Senior Research Fellow

Dr Zhiming Cheng
Senior Research Fellow


Contact Details
Phone: +612 9850 6021
Email: zhiming.cheng@mq.edu.au
Address: Suite 3, Level 1, EMC2 Building
3 Innovation Road, Macquarie Park 2109

Research interests
Applied economics
Mixed methods research and policy evaluation
Interdisciplinary areas of labour, employment, working life, and their relationships with health and wellbeing

Bio

Dr Cheng joined the MUCHE team in early 2015.  As an early career researcher four years out from PhD, Zhiming has already developed a promising research profile in the interdisciplinary areas of labour, employment, working life, and their relationships with health and subjective wellbeing.

Zhiming has published 26 refereed journal articles in 4 A*, 14 A, 7 B and 1 C-ranked journals on 2013 Australian Business Deans Council (ADBC) and/or 2010 ARC-ERA journal rankings, one co-edited book, one co-authored book and five refereed book chapters.

In 2011 he was the sole winner of the Early Career Researcher Award at the University of Wollongong. In 2012 he was the sole winner – out of more than 800 international submissions – of the prestigious Global Development Network (U.S.) Medal for Research on Development for my research on employment relations and layoffs in state-owned enterprises in China.

In 2013 he was awarded the Pacific Trade and Economic Development Committee (PAFTAD) Fellowship for Young Scholar.  In 2014 Zhiming was awarded the Jacob Wertheim Research Fellowship for the Betterment of Industrial Relations (established in 1923) at Harvard University.

In 2015 he was awarded a highly competitive, salaried Visiting Fellowship at the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition.

Zhiming was a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Wollongong since February 2010, before receiving a PhD from Macquarie University in September 2010.

Between 2010 and 2011, he was also a Senior Research Associate working for an ARC Discovery Project at Macquarie University.

Publications

Books

  • Mark Wang, Zhiming Cheng, Pingyu Zhang, Lianjun Tong and Yanji Ma (2014).  Old Industrial Cities Seeking New Road of Re-Industrialisation: Models of Revitalizing Northeast China. Singapore: World Scientific.
  • Zhiming Cheng, Mark Wang and Junhua Chen (eds.) (2014).  Urban China in the New Era: Market Reforms, Current State, and the Road Forward. Berlin and New York: Springer. 

Book chapters

  • Zhiming Cheng, Ingrid Nielsen and Russell Smyth (2015). Determinants of Wage Arrears and Their Implications for the Socioeconomic Wellbeing of Chinas Migrant Workers: Evidence from Guangdong Province. In Guo and Iredale (eds.), Handbook on Migration, Identity and Wellbeing in China. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. 
  • Fei Guo, Zhiming Cheng, Graeme Hugo and Wenshu Gao (2014). Wages and Employment Status of China's Migrant Workers. In Wang, Kee and Gao (eds.), Transforming Chinese Cities, 95-112. London: Routledge.
  • Zhiming Cheng (2014). The New Generation of Migrant Workers in Urban China. In Cheng, Wang and Chen (eds.), Urban China in the New Era: Market Reforms, Current State, and the Road Forward, 125-153. New York: Springer. 
  • Zhiming Cheng, Haining Wang and Yuanyuan Chen (2014). Labour Contract, Trade Union Membership, and Workplace Relations: A Study of Migrant Workers in Guangdong Province, China. In Hao and Chen (eds.), Social Issues in China: Gender, Ethnicity, Labor, and the Environment, 183-206. New York: Springer.

Special issue

  • Zhiming Cheng, Vinod Mishra, Ingrid Nielsen, Russell Smyth and Ben Wang (2015). The Economics of Wellbeing in China. Social Indicators Research.[ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.877; JCR: 16/92 (Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary) and 41/137 (Sociology); SJR: 81/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)]

Refereed journal publications

  • Zhiming Cheng and Russell Smyth (2015). Why Give it Away When You Need it Yourself? Understanding Public Support for Foreign Aid in China. Journal of Development Studies. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.135; JCR: 182/333 (Economics) and 37/55 (Planning and Development); SJR: 33/194 (Development); U of Manchester Development Studies Journal Ranking: 2/25]
  • Zhiming Cheng and Russell Smyth (2015). Chinas Unbalanced Sex Ratio and Satisfaction with Marital Relationship.  Singapore Economic Review. [ABDC and ERA: B; IF: 0.182; JCR: 327/333 (Economics); SJR: 434/552 (Economics and Econometrics); Special Issue on China and the World: Understanding Chinese Characteristics]
  • Jie Li, Gong Sun and Zhiming Cheng (2015). Influence of Political Skill on Salespersons' Work Outcomes: A Resource Perspective.  Journal of Business Ethics. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.889; JCR: 52/111 (Business) and 7/50 (Ethics); SJR: 47/325 (Business and International Management); Financial Times top-45 journals in compiling the Business School research rank]
  • Haining Wang, Fei Guo and Zhiming Cheng (2015). A Distributional Analysis of Wage Discrimination against Migrant Workers in China's Urban Labour Market. Urban Studies.[ABDC and ERA: A*; IF: 1.961; JCR: 9/37 (Urban Studies) and 36/90 (Environmental Studies); SJR: 6/70 (Urban Studies) and 26/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)] [2012 W.D. Borrie Best Paper, the Australian Population Association]
  • Haining Wang and Zhiming Cheng (2015). Consumption and Happiness in China. Social Indicators Research. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.877; JCR: 16/92 (Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary) and 41/137 (Sociology); SJR: 81/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)]
  • Yeqing Huang, Fei Guo and Zhiming Cheng  (2015). Stay or Return? The Impacts of Market Mechanisms on Settlement Intention of Rural Migrants in Metropolises of China. Asian Population Studies.  [ERA: A; IF: 0.394; JCR: 21/25 (Demography); SJR: 33/74 (Demography)]
  • Zhiming Cheng, Russell Smyth and Gong Sun (2015). Participation and Expenditure of Rural-Urban Migrants in the Illegal Lottery in Chinas Pearl River Delta. Eurasian Geography and Economics.  [ERA: A; IF: 2.471; JCR: 5/23 (Demography) and 15/72 (Geography); SJR: 9/468 (Geography, Planning and Development)]
  • Zhiming Cheng and Russell Smyth (2015).  Sex and Happiness. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 112, 26-32. [ABDC: A*; IF: 1.543; JCR: 140/333 (Economics); SJR: 119/552 (Economics and Econometrics) and 26/154 (Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management)]
  • Haining Wang, Fei Guo and Zhiming Cheng (2015).  Discrimination in Migrant Workers' Welfare Entitlements and Benefits in Urban Labour Market: Findings from a Four-city Study in China. Population, Space and Place, 21(2), 124-139. [ERA: A; IF: 1.861; JCR: 5/23 (Demography) and 15/72 (Geography); SJR: 9/468 (Geography, Planning and Development)]
  • Zhiming Cheng, Russell Smyth and Fei Guo (2015).  The Impact of China's New Labour Contract Law on the Socioeconomic Outcomes for Migrant and Urban Workers. Human Relations, 68(3), 329-352.[ABDC and ERA: A*; IF: 1.938; JCR: 7/92 (Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary) and 44/174 (Management); SJR: 17/146 (Management)]
  • Zhiming Cheng, Haining Wang and Russell Smyth (2014).  Happiness and Job Satisfaction in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Two Generations of Migrants and Urban Locals. Urban Studies, 51(10), 2160-2184. [ABDC and ERA: A*; IF: 1.961; JCR: 9/37 (Urban Studies) and 36/90 (Environmental Studies); SJR: 6/70 (Urban Studies) and 26/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2014).  The Effects of Employee Involvement and Participation onSubjective Wellbeing: Evidence from Urban China. Social Indicators Research, 118(2), 457-483. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.877; JCR: 16/92 (Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary) and 41/137 (Sociology); SJR: 81/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)]
  • Yeqing Huang and Zhiming Cheng (2014).  Why Are Migrants Not Participating in Welfare Programs? Evidence from Shanghai, China. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 23(2), 183-210. [ERA: B; IF: 0.205; JCR: 23/25 (Demography); SJR: 235/494 (Geography, Planning and Development)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2014).  Layoffs and Urban Poverty in the State-Owned Enterprise Communities in Shaanxi Province, China. Social Indicators Research, 116(1), 199-233. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.877; JCR: 16/92 (Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary) and 41/137 (Sociology); SJR: 81/411 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)] [2012 Global Development Network Medal for Research on Development out of 800+ submissions]
  • Zhiming Cheng, Ingrid Nielsen and Russell Smyth (2014). Access to Social Insurance in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Rural-Urban and Urban-Urban Migrants in Beijing. Habitat International, 41, 243-252. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.702; JCR: 10/37 (Urban Studies) and 16/55 (Planning and Development); SJR: 18/129 (Development)]
  • Zhiming Cheng, Fei Guo, Graeme Hugo and Xin Yuan (2013).  Employment andWage Discrimination in the Chinese Cities: A Comparative Study of Migrants and Locals. Habitat International, 39, 246-255. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.702; JCR: 10/37 (Urban Studies) and 16/55 (Planning and Development); SJR: 18/129 (Development)]
  • Zhiming Cheng and Haining Wang (2013).  Do Neighbourhoods Have Effects on Wages? A Study of Migrant Workers in Urban China. Habitat International, 38, 222-231. [ABDC and ERA: A; IF: 1.702; JCR: 10/37 (Urban Studies) and 16/55 (Planning and Development); SJR: 18/129 (Development)]
  • Yu Zhang,  Zhiming Cheng and Charles Harvie (2013).  The Roles of Size and Size Difference in Australian and Chinese Inter-firm Collaborations. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 7(2), 33-48. [ERA: B]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2012).  The Changing Pattern of State Workers' Labour Resistance in Shaanxi Province, China. Communication, Politics and Culture, 45(2), 197-216. [ERA: A]
  • Zhiming Cheng and Melanie Beresford (2012).  Layoffs in China's City of Textiles: Adaptation to Changes. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 42(2), 155-181. [ERA: A; IF: 0.889; JCR: 11/65 (Area Studies); SJR: 30/438 (Social Sciences, Miscellaneous)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2012).  The Changing and Different Patterns of Urban Redevelopment in China: A Study of Three Inner-City Neighborhoods. Community Development, 43(4), 430-450. [ERA: A] [2013 Journal Editor's Choice in 'Interviewing, Observation and Field Research']
  • Zhiming Cheng (2011).  Book Reviews: Chinas Global Strategy: Towards a Multipolar World, The Chinese Workers after Socialism and Laid-off Workers in a Workers State: Unemployment with Chinese Characteristics. Review of Radical Political Economics, 43(4), 591-595. [Refereed Review Essay] [ABDC and ERA: B; IF: 0.450; JCR: 282/333 (Economics); SJR: 97/413 (Philosophy)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2011).  From Planned to Market Economy: The Rise and Fall of the City of Textiles. Local Economy, 26(5), 348-362. [ERA: B; SJR: 67/236 (Economics, Econometrics and Finance, miscellaneous)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2011).  Poverty in China's Urban Communities: Profile and Correlates. China Report, 46(2), 143-173. [ERA: C; SJR: 155/194 (Development)]
  • Fei Guo and Zhiming Cheng (2010).  Labour Market Disparity, Poverty and Inequality in Urban China. China Perspectives, 84, 16-31. [ERA B; SJR: 322/414 (Social Sciences, miscellaneous)]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2009).  Mixed Methods Study of Urban Poverty: Multidimensional Perspectives and Approaches. Review on Western Business, 2(2), 74-84. [In Chinese]
  • Zhiming Cheng (2008).  Approaches and Perspectives in the Studies of China's Urban Poverty. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 3(11),109-120 [ERA B]

Book Reviews

  • Zhiming Cheng  (2015). Chinese Social Policy in a Time of Transition, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Political Studies Review. [ERA: B; IF: 1.286; JCR: 37/157 (Political Science)]
  • Zhiming Cheng  (2014). The Accidental Capitalist: A People's Story of the New China. B. Yaghmaian (2012). London: Pluto Press; Prosper or Perish: Credit and Fiscal Systems in Rural China. L. H. Ong (2012). Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Political Studies Review, 12(2), 336-337. [See above for rankings]
  • Zhiming Cheng  (2014). Transcending Boundaries: Zhejiangcun: The Story of a Migrant Village in Beijing. X. Biao (2010). Leiden: BRILL. Political Studies Review, 8(1), 141-142. [See above for rankings]
  • Zhiming Cheng  (2009). Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China. S. Greenhalgh (2008). Berkeley: University of California Press. In-Spire: Journal of Law, Politics and Societies, 4(1), 91-92.