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Philip H. Brown
Assistant Professor of Economics
Economics
Affiliated Department(s):   East Asian Studies


Office: Diamond 351
Fax: 859-5229
Email:
phbrown@colby.edu

Mailing Address:
5246 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8852

Semester Schedule

Education

Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan (2003)
M.A., Economics, University of Michigan (1999)
M.I.I.M., Sustainable Development, School for International Training (1996)
B.A., International Political Economy, Colorado College (1993)

Areas of Expertise:
  • Microeconomic development
  • Labor economics
  • Demography
  • Empirical microeconomics
  • Survey research
  • The Chinese economy
  • Poverty and inequality
  • The economics of education and health
  • View Curriculum Vitae

    Professional Information

    Philip H. Brown is Assistant Professor of Economics at Colby College, a board member of the Chinese Economists Society, a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, and a Research Fellow at the William Davidson Institute. Professor Brown holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan and an M.I.I.M. from the School for International Training. His current research emphasizes microeconomic issues in economic development – particularly health, education, gender, poverty, and inequality. Much of his research uses primary source data collected in rural China to understand how China’s rapidly changing economic environment affects the behavior of rural households. He also works extensively in Chile and other low poverty/high inequality countries. His research has been published in the Journal of Human Resources, Economic Development and Cultural Change, the Southern Economic Journal, Economics of Education Review, the China Economic Review, the China Quarterly, the Journal of Socio-Economics, the Journal of Environmental Management and other peer-reviewed journals. He teaches classes on the Chinese economy, economic policy in East Asia, economic development, and economic demography.

    Other Courses Taught
    Course Course Title
    EC345 Research in Economics
    Publications

    Brown, Philip H., Desiree Tullos, Bryan Tilt, Darrin Magee, and Aaron Wolf. "Modeling the Costs and Benefits of Dam Construction from a Multidisciplinary Perspective."
    Forthcoming, Journal of Environmental Management.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. and Brian Tierney. 2008. "Religion and Subjective Well-Being Among China's Elderly Population."
    Forthcoming, Journal of Socio-Economics.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H., Alan de Brauw, and Yang Du. 2008. "Understanding Variation in the Design of China's New Cooperative Medical System."
    Forthcoming, The China Quarterly.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H., Darrin Magee, and Yilin Xu. 2008. "Socioeconomic Vulnerability in China's Hydropower Development."
    Forthcoming, China Economic Review.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. 2008. "Dowry and Intrahousehold Bargaining: Evidence from China."
    Forthcoming, Journal of Human Resources (February 2009).
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H., Alan de Brauw, and Yang Du. 2008. "The New Cooperative Medical System: Does it Help Farmers with Health Shocks Maintain Living Standards?"
    Forthcoming, China Labor Economics (Summer 2008).
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. and Jessica H. Minty. 2008. "Media Coverage and Charitable Giving After the 2004 Tsunami." Southern Economic Journal 75(1): 9-25.
    Click to download

    Agostini, Claudio A., Philip H. Brown, and Diana Paola Góngora. 2008. "Spatial Distribution of Poverty in Chile." Estudios de Economía 25(1): 79-110.
    Click to download the Spanish version

    Agostini, Claudio A. and Philip H. Brown. 2007. "Spatial Aspects of Inequality in Chile."
    Revista de Análisis Económico 22(1): 3-31.
    Click to download the Spanish version

    Brown, Philip H. 2006. "Parental Education & Child Learning: Human Capital Investments in Time and Money." Economic Development and Cultural Change 54(4).
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. 2005. "Do Human Capital Investments Help to Explain the Relationship Between Parental Education and Child Learning in China?" China Labor Economics 2(2): 60-74.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. 2004. "On the Relationship Between Parental Education and Investments in Children's Human Capital." China Labor Economics 1(2): 25-44.
    Click to download the Chinese version

    Brown, Philip H. and Albert Park. 2002. "Education and Poverty in Rural China." Economics of Education Review 21, 523-541.
    Click to download

    Brown, Philip H. 2002. "Parental Investment in Children's Human Capital in Rural China." China Education Forum 3(1): 6-10.
    Click to download

    A. Working Papers

    Agostini, Claudio A. and Philip H. Brown. "Cash Transfers and Poverty Reduction in Chile."
    Revise and resubmit, Economic Development and Cultural Change.
    Working paper: Social Science Research Network

    Agostini, Claudio A. and Philip H. Brown. "Local Distributional Effects of Government Cash Transfers in Chile."
    Revise and resubmit, Review of Development Economics.
    Working paper: William Davidson Institute Working Paper No. 872

    Agostini, Claudio A., Philip H. Brown, and Andrei Roman. "Poverty and Inequality Among Ethnic Groups in Chile."
    Under review.
    Working paper: Social Science Research Network

    Brown, Philip H., Alan de Brauw, and Caroline Theoharides. "Health-Seeking Behavior and Hospital Choice in China's New Cooperative Medical System."
    Under review.
    Working paper: Social Science Research Network

    Agostini, Claudio A., Philip H. Brown, and Andrei Roman. 2008. "Estimating Poverty for Indigenous Groups by Matching Census and Survey Data."
    Under review.

    Agostini, Claudio A. and Philip H. Brown. "Inequality at Low Levels of Aggregation in Chile."
    Under review.
    Working paper: Social Science Research Network

    B. Research in Progress

    "Dams as Agents of Change in China" (with Darrin Magee, Bryan Tilt, Desiree Tullos, and Aaron Wolf.

    "The Rapid Increase of Positional Spending in Rural China" (with Erwin Bulte and Xiaobo Zhang).

    "Willingness to Pay in China’s New Cooperative Medical System" (with Thomas Huff).

    C. Other Research

    "Does Catastrophic Health Insurance Mitigate Consumption Shocks? Evidence from China" (with Alan de Brauw and Du Yang).

    "Poverty Transfer Regimes in Chile: A Simulation Approach" (with Claudio Agostini).

    "China’s New Cooperative Medical System: Variation and Prospects" (with Alan de Brauw and Zhong Funing).

    "Economic Implications of Health Care Reform in Rural China" (with Alan de Brauw, Du Yang, Wang Meiyan, and Zhong Funing).

    "The Evolution of Income Inequality in East Asia."

    D. Survey Projects and Fieldwork

    Principal Investigator, "Interdisciplinary Research and Methods for Assessing Dams as Agents of Change in China” (2008-2011): Research on evaluating the costs and benefits of large dam construction from a socioeconomic, biophysical, and geopolitical perspectives; includes large-scale survey of households affected by dam construction in western China.
    Co-Principal investigators: Darrin Magee, Bryan Tilt, Desiree Tullos, Aaron Wolf
    Funding: National Science Foundation

    Investigator, "Evaluating the Effect of Dams on Social Dynamics" (2007-2008): Exploratory research to investigate the social dynamics of dam construction in western China.
    Principal investigators: Desiree Tullos, Bryan Tilt, Aaron Wolfe
    Funding: National Science Foundation

    Principal Investigator, "China’s NCMS: Economic Implications for Households" (2006-2007): Survey of 1500 households in 30 counties in 2 provinces to study the economic effects of China’s New Cooperative Medical System. Matched survey of county health administrators.
    Co-principal investigators: Alan de Brauw, Du Yang, Wang Meiyan, Zhong Funing
    Funding: Ford Foundation, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Colby College

    Principal Investigator, "Health Care Reforms in Rural China" (2004-2005): Preliminary fieldwork for a household survey on health care reforms in rural China.
    Co-principal investigators: Alan de Brauw, Du Yang, Zhong Funing
    Funding: Colby College, Williams College, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University

    Investigator, "China Rural Poverty Survey II" (2001): Survey of 600 rural households and the villages, schools, medical clinics, and rural financial institutions in four poor counties. Survey of 1000 villages in the same four counties on the provision of local public goods.
    Principal investigators: Albert Park, Wang Sangui
    Funding: Ford Foundation

    Investigator, "Gansu Survey of Children and Families" (2000): Survey of 2000 children aged 9-12 and their mothers, families, homeroom teachers, school principals, and village leaders in 20 rural counties in Gansu. Survey of 1000 teachers in village schools.
    Principal investigators: Emily Hannum, Albert Park, Zhang Yanhong
    Funding: Spencer Foundation