Melanie Xue

Melanie Meng Xue is Assistant Professor of Economics (on leave) in the Social Science Division.

Her work examines the rise of women, the self-perpetuation of authoritarian regimes, and the evolution of antisocial behavior in early modern and modern China. By tracing the impact of historical events over time and in various institutional settings, her work centers on the role of values, beliefs, and norms in shaping economic and political disparities.

In a recent project, she discovered oral traditions are a powerful measure of the historical component of values, beliefs, and norms, connecting history and culture. This line of inquiry has produced a dataset of historical values (trust, risk-taking, and gender norms) across countries/ethnic groups through analyzing a catalog of motifs in folklore.

Research Areas: Economic History; Political Economy