MELANIE MENG XUE
Assistant Professor of Economic History
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom
Email: m.m.xue@lse.ac.uk
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Please contact me by email if interested in gaining research experience. Previous research assistants have advanced to PhD programs at LSE, NYU, Toronto, and WUSTL.
I am an Assistant Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). My research interests include political economy, gender, culture and narrative, and early modern and modern China.
My work examines the rise of women, the self-perpetuation of authoritarian regimes, and the long-term effects of affirmative action. By tracing the impact of historical events over time and in various institutional settings, my work centers on the role of values, beliefs, and norms in shaping economic and political disparities.
In my research on traditional narratives, I have found that folklore is a crucial source of contemporary values. In a more recent project, I explore cultural change following the Industrial Revolution through the study of proverbs.