Nancy H. Chau

Biography

Nancy Chau joined the faculty of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in 1999. Her research interests fall under three main areas: international trade, regional economics, and economic development, with particular emphasis on the economics of information and uncertainty. Recent research focuses on aggregate consequences of barriers to labor mobility, the role of supply chain / family / friendship networks in facilitating adaption to shocks and preference formation, the long term consequences of environmental shocks on individual well-being, and the role of employer power in shaping the effectiveness of employment protection legislation.

Chau was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship and the first T. W. Schultz Award of the International Agricultural Economics Association. She is an associate editor of Oxford Economic Papers, a senior fellow at the Center for Development Research, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA-LISER) and Rockwool Foundation Berlin Institute (RFBerlin), and member of an expert panel for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Chau has published widely, in journals such as Economic Journal, Economics and Politics, European Economic Review, International Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Growth, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, and the World Bank Economic Review.

Education

PhD Johns Hopkins University, 1995
MA Johns Hopkins University, 1993
BA International Christian University, 1991

Research

• Chau, Nancy H. "On Sweatshop Jobs and Decent Work"Journal of Development Economics. 121 (2016): 120-134
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Kanbur, Sanjiv. "Contractual Dualism, Market Power and Informality"Economic Journal. 125.589 (2015): 1534–1573
• Chau, Nancy H.; Fare, Rolf. "Shadow Pricing Market Access: A Trade Benefit Function Approach"Journal of Economic Theory. 146.4 (2011): 1631-1663
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Kanbur, Sanjiv. "Turning a Blind Eye: Costly Enforcement, Credible Commitment and Minimum Wage Laws"Economic Journal. 120 (2010): 244-269
• Basu, Arnab; Chau, Nancy H.; Kanbur, Sanjiv. "A Theory of Employment Guarantees: Contestability, Credibility and Distributional Concerns"Journal of Public Economics. 93.3-4 (2009): 482-497
• Chau, Nancy H.; Färe, R; Grosskopf, S. "Trade Restrictiveness and Efficiency"International Economic Review. 44.3 (2003): 1079-1095
• Chau, Nancy H. "Strategic Amnesty and Credible Immigration Reforms"Journal of Labor Economics. 19.3 (2001): 604-634

Awards

• SUNY Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012) SUNY
• T.W. Schultz Prize for Young Economist (2003) International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE)