human Capital”, Prof. James K S KUNG
B. New RPGs
a) PhD students
Ying BAI, Peking University (PG), Hong
Kong PhD Fellowship
Hao DONG, HKUST (PG), Hong Kong
PhD Fellowship
Yige WANG, HKUST (PG)
Guangye HE, HKUST (PG), Hong Kong
PhD Fellowship
Publication
CAI, Yongshun and SHENG,
Zhiming, forthcoming,
“Leaders with Mixed Motivations: Home-owners’ Activism in Beijing.” The China
Quarterly 陈硕、高琳，2012，“央地关 系：财政分权的度量及作用机 制再评估”，《管理世界》， 2012 年 4 月。 陈硕，2012，"转型期中国的 犯罪治理：堵还是疏？" 《经 济 学 季 刊 》 ， 第 12 卷 第 2 期。 蓋瑞•金，羅伯特•基歐漢，西 德尼•維巴，2012，《社會大 哉 問 : 質 化 研 究 中 的 科 學 推 論》，盛智明、韓佳譯，林宗 弘 校 ，台 北： 群學 出版社 。 (Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Quali-tative Research) 李骏、吴晓刚，2012，“收入 不平等与公平分配：对转型时 期中国城镇居民公平观的一项 实 证 分 析”， 《中国社会科 学》第 3 期。
Ll, Jun and Hongbo Wang
2012. “Home Ownership and Political Participation in Urban China.” Chinese Sociological
Review 44 (summer).
YU, Jia, and Yu Xie. 2011.
“The Varying Display of ‘Gender Display’ A Compara-tive Study of Mainland China and Taiwan.” Chinese
Socio-logical Review 44(2): 5-30
ZHANG, Zhuoni and Donald
Treiman forthcoming. “Social Origins, Hukou Conversion, and the Wellbeing of Urban Residents in Contemporary China ”Social Science Research
Conference Presentation
PAA: Papers presented in the Annual Meeting of Population Association of America,
May 3-5, 2012, San Francisco, CA, U.S.
DONG, Hao. “Destination Matters: Long-Term Mortality Consequence of
Childhood Migration Experience, Historical Evidence from Northeast China, 1792-1909.”
MPSA: Papers presented in 70th Annual Conference of Midwest Political Science
Association, April 12-15, 2012, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
SHENG, Zhiming. "Social Mobility and Political Trust in Contemporary
China."
YANG, Feng. “Political Curse? Political Careers of Local Leaders and
Non-economic Public Goods Provision in China.”
ZENG, Zhaojin. “Rethinking Mao’s Terror: China’s Political Repression of
Intellectuals in 1957 and its Long-run Impact.”
RC28: Paper presented at the 2012 Spring Meeting of the ISA RC28 at Hong Kong,
May 11-13, 2012
HE, Guangye. “Gender Earnings Inequality in Reform-era Urban China.” JIANG, Qin and James Kai-sing KUNG. “Inherited Ability or Lineage Wealth?
The Ladder of Social Success in Late Imperial China Reconsidered (1798-1895).”
LI, Jun. “Organization Size and Economic Stratification in Urban
China:1996-2006 .”
WANG, Jia and Yu Xie. “Psychological Distress in Post-Reform Urban China.” WEN, Fangqi. “The Later the Less: A Sibling Analysis of Birth Order Effect on
Educational Attainment in Taiwan”
XU, Duoduo. “Marketization and Earnings Returns to Human Capital and
Political Capital in Urban China, 1995-2002.”
YE, Hua and Chunni Zhang. “Selection on Gender along the Educational
Pipeline in China.”
YU, Jia. “Changing Effects of Determinants in Transition to First Marriage:
Evidence from China, 1941-2003.”
盛智明，《当前中国的社会流动与政治信任》，获中国社会学会 2012 年学术年 会（宁夏银川）优秀论文一等奖。
My Experience of Applying for
Overseas PhD Programs in
Economics
By Sen MA (MPhil, 2010–2012)
I am a student in the Department of Economics at Peking University. I have applied for around 10 U.S. PhD programs in Economics and Agri-cultural and Resource Economics. My main targets were programs ranked around 20 to 30. Fortunately, I have been accepted on the PhD program in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here, I would
like to share some of my application experiences with those who are intending to apply for PhD programs in the U.S. First, I would like to discuss some general tips that are not specific to applications in Economics. In my experience, it is better to have a clear research topic in mind before selecting the school(s) you will apply to. Instead of being too general (for instance, development economics), the research topic should be very specific and almost implementable in a real research study. (My topic is “What is the political process that determines variation in the implementation of environmental policy in China?”) It is better to link the research question to your previous research or life experience, to convince the admission committee that you have the motivation to continue the research. Once you have a research topic in mind, you should target programs where people are doing similar work. Matching interest is one of the most important factors that will determine whether you
are admitted.
Then, for those who want to apply for programs in economics, I would advise that basic training in economics and mathematics is very important. Having taken an advanced course in economics contributes a lot to your application profile. Therefore, those who still have the chance should take the opportunity to enroll in such a course. Finally, although applying to overseas programs is not an easy journey, the help of others can ease the hardship. I could not have succeeded without the valuable help of several professors in our department and my friends. Their advice helped me to make my statement clear and to the point; their encouragement kept me from giving up when I was almost at the point of abandoning my dream. Do not hesitate to seek help – your professors and friends will always be your faithful supporters.
Rosenbaum’s approaches of sensitivity analysis to discern bias produced by hidden selections.
The course was sponsored by the Center for Applied Social and Econo-mic Research. About 15 graduate students from HKUST and 10 students from other local and non-local universities participated in the work-shop.
Quantitative Social Science
Training Workshop at HKUST
Prof. Shenyang Guo, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the co-author of the book “Propensity Score Analysis” published by Sage Publications, was invited to teach an intensive course on Propensity Score Matching Analysis from May 30 to June 8., 2013. A total of 11 lectures have been given, and Prof. Guo reviewed four closely related but technically distinct propensity score models developed for intervention research when randomized clinical trials are infeasible or unethical: (a) Heckman’s sample selection model and its revised version estimating treatment effects; (b) propensity score matching and related models; (c) matching estimators; and (d) propensity score analysis with nonparametric regression. Learning of these models is guided by two conceptual frameworks: the Neyman-Rubin counterfactual frame-work and the Heckman scientific model of causality. The course also coveredHong Kong Field Trip
By Qin JIANG (PhD candidate) To help research students in the School of Humanities and Social Science to learn more about Hong Kong’s nature and culture, Ying HONG (TAC of the Division of Humanities) and Qin JIANG (TAC of the Division of Social Science) organized a field trip to Wetland Park ( 香 港 濕 地 公 園 ) and New Choi Yuen Village (菜園新村) in New Territory on 28 April, 2012. Thanks to the financial support from the graduate student life fund
(https://sao.ust.hk/studentlife/gslf.html),
14 MPhil and PhD students from our school participated in this trip (12 from the Division of Social Science). The weather was very unsettled at the time, and when we were boarding the coach at the red bird at UST that morning, there was heavy rain with thunderstorms all around. However, as we passed Tsing Yi Island, beautiful sunshine appeared. Our friends at UST later said the weather in Clear Water Bay was overcast and rainy the whole day. So this seemed to define our goal of this trip, “finding another Hong
Kong”.
In the morning, we visited the Hong Kong Wetland Park. The park is very beautiful, full of butterflies and birds. One of the park volunteers guided us for almost 2 hours, and we learned a lot about the environmental importance of wetland, and also how to develop an environmental friendly living style. In the afternoon, we visited the New Choi Yuen Villages in the New Territories. When the villagers faced relocation and the demolition of their homes because the government planned to build the high-speed railway around their village, they organized themselves
to successfully protect their culture and homeland through collective action in 2010 and 2011. One former villager, now a volunteer there, guided us for 2 hours, telling us the history and current situation of the village. We were quite shocked by the basic conditions they are now living in, and the difficulties they are facing. We had a long discussion about how they managed to be here and their plan to rebuild their new village soon. This gave us a real impression of social policy and collective action in Hong Kong. The demolition and rebuilding of the villages in fact caused so many social protests and instability in mainland China that many organizations and scholars from the mainland have since visited the village to learn from the villagers’ experience.
We really enjoyed this trip and had a great time together. Some of the students tell us about their experiences below.
Hua YE (PhD candidate, SOSC)
I like the way the Hong Kong Wetland Park integrates environmentally friendly techniques into the design of the park. It consumes less energy and puts less pressure on the environment. I also appreciate the way the voluntary staff explained to the tourists the complex relationships in the biosphere. For example, when explaining the relationships among dragonflies, mosquitos, and mosquitocide, he intro-duced the biological life cycles of the dragonfly and mosquito, and asked the tourists to think of a better solution, rather than offering any "answers". This is more helpful for cultivating an environmentally friendly mind among the next generation.
Qing XIA (MPhil student, SOSC)
Honestly, it is a trip that helps you discover another Hong Kong, which otherwise cannot be touched from outside. The experience in the Wetland Park got me to understand the efforts made by local people in protecting the environment. The other thing that impressed me most was the environ-mental education that people, especially kids, can receive from such an ecological tour. Interaction with the Choi Yuen villagers depicts rural life in Hong Kong, making this city more three dimensional and diverse. All in all, it is worth organizing such activities, and of course well worth participating in them.
Fangqi WEN (MPhil, SOSC)
Visiting the New Choi Yuen Village is an unforgettable trip. As a student studying social stratification, I have read extensively about the diversity in people’s living conditions, but I was still deeply shocked by what I observed in Choi Yuen Village. Located in one of the most prosperous metropolitan areas in the world, New Choi Yuen Village appeared to be disconnected from its surroundings. The villagers follow very traditional ways of agricultural production, and their living environ-ment is far from satisfactory. However, the villagers we met were optimistic and energetic. They seem to hold a strong belief in their protest, their new life and their ability to live in a rapidly changing world.
My Experience at the Population
Association of America Annual
Meeting 2012
By Hao DONG (MPhil, 2010–2012; PhD, 2012–)
This May, I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to attend the Population Association of America 2012 annual meeting in San Francisco, USA. I presented my working paper at one of the paper sessions. It also won me the PAA travel award, which did me a big favor by covering all of my flights, hotel and daily expenses. As a junior graduate student presenting a paper for the first time at a major academic conference, I really learnt a lot from this trip. I hope my experience may also be helpful to my fellows who are attending international academic conferences in the future.
Comparable to annual meetings of the AEA, APSA, ASA, etc., the PAA annual meeting is one of the best worldwide platforms for population scientists working in economics, sociology, biology, epidemiology and other fields to exchange new ideas, findings, research and information. At the 2012 meeting there were 216 paper sessions and 3 poster sessions in the final program, with over 2100 attendees registered.
For junior academics like us, a smooth presentation at such a big conference requires solid preparation. After submitting the final version of the paper to the conference – usually one month before the meeting – we have just a few days to prepare slides and oral presentations. Given that there could be any interested people attending the pre
sentation, it is important to make words, numbers, figures and tables large enough to be read by people sitting in the very last row. To avoid mistakes caused by nervousness, I suggest preparing some written notes for each slide. Microsoft PowerPoint provides a helpful function called “the presenter’s view” that allows the presenter to read notes on his or her own screen while displaying the slides through the projector. However, please keep a hard copy of those notes in case the computer prepared for your presentation has a different version of the software, or even a different system language from your own computer. For example, this time my session chair provided a computer operating in Spanish, which immediately stopped me doing anything fancy with PowerPoint. After finishing the draft of your presentation, it is always good to ask your professors for suggestions and comments, as they are all highly experienced not only as presenters but also as listeners. Indeed, I received many helpful suggestions on revising my slides from my adviser and professors, which helped me a lot in successfully delivering my research to an audience with diverse academic and cultural backgrounds.
In addition to delivering our own presentations, attending other sessions also benefits us by familiarizing ourselves with the frontiers of our research fields. I have attended several sessions consisting of presentations either by well-known scholars or on topics of interest to me. My adviser also suggested that it is useful to attend sessions discussing the major topics that Western scholars are paying the most attention to, although they may not be related to Asia or to our research topics. I think this is a very good point for us juniors to consider, as such sessions reflect the real focuses of Western academia, which still plays a dominant role in the world of social science. It is also necessary to have an overall picture of the current discipline before we choose our specific research topics. For me, though, the most
interesting sessions are the poster sessions. Like in a crowded bazaar, presenters stand in front of their posters, trying to ‘sell’ their research to anyone passing by. Within an hour or so, you not only have the chance to look at dozens of posters on various research topics, but also to talk with people from different disciplines and universities. Such face-to-face interact-tion is sometimes even more inspiring than sitting in a regular paper session. Getting to know people is another task for us young people. In these conferences, it is relatively easy to establish some connections with people who share similar research interests. It is also possible to introduce ourselves to those top scholars and rising stars who frequently show up in your literature review. Apart from the regular sessions, the conference will usually hold some cocktail receptions for attendees, and these are your best chance to enjoy chatting and getting to know people in your field. I admit that I felt a little embarrassed at the beginning, because I knew almost nobody in the community. However, thanks to my professors introducing me to others, I felt much better afterwards and got to know more and more people, just like snowball sampling. In general, people, including those famous professors, are so nice that you may stop them (politely, of course) and talk with them when you recognize their names or other information on their badges and would like to introduce yourself or ask them a question. So, don’t be afraid. Your courage and effort will probably bring you much more than expected. I am sure some of them will remember you and your research, which will make you much more comfortable at your next major conference and also in your future career.
I enjoyed my first PAA annual meeting very much, and I sincerely wish you an enjoyable and fruitful conference experience. I am looking forward to you sharing your experiences
My Experience in
Attending RC28 Meetings
By Fangqi Wen(MPhil, 2010–2012)
RC28 (International Sociological Association - Research Committee on Social Stratification) annual meetings are very renowned among social-ogists. Since I was an under-graduate student in China, I had heard about these meetings. As a result, when I realized that I would participate in both the Spring Meeting and the Summer Meeting of this year, I felt honored and overwhelmingly happy. The RC28 2012 Spring Meeting was held in Hong Kong, which gave us a lot of conveniences. In this meeting, I presented a paper entitled "The Later the Less? A Sibling Analysis of Birth Order Effect on Educational Attain-ment in Taiwan", which was developed from my SOSC534 term paper at HKUST. To be honest, I was quite nervous before the presentation. After all, that was my debut at a formal international conference. What's more, in my presentation section, the discussant was Thomas DiPrete (Professor at Columbia University) and the chairwas Yossi Shavit (Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel), both of whom were very well-known in the research field of social stratification and mobility. I read many of their papers before, but this time, I had a chance to interact with them personally. Very cool, right? Thanks to my preparations beforehand, my presentation went smoothly. Professor DiPrete and other audiences offered me many good comments, and I did benefit a lot from such experience.
In August, I received an RC28 Travel Award to attend the RC28 Summer Meeting at the University of Virginia, USA. After a long flight from Hong Kong to Charlottesville, I became a RC28 participant again. Compared to the meeting in Hong Kong, there were more US and European participants at the Summer Meeting. Once again, I met many "big names" at the conference. In the past, I knew many professors only via books and journal articles, but this time, I could listen to their presentations and even chatted with them face to face. Most of them were very nice and patient, and they were very generous to share their thoughts and experiences with a junior graduate student. As for my own presentation, I presented a paper about
my own presentation, I presented a paper about the impact of economic restructuring on gender inequality in Hong Kong. I co-authored this work with my supervisor Raymond Wong. We had been working on this project for a long time, and we got many professional feedbacks at the RC28 Meeting.
Overall speaking, I really enjoyed attending RC28 meetings. I think it is very helpful for my pursuit of an academic career. It serves as a good standing point for me, and I hope I will keep my enthusiasm. When I received my Travel Award at the conference dinner, the current Secretary-Treasurer of RC28—Professor Richard Arum (New York University) told me that the only request for a RC28 Travel Award Winner was that he/she was expected to come back to the meeting in the future. I remember his words, and I am pretty sure that I will become a frequent RC28 participant! Consultant Editor: Prof. Xiaogang WU Editor: Yanfeng GU Qin JIANG
Special Thanks to Prof. Michelle YIK, Wendy TSANG for their help.
Thank Fangqi WEN for sharing their photos, Guangye HE for desiging the logo.
