UChicago-Renmin International Symposium on Family and Labor Economics

The University of Chicago Center in Beijing
20th floor, Culture Plaza
No. 59A Zhong Guan Cun Street
Haidian District Beijing 100872

The International Symposium on Family and Labor Economics was held on the Renmin University of China campus during the opening week of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. It was jointly organized by The University of Chicago and Renmin University of China’s School of Labor and Human Resources. The event was marked by the attendance of Nobel Laureates James Heckman and Gary Becker of the University of Chicago along with numerous other distinguished economists from universities in China, the United States and Europe.

Leading academics came together to discuss some of the pressing issues facing China’s workforce and population today: including children and human capital, the effects of exogenous shock, crime, gender in the workforce and sex ratios in the population.

Organizers: James J. Heckman (Department of Economics) and Dali L. Yang (Department of Political Science), in collaboration with Zhong Zhao, Renmin University of China School of Labor and Human Resources.

The event schedule, which includes conference participants, can be found below:

International Symposium on Family and Labor Economics

10:00 – 10:15 Opening Remarks by Xiangquan Zeng (Renmin University) and James J. Heckman (University of Chicago)

10:15 – 12:15           Session I: Children

Chair: James J. Heckman

Title: Old Age Support, the Formation of Children’s Preferences, and Investments in Children’s Human Capital

Author: Gary S. Becker (University of Chicago)

Presenter: Gary S. Becker (University of Chicago)

Discussant: Dennis Tao Yang (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Title: Parental Job Loss and Children’s Health– Ten Years after Massive Layoff of SOE’s Workers in China

Authors: Hong Liu (Central University of Finance and Economics)

Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China)

Presenter: Zhong Zhao (Renmin University of China)

Discussant: Wanchuan Lin (Peking University)

14:00 – 14:40           Dialogue with Nobel Laureates Gary S. Becker and James J. Heckman on Labor Economics

Chair: Zhong Zhao

14:40 – 16:40           Session II: Exogenous Shock and Human Capital

Chair: Gary Becker

Title: Picking up the Losses: The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on Human Capital Re-investment in Urban China

Authors: Jun Han (Nankai University)

Wing Suen (University of Hong Kong)

Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Presenter: Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discussant: Hau Chyi (Renmin University of China)

Title: Early Health Shocks, Parental Responses, and Child Outcomes

Authors: Gabriella Conti (University of Chicago)

James J. Heckman (University of Chicago)

Junjian Yi (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Presenter: Junjian Yi (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discussant: Yinghua He (University of Toulouse)

17:00 – 19:00           Session III: Social Issues

Chair: Junsen Zhang

Title: Sex Ratios, Crime, and other Socioeconomic Outcomes

Authors: Lena Edlund (Columbia University)

Hongbin Li (Tsinghua University)

Junjian Yi (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Junsen Zhang (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Presenter: Hongbin Li (Tsinghua University)

Discussant: Åke Blomqvist (Central University of Finance and Economics)

Title: Changes in Gender Wage Gap in Urban China during 1995-2007

Authors: Shi Li (Beijing Normal University)

Jin Song (Beijing Normal University)

Presenter: Shi Li (Beijing Normal University)

Discussant: Qingjie Xia (Peking University)