Zhen Li (Chinese, PhD from the State University of New York at Albany) joined the Asian Demographic Research Institute in 2016. She works in the pillar on internal migration and urbanization. Trained as a social demographer, she is broadly interested in migration and urban studies. Her research has been mainly focused on the patterns, changes and consequences of rural-to-urban migration in contemporary China.
▶Download CV ✉ zhenli59@shu.edu.cn
Selected Publications
Zhen Li, 2020, “Current Patterns of Inter-Provincial Return Migration and the Relocation of Inter-Provincial Return Migrants in China: A Study Based on Fixed-Interval Migration Data”. Population and Development 26 (4): 2-13. (in Chinese)
Wu, Jinjing, Jia Chen, Zhen Li, Boshen Jiao, and Peter Muennig. 2020. “Spatiotemporal Variation of the Association between Urbanicity and Incident Hypertension among Chinese Adults”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (1): 304.
Zai Liang, Jiejin Li, Glenn Deane, Zhen Li, Bo Zhou. 2018. From Chinatown to Every Town: New Patterns of Employment for Low-Skilled Chinese Immigrants in the United States. Social Forces 97(2): 893-920. (ASA Louis Wirth Best Article Award)
Liang, Zai, Zhen Li and Zhongdong Ma. 2014 “Changing Patterns of the Floating Population in China, 2000-2010.” Population and Development 40(4): 695-716.
Li, Zhen and Zai Liang. “Gender and Job Mobility Among Migrants in the Pearl River Delta in China.” Urban Studies 53(16): 3455-3471.
Li, Zhen and Zai Liang. 2012. “Job Mobility of Rural Migrants in China’s Urban Labor Market: The Case of the Pearl River Delta Region.” Pp. 3-24 in Zai Liang, Steven F. Messner, Cheng Chen and Youqin Huang (editors). The Emergence of a New Urban China: Insiders’ Perspectives. Lexington Books. (The book was awarded “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2012 from Choice)
Zhen Li*, Yu Zhu, and Yingji Wu. 2023. Migrant Optimism in Educational Aspirations for Children in Big Cities in China: A Case Study of Native, Permanent Migrant and Temporary Migrant Parents in Shanghai. Population Research and Policy Review, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-023-09845-4.
Zhen Li*.2023. “A Study on the Effects of Influencing Factors of Temporary Migrants’ Settlement Intention in China.’ Journal of North Minzu university (Philosophy and Social Science),1:121-127. (in Chinese)
Zhen Li*. 2022. Co-Ethnic Networks and Inter-Provincial Migration Destination Choice of Ethnic Minority Migrants in China. Asian Population Studies, 18(3): 213-238.
Teaching Courses
📖Internal Migration and Urbanization
Internal migration and urbanization are two related but different phenomenon. To fully understand them, a multi-disciplinary perspective is required, which includes sociology, economics, demography and geography. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive picture of the theories, methods and empirical research with regards to internal migration and urbanization. Combining lectures, student presentations, class discussions and seminars, this course aims to engage actively with the students and train them to do quality research on their own.
Reading Materials:
Castles, S., Miller, M. J., & Ammendola, G. (2005). The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world. New York: Guilford Press.
Swanson, David A. and Jacob S. Siegel. 2004. The Methods and Materials of Demography. Academic Press. Chapter 19.
Schedule：
Week 1: Introduction to internal migration and urbanization
Week 2: Theories of Internal migration
Week 3: Seminar I
Week 4: Seminar II
Week 5: Theories of Urbanization
Week 6: Data, Measurement and Methods
Week 7: Selected readings of internal migration
Week 8: Selected readings of urbanization
Week 9: Social problems and policy implications
Week 10: Student presentations of term papers