CV

General Information

Full Name Mengying Peng
Address 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo, Japan 186-8601
Email mengying.peng@r.hit-u.ac.jp, mengying.peng25@gmail.com

Academic Appointments

  • Dec 2025 – present
    Specially Appointed Assistant Professor, Economics
    Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS), Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
  • Apr 2026 – present
    Part-time Lecturer, Development Economics (in Japanese)
    Tsuda University, Tokyo, Japan
  • Jul 2025 – Nov 2025
    Specially Appointed Research Associate, Economics
    Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS), Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan

Education

  • Apr 2021 – Oct 2025
    Ph.D., Economics
    Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
    • Fields: Development Economics, Economics of Education, Experimental Economics
    • Dissertation: Pathways to Equity: Investigating Barriers, Practices, and Policies in Education
  • 2023 – 2024
    Visiting Ph.D. Student
    Arizona State University (MLF Teachers College), Tempe, AZ, USA
  • Apr 2019 – Mar 2021
    M.A., Economics
    Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
  • Sep 2011 – Jun 2015
    B.Admin, Accounting
    Hunan University, Changsha, China

Publications

  • Peer Effects on College Choice: Evidence from Affirmative Action in China, with Xiaoyang Ye, Labour Economics, 2025.

Working Papers

  • Information and Preference Revision in High-Stakes Educational Choice: Experimental Evidence from Rural China — with Xin Li and Xiaoyang Ye
  • Mind the Skill Gap: Relationship between Economic Growth and Human Capital — with John M. Fredericks and Margarita Pivovarova
  • When Ramadan Meets the College Entrance Exam: The Effects on Student Outcomes in China — with Xiaoyang Ye
  • Unintended Consequences of Affirmative Action in Higher Education: Evidence from India — with Takashi Kurosaki
  • International Agricultural Price Shocks and Child Labor: The Role of Crop Choice in Rural China — with Jingcheng Jiang
  • Bridging The Gaps: How Teacher Diversity Shapes Student Achievement in the United States — with Margarita Pivovarova and Jeanne M. Powers

Work in Progress

  • Identifying Hidden Mathematical Talent: Experimental Evidence from Rural China — with Stephen L. DesJardins and Xiaoyang Ye
  • Decentralized Health Insurance Policy and Healthcare Access: Evidence from Indian States — with Tanika Chakraborty and Yuko Mori

Grants, Fellowships, and Awards

  • 2026
    • JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (Grant No. 26K16354), Principal Investigator
  • 2025
    • Hitotsubashi International Fellow Program (Hitotsubashi University)
  • 2024
    • APPAM 2024 Equity & Inclusion Student Fellowship
    • 19th "Chunhui Cup" Doctoral Talent Exchange Program Travel Grant (Ministry of Education of China)
    • Hitotsubashi International Fellow Program (Hitotsubashi University)
    • Joint Usage and Research Center Programs at IER, Hitotsubashi University, Co-Investigator (PI: Margarita Pivovarova)
    • Scholarship for Graduate Students Studying Abroad (Hitotsubashi University)
    • AEFP Student Travel Grant Award
  • 2023
    • Hitotsubashi International Fellow Program – Outbound (Hitotsubashi University)
    • AEFP Student Travel Grant Award
    • CSWEP Mentoring Workshop Travel Grant by AEA
    • Excellent Paper of the 2nd Peking University Summer School in Education (Peking University)
    • Education Finance and Policy Outstanding Young Scholars Program Scholarship (Peking University)

Presentations

  • 2026
    • SEA 2026 (scheduled)
    • University of Tokyo–Harvard-Yenching Institute Joint Training Program
    • JEA Spring
    • GRIPS/JADE Development Seminar
    • AEFP 2026
  • 2025
    • JADE Young 2025
    • SEA 2025
    • Kobe U
    • AEA/ASSA 2025 (Poster)
    • Young Scholars Forum on Education Finance Research in China
  • 2024
    • 9th Nanhu International Young Scholars Forum
    • 19th "Chunhui Cup" Doctoral Talent Exchange Program
    • AASLE 2024
    • SEA 2024
    • Workshop on Empirical Research in Developing Countries
    • AERA 2024 (Poster)
    • 2024 CES North America
    • AEFP 2024 (Poster)
  • 2023
    • APPAM 2023
    • AEFP 2023
  • 2022
    • AASLE 2022
    • Peking University (Poster)
    • Xiangjiang Forum 2022

Mentorship

  • Doctoral committee member, John M. Fredericks, Arizona State University

Service

  • Conference Service: AEFP (Reviewer), AERA (Reviewer), SEA 2024 (Chair), CES 2024 (Discussant), APPAM 2023 (Discussant), AASLE 2022 (Chair), Xiangjiang Forum 2022 (Discussant)
  • Journal Referee: PLOS One, Research in Higher Education

Software and Programming

  • Stata, Python, LaTeX, LimeSurvey (custom survey platform development), R

Languages

  • English, Japanese (N1), Chinese (Native), French (Basic)