Valid information on levels of poverty and inequality is crucial when drafting effective antipoverty policies. Buhong Zheng, professor of economics, has researched what works and what falls short when analyzing these important issues. His contributions have garnered him national attention and the UCD 2007 Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award.
“The standard measure of poverty—simply counting the number of poor—is crude in the sense that it does not concern how far a poor individual falls below the poverty line,” he explains. “I realized that there was new literature devoted to the measurement of poverty and I could make some significant contributions to the literature.”
A professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Department of Economics, Zheng’s research has addressed questions both in the statistical measurement and the theoretical issues surrounding poverty and inequality.
“These issues are considered among the most difficult in the field,” notes Steven Beckman, chair of the Department of Economics. “His ability to create objective measures capturing complex social interactions is gradually transforming how we perceive and present ourselves.”
Zheng has been chosen co-editor of two highly regarded journals in the growing field of social welfare and inequality: Social Choice and Welfare and the Journal of Economic Inequality. His work is referenced by the most influential authors in the field, including Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.
Since joining the university in 1995, Zheng has maintained a rigorous research agenda. He has published 16 solo-authored and 19 co-authored research papers in economics journals and research volumes. His work has become so notable that a poverty measure he introduced in 2000 has been referred to as the Zheng Poverty Index by fellow researchers.
“Professor Zheng has made the determination to write only papers that hold the promise of highly influential and lasting contributions to the field,” Beckman stresses. “He has delivered on that promise.”
Most of Zheng’s research has been conducted since he joined UCD and majority of publications carry the UCD name. “My work and my serving as co-editors in two international journals certainly have enhanced the visibility of the university,” he notes. “My reputation has also attracted good students to the university and helped students in their job placements and graduate school applications.”
Zheng’s research consists of two parts: examining the various axioms used in poverty and inequality measurement and deriving more accurate measures for poverty and inequality; and deriving statistical inference procedures for implementing the measures of inequality and poverty with sample data.
The impact of his work not only benefits the field, but also his students. “My students get to see how what they learned can relate to the issues that I have been working on,” he says. “By sharing my research with them, I help them better understand the concepts and methods in each class that I teach.” For example, in Zheng’s statistics class, students learn how various U.S. official income statistics are computed and how to draw robust conclusions with some of the statistical tools he has derived. “This effort helps students to move beyond the textbook and learn to properly use statistics in their future work.”
Beckman summarizes, “Professor Zheng is one of those rare scholars who will leave a permanent mark in his field.”