Melati Nungsari

Dr. Melati Nungsari is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Asia School of Business and a Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan School of Management. She is an applied microeconomist specializing in industrial organization, public economics, market design, and economic education.

She received her Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics and Economics (Magna Cum Laude) with Honors in Mathematics from Knox College and her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on two-sided matching platforms with search, and how firms use pricing to correct for negative externalities on the platform. She also studies public policy issues such as the labor market integration of refugees, policy design for retirement markets in Chile and Malaysia, and labor market discrimination. Additionally, she has published research on pedagogy in economic education.

While at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Melati was a Chancellor’s Fellow with the Royster Society. She has won multiple teaching awards throughout her career, and is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the most prestigious academic honor society in the United States. She is an active Op-Ed writer and her pieces have appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Prior to joining ASB, Dr. Melati was a professor of economics at Davidson College at Butler University. She has given research talks all over the world, and is originally from Penang, Malaysia.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Industrial Organization, Market Design, Labor Economics, Public Policy, Migration

PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles

• Nungsari, M., S. Flanders, K. Ngu, J.W. Chin. (Forthcoming, 2022) The Formation of Youth Entrepreneurial Intention in an Emerging Economy: The Interaction of Psychological Traits and Socioeconomic Factors. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies.
• Flanders, S., and Nungsari, M. (Forthcoming, 2022) A Textual Analysis on The Effect of Short Term Volunteering on Attitudes Towards Refugees. The Social Sciences Journal.
• Nungsari M., Chuah H.Y., Fong N. and Pillai V. (2021) Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on vulnerable populations in Malaysia through an ethical lens: A study of NGOs and organizations involved in aid distribution. Wellcome Open Res 2021, 6:263.
• Chuah, H.Y., Nungsari, M. (2020) Deconstructing the Victimization Narrative: The Case of Chin Refugees in Malaysia. Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, Vol. 9(1): pp. 69-79.
• Chuah, H.Y., Flanders, S., Nungsari, M. (2020) Factors Influencing the Decision of Returning to Rakhine State: The Case of the Rohingya in Malaysia. Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, Vol. 9(1): pp. 87-92.
• Nungsari, M., Flanders, S. & Chuah, H. (2020) Poverty and Precarious Employment: The Case of Rohingya Refugee Construction Workers in Peninsular Malaysia. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (7), 120.
• Nungsari, M., & Flanders, S. (2020). Using Classroom Games to Teach Core Concepts in Market Design, Matching Theory, and Platform Theory. International Review of Economics Education (35), 100190.
• Flanders, S., Nungsari, M., and Parada-Contzen, M. (2020) Pricing Schemes and Market Efficiency in Private Retirement Systems. Journal of Public Economic Theory, Vol. 11(4): pp. 1041-1068.
• Nungsari, M., Flanders, S., and Chuah, H.Y. (2020). Issues Facing Refugees and AsylumSeekers in Southeast Asia: Narrowing the Gaps Between Theory, Policy, and Reality. Refugee Review: Emerging Issues in Forced Migration - Perspectives from Research and Practice, Vol. 4(1): pp. 129-146.
• Nungsari, M., Dedrick, M., and Patel, S. (2017). Team Teaching an Interdisciplinary FirstYear Seminar on Magic, Religion, and the Origins of Science: A ‘Pieces-to-Picture’ Approach’. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 17(1)

Book Chapters

• Chuah H.Y., Nungsari M. (Forthcoming, 2022). Reclaiming Agency: A Case Study on Refugee Community Organizations in Malaysia. Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia Pacific. Routledge Edited Volume.
• Nungsari M. (Forthcoming, 2022). Recruitment of Participants from Vulnerable Groups for Social Research: Challenges and Solutions. Palgrave Handbook of Methodological Issues in Social Research.
• Nungsari M., Chuah H.Y. (2021) Participation in the Sharing Economy for Refugees in Malaysia: A Solution that Bypasses Legal Constraints? In: Qureshi I., Bhatt B., Shukla D.M. (eds) Sharing Economy at the Base of the Pyramid. Springer, Singapore.
• Ega˜na del Sol P.A., Nungsari M. (2021) Sharing Economy and the Future of Energy. In: Leal Filho W., Marisa Azul A., Brandli L., Lange Salvia A., Wall T. (eds) Affordable and Clean Energy. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham.