Education:
Ph.D., Cornell University (2000)
M.A., Cornell University (1995)
Undergraduate Education, Renmin University of China (1989-1992)
Areas of study:
Social Stratification and Mobility; Work and Organizations; Social and Cultural Change; Contemporary Chinese Society; Quantitative Methods.
Academic Appointments:
Professor in Sociology and Public Policy, UNC Charlotte (2025-present)
Associate Professor in Sociology and Public Policy, UNC Charlotte (2016-2025)
Professor in Sociology, Zhejiang University (2013-2016)
Associate Professor in Sociology and Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte (2008-2013)
Assistant Professor in Sociology and Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte (2003-2008)
Assistant Professor in Sociology, Louisiana State University (2000-2003)
Administrative Positions:
Graduate Program Director, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte (2019-2023)
Chair, Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University (2015-2016)
Director, Sociological Research Institute, Zhejiang University (2013-2015)
Editorial Services:
Editor in Chief, Social Science Research (2024-2026)
Co-Editor in Chief, Social Science Research (2020-2023)
Senior Editor, Management & Organization Review (2017-2020)
Associate Editor & Co-Editor, Social Science Research (2015-2019)
Consulting Editor, American Journal of Sociology (2008-2010)
Representative Publications:
Yang Cao. 2024. “The Cultural Consequences of Market Transition: An Empirical Examination of Rising Materialism in Twenty-First-Century China.” American Sociological Review 89(3): 449-487.
Yang Cao. 2020. “Economic Development, Market Transition, and Work Values in Post-Socialist China.” Social Forces 99 (2): 760-796.
Wei Zhao and Yang Cao. 2017. “Institutional Compatibility and the Diffusion of ‘Best Practices’: Human Resource Management in Foreign-Invested Enterprises in China.” Chinese Sociological Review 49 (1): 1-34.
Yang Cao and Beth A. Rubin. 2014. “Market Reform and the Deinstitutionalization of Standard Work Hours in Postsocialist China.” Industrial & Labor Relations Review 67 (3): 864-890.
Yang Cao and Wei Zhao. 2009. “Localization in the Age of Globalization: Institutional Duality and Labor Management Structures in China’s Foreign-Invested Enterprises.” Research in the Sociology of Work 19: 165-201.
Yang Cao and Chiung-Yin Hu. 2007. “Gender and Job Mobility in Postsocialist China: A Longitudinal Study of Job Changes in Six Coastal Cities.” Social Forces 85 (4): 1535-1560.
Yang Cao. 2004. “Behind the Rising Meritocracy: Market, Politics, and Cultural Change in Urban China.” Social Science Research 33 (3): 435-463.
Yang Cao. 2001. “Careers inside Organizations: A Comparative Study of Promotion Determination in Reforming China.” Social Forces 80 (2): 683-712.
Yang Cao and Victor Nee. 2000. “Comment: Controversies and Evidence in the Market Transition Debate.” American Journal of Sociology 105 (4): 1175-1189.
Grants and Fellowships (Selected):
PI, “Market Transition and Cultural Change in 21st Century China: An Empirical Examination through the Lens of Work Values.” UNC-Charlotte Capitalism Studies Program ($10,000), 2020-2022
Co-PI (with L. Xie and Y. Wang), “Accelerating Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio Networks via Social Analysis of Secondary Users.” National Science Foundation, Grant No.1343355 ($600,000), 2013-2016
Visiting Fellowship, “An Institutional Analysis of How Employment Affects Health in China’s Transitional Economy, 1989-2006.” East West Center ($12,000), 2009
PI (with co-PI W. Zhao), “Institutional Compatibility and High-Commitment HR Practices in an Emerging Economy: A Study of MNC Affiliates in China.” Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation, Project No.111 ($62,825), 2007-2009
