Yang Cao
Department of Sociology
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Phone: 704-687-8177
Email: yangcao@uncc.edu
Education
2000 Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1995 M.A., Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1989–93 Undergraduate Education in Sociology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Academic Appointment
2008– Associate Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Joint Appointment: Associate Professor in Public Policy (since 2012)
- Joint Appointment: Associate Professor in Organizational Science (2008-2014)
- Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University, China (2013-2016)
- Director, Sociological Research Institute, Zhejiang University, China (2013-2016)
- Chair, Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University, China (2015-2016)
- Visiting Fellow, East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii (2009)
2003–08 Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Adjunct Appointment: Assistant Professor of Organizational Science (2005-2008)
2000–03 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State University (LSU)
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards
2014 Winner (with Victor Nee), Inaugural Award for Best Paper in Chinese Theory of Management, Management and Organizations Review and Peking University Press
2013–16 Co-PI (with Linda Xie and Yu Wang), “Accelerating Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio Networks via Social Analysis of Secondary Users,” National Science Foundation (Award #1343355), $600,000
2009–10 Senior Faculty Research Grant, UNC-Charlotte, $6,000
2009 Visiting Fellowship Award, “An Institutional Analysis of How Employment Affects Health in China’s Transitional Economy, 1989-2006,” East West Center
2007 PI (with Wei Zhao), “Institutional Compatibility and High-Commitment HR Practices in an Emerging Economy: A Study of MNC Affiliates in China,” Research Grant, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation (Project #111), $62,825
2003–04 Junior Faculty Research Grant, UNC-Charlotte, $3,500
2002 Summer Research Stipend Award, Council on Research, LSU, $5,500
2000 Liu Memorial Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Cornell University
Publications (peer-reviewed)
2017 Wei Zhao and Yang Cao. “Institutional Compatibility and the Diffusion of ‘Best Practices’: Human Resource Management in Foreign-Invested Enterprises in China.” Chinese Sociological Review 49 (1): 1-34.
2016 Zongshi Chen and Yang Cao. “Chinese Private Corporate Philanthropy: Social Responsibility, Legitimacy Strategy, and the Role of Political Capital.” Chinese Sociological Review 48 (2): 108-136.
2015 Zhenhua Su, Yang Cao, Jingkai He, and Waibin Huang. “Perceived Social Mobility and Political Trust in China.” African and Asian Studies 14 (4): 315-336.
2014 Yang Cao and Beth A. Rubin. “Market Reform and the Deinstitutionalization of Standard Work Hours in Postsocialist China.” Industrial & Labor Relations Review 67 (3): 864-890.
2012 Kate Frear, Yang Cao, and Wei Zhao. “CEO Background and the Adoption of Western-Style Human Resource Practices in China.” International Journal of Human Resource Management 23 (19): 4009-4024.
2009 Yang Cao and Wei Zhao. “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.
2007 Yang Cao and Chiung-Yin Hu. “Gender and Job Mobility in Postsocialist China: A Longitudinal Study of Job Changes in Six Coastal Cities.” Social Forces 85 (4): 1535-1560.
2005 Victor Nee and Yang Cao. “Market Transition and the Firm: Institutional Change and Income Inequality in Urban China.” Management and Organizations Review 1 (1): 23-56.
- Winner the Inaugural Management and Organizations Review / Peking University Press Award for Best Paper in Chinese Management Theory
2005 Yang Cao and Victor Nee. “Remaking Inequality: Institutional Change and Income Stratification in Urban China.” Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 10 (4): 463-485.
2004 Yang Cao. “Behind the Rising Meritocracy: Market, Politics, and Cultural Change in Urban China.” Social Science Research 33 (3): 435-463.
2002 Victor Nee and Yang Cao. “Postsocialist Inequality: The Causes of Continuity and Discontinuity.” Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 19: 3-39.
2001 Yang Cao. “Careers inside Organizations: A Comparative Study of Promotion Determination in Reforming China.” Social Forces 80 (2): 683-712.
2000 Yang Cao and Victor Nee. “Comment: Controversies and Evidence in the Market Transition Debate.” American Journal of Sociology 105 (4): 1175-1189.
1999 Victor Nee and Yang Cao. “Path Dependent Societal Transformation: Stratification in Hybrid Mixed Economies.” Theory and Society 28 (6): 799-834.
Book Reviews and Other Publications (not peer-reviewed):
2009 Zhao, Wei and Yang Cao. “Institutional Compatibility and High-Commitment HR Practices in an Emerging Economy: A Study of Multinational Corporation Affiliates in China.” Executive report for SHRM Foundation. http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/Pages/SHRMFoundationResearchCao.aspx
2007 Yang Cao. Book Review: Working in China: Ethnographies of Labor and Workplace Transformation, edited by Ching Kwan Lee. Work and Occupations 34 (4): 469-471.
2006 Yang Cao. Book Review: Open for Business: The Persistent Entrepreneurial Class in Poland, by E. Osborn and K.M. Slomczynski. Administrative Science Quarterly 51: 311-313.
Invited Talks and Conference Presentations (selected, past 10 years)
2016 Wei Zhao and Yang Cao. “Institutional Compatibility and the Diffusion of Best Practices: Human Resource Management in Foreign-Invested Enterprises in China.” Invited talk at Zhejiang Normal University. Jinhua, China, May.
2015 Zongshi Chen and Yang Cao. “Private Corporate Philanthropy in China: Social Responsibility, Legitimacy Strategy, and the Role of Political Connections.” Paper presented at the 110th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Chicago, IL, August.
2014 Dali Ma and Yang Cao. “Marginal Man and Boundary Crossing: A Social Structural Analysis Longitudinal Account of Chinese Party Elite’s Career Mobility.” Paper presented at the 109th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. New York, NY, August.
2013 Yang Cao. “Work Hours and Income Inequality.” Paper presented at the Conference on Civil Rights and Social Development in Anji, China, October.
2012 Yang Cao and Beth A. Rubin. “Market Reform and the Deinstitutionalization of the Standard Workday in Postsocialist China.” Paper presented at the International Comparisons of Work Time Conference in Montreal, Canada, April.
2011 Yang Cao. “Beyond Grievances: Institutional Context and Labor Disputes in China’s Foreign-Invested Enterprises.” Paper presented at the North American Chinese Sociologists Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV, August.
2011 Kate Frear, Yang Cao, and Wei Zhao. “CEO Background and the Adoption of Western-Style Human Resource Practices in China.” Paper presented at the Academy of Management’s annual meeting in San Antonio, TX, August.
2010 Yang Cao. “Work and Health under Market Transition: A Study of Psychological and Physical Well-being in Urban China.” Paper presented at the North American Chinese Sociologists Association’s annual meeting. Atlanta, GA, August.
2010 Yang Cao and Wei Zhao. “Gender Composition and Wage in China‟s Foreign-Invested Firms.” Paper presented at the 105th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Atlanta, GA, August.
2009 Yang Cao, Wei Zhao, Ben Baran, and Adrian Goh. “Retention-Oriented Employment Practices in MNC Affiliates in China.” Paper presented at Southern Sociological Society’s annual meeting. New Orleans, LA, April.
2007 Yang Cao. “Organizational Theories and Managerial Practices: Some New Perspectives.” Invited talk at the College of Economics and Management, Dalian University. Dalian, China, June.
2007 Yang Cao and Wei Zhao. “Localization in the Age of Globalization: Institutional Duality and Labor Governance Structures in China’ s Foreign-Invested Enterprises.” Paper presented at the 102nd annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. New York, NY, August.
Departmental, College, and University Services (selected)
2016–17 Search Committee for the Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Public Policy, UNC Charlotte
2016–17 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2015– Academic Committee Member, Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, Zhejiang University, China
2012–13 Reviewer, Faculty Research Grant Committee, UNC Charlotte
2012–13 Department Representative, Faculty Council, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UNC Charlotte
2011-12 Chair, Small Grants Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UNC Charlotte
2011-13 Executive Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2010-11 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2010 Chair, Annual Review Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2010 Graduate Research Scholarship Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2010 Chair’s Comprehensive Review Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UNC Charlotte
2009-12 Advisory Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2009 Admission Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2009 Small Grants Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UNC Charlotte
2009 Annual Review Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2008-09 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2008-09 New Faculty Mentor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UNC Charlotte
2007 Admission Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2006-07 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte
2006 Admission Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2005 Annual Review Committee, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UNC Charlotte
2005 Search Committee for the Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2004–05 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UNC Charlotte
2003–06 Planning Committee for the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Organizational Science, UNC Charlotte
2003–04 Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UNC Charlotte
2002–03 Graduate Admission Committee, Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University
2001–03 Departmental Advisory Committee, Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University
2000–02 Graduate Policy Committee, Department of Sociology, Louisiana State Universty
Review and Editorial Services
2015– Associate Editor, Social Science Research
2011– Editorial Board Member, Chinese Sociological Review
2008–10 Consulting Editor, American Journal of Sociology
2008–10 Editorial Review Board Member, Management and Organizations Review
2003– Grant Proposal Reviewer, National Science Foundation; Society for Human Resource Management Foundation; The Leverhulme Trust; Overseas Young Chinese Forum (OYCF);
1999–00 Editorial Board Student Member, Rationality and Society
1997– Reviewer, reviewed hundreds of manuscripts for the following journals:
- Sociology: American Journal of Sociology; American Sociological Review; Social Forces; Social Problems; Social Science Research; The Sociological Quarterly; Sociological Perspectives; Sociological Forum; Sociological Inquiry; Theory and Society; Sociology of Education; Work and Occupations; Rationality and Society; Research in Social Stratification and Mobility; Chinese Sociological Review.
- Economics, Industrial Relations, & Management: Industrial and Labor Relations Review; Industrial Relations; Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy; Academy of Management Journal; Organization Science; Journal of International Business Studies; Human Relations; Management and Organizations Review; Asia Pacific Journal of Management; Journal of Business and Psychology; International Journal of Human Resource Management.
- Interdisciplinary & Area Studies: Development and Society; Gender and Society; International Journal of Urban and Regional Research; Socio-Economic Review; Urban Studies; World Development; African and Asian Studies; Social Transformation of the Chinese Societies; The China Quarterly.
Other Professional Services
2010–14 Secretary & Newsletter Editor, North American Chinese Sociologists’ Association
2010–13 Board Member & Treasurer, North American Chinese Sociologists’ Association
Courses taught
Introduction to Sociology (undergraduate level)
Social Science Research Methods (undergraduate level)
Organizations and Society (undergraduate level)
Quantitative Analysis (upper-division undergraduate and master levels)
Organizational Sociology (upper-division undergraduate and master levels)
Quantitative Research Methods (master and doctoral levels)
Categorical Data Analysis (master and doctoral levels)
Social Science Research Methods (master and doctoral levels)
Seminar: Economic Sociology (master level)
Seminar: Organizational Sociology (master and doctoral levels)
Seminar: Organizational Science Overview (doctoral level)
(Updated: January 2017)