My research focuses on education, child and youth welfare, and social inequality, particularly in China. In China, I have conducted research on gender, ethnic, and geographic disparities in education and employment, changes in the impact of education on income and occupational attainment under market reforms, rural teachers and their links to student outcomes, the impact of school consolidation on children's education, and children's and adolescents' welfare under market reforms. I co-direct the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, a collaborative, longitudinal study of children's welfare in rural northwest China, with Albert Park. Recent papers include ‘Childhood inequality in China’ (with Natalie Young, forthcoming, China Quarterly) and ‘Chronic undernutrition, short-term hunger, and student functioning in rural northwest China’ (with Li-Chung Hu, 2017, International Journal of Educational Development).