Expertise
- Development Economics
- Household Finance
Biography
Biography:
Jing Cai is the John R. and Marjorie C. Moore Associate Professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland. She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2012. Her research areas are development economics and household finance, with a focus on how financial and organizational innovations can improve welfare and productivity in developing countries. Much of her work uses field experiments and self-collected data to test economic theories and evaluate new policy innovations. Her research has been published in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review and Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Professor Cai is a board member and co-chair of the firm sector of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a fellow of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), and a research affiliate of the International Growth Center (IGC). She currently serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics and is on the Board of Editors of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Education:
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2012
M.A. University of California, Berkeley, Statistics, 2009
M.S. Peking University, Finance, 2006
B.S. Beijing Normal University, Computer Science, 2004
Research
Areas of Interest:
- Diffusion and impact of financial innovations
- Identifying ways to improve the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises, and impacts of tax policies on firm behavior
Publications
Selected Publications:
Indirect Effects of Access to Finance, with Adam Szeidl, 2024. American Economic Review, 114(8): 2308-51.
Microfinance, with Muhammad Meki, Simon Quinn, Erica Field, Cynthia Kinnan, Jonathan Morduch, Jonathan de Quidt, and Farah Said. VoxDevLit, March 2023, 3(2).
Improving Management through Worker Evaluations: Evidence from Auto Manufacturing, with Shing-Yi Wang, 2022. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 137(4): 2459-2497.
Training Entrepreneurs, with Bjorvatn Kjetil, Miriam Bruhn, Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe, David McKenzie, Simon Quinn, Tetsushi Sonobe, Martin Valdivia, and Christopher Woodruff. VoxDevLit, August 2021, 1(2).
Subsidy Policies and Insurance Demand, with Alain de Janry and Elizabeth Sadoulet, 2020. American Economic Review, 110(8): 2422-53.
Industrial Policy in China: Some Unintended Consequences? with Ann Harrison, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, November 2019, 1-36.
Interfirm Relationships and Business Performance, with Adam Szeidl, 2018. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(3): 1229-1282. Online Appendix
Do Disaster Experiences and Knowledge Affect Insurance Take-up, with Changcheng Song. Journal of Development Economics, January 2017, 124: 83-94.
The Impact of Insurance Provision on Household Production and Financial Decisions. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2016, 8(2): 44-88.
Industrial Policy and Competition, with Phillipe Aghion, Mathias Dewatripont, Luosha Du, Ann Harrison, and Patrick Legros. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2015, 7(4): 1-32.
Social Networks and the Decision to Insure, with Alain de Janry and Elizabeth Sadoulet. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, April 2015, 7(2): 81-108.
