Bowei Hu

Bowei Hu

Ph.D. Candidate

Email: boweihu@ucla.edu

Curriculum Vitae


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Biography

I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology at UCLA and am affiliated with the California Center for Population Research.

Prior to enrolling in the sociology program at UCLA, I worked as a research assistant at Academia Sinica in Taiwan (2015–2018). My primary responsibility was to manage longitudinal data for firms and examine the impact of different expansion strategies on the performance of Taiwanese companies such as TSMC and Foxconn.

 

Dissertation Project

My research centers on organizational processes and social inequality. In my current project, I am using multilevel and longitudinal data from 16 countries and over one million households from 1995 to 2019 to examine the relationship between increasing concentration in top commercial banks and household indebtedness. I am also studying the impact of the diversification of banking institutions and legislation of alternative financial services on household borrowing in the United States.

  • ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant
  • SASE Early Career Workshop Award
  • ISA RC28 Student Travel Award

Teaching

In addition to my research, I am an award-winning teaching assistant for undergraduate discussion sessions in research methods. Each year, I lead more than 12 teams of 60+ undergraduate students in conducting one survey project and one vignette experiment.

In 2022, I served as the instructor for “Introduction to Sociological Research Methods,” where I taught 40 students about various methods in social science research (such as surveys, experiments, and interviews), measurement techniques (including conceptualization and operationalization), sampling strategies, and evaluation tools (such as reliability and validity). The student evaluation for this course was 8.6 out of 9.

Degrees

  • M.A. University of California, Los Angeles (2020)
  • M.A. National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan (2015)

Fields of Study

Organizations, Social Stratification, Economic Sociology, Quantitative Methods

Publications

  • Lin, Thung-Hong and Bowei Hu. 2019. “Subcontractors’ Dilemma: The Expansion of Taiwanese Firms 2002–2015.” International Journal of Taiwan Studies 2(2):199–229.
  • Lin, Kuan-Hui, Thung-Hong Lin, Bowei Hu, Yi-Chung Chang, Chin-Hsun Yeh, Gee-Yu Liu and Chuang-Han Chan, 2017, “Earthquake, Housing Damage, and Fatality: A Causal-effect Analysis of Seismic Risk in Chi- Chi Earthquake”, City and Planning 44(1):83-112.
  • Lin, Thung-Hong and Bowei Hu, 2017, “Size Matters: the Causes and Consequences of the Expansion of Taiwanese Business Groups” Pp. 231-268, edited by Zong-Rong Lee and Thung-Hong Lin, Unfinished Miracle: Taiwan’s Economic and Social Transition, Taipei: Academia Sinica.

Awards & Grants

2023–2024       ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant

2022–2023        Hiroshi Wagatsuma Memorial Fellowship

2021–2022        J. Young Scholarship

2020–2021        J. Young and Family Centennial Scholarship

2019–2022        Departmental Summer Funding

2018–2022        Departmental Fellowship

2018–2022        Ministry of Education Government Fellowship for Studying Abroad

2014–2015        Academia Sinica Fellowship

2011–2012        National Science Council College Student Research Grant

2011–2012        Shen Lin Memorial Foundation Fellowship

2009–2012        National Taipei University Fellowship

Advisors

Collaborators