Martha Chen

Lecturer in Public Policy
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Office Address
Belfer-107
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 32
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-495-0797
Fax: 617-496-2828
Email: Martha_Chen@ksg.harvard.edu
Assistant
MaryBeth Graves (617-496-7037)
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Profile

Martha Chen, Lecturer in Public Policy, is international coordinator of the global research policy network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). An experienced development practitioner and scholar, she specializes in the links between employment, poverty, and gender. Before joining Harvard University in 1987, she lived for 15 years in Bangladesh where she worked with BRAC, one of the worlds largest NGOs, and in India where she served as field representative of Oxfam America for India and Bangladesh. She is the author of numerous books including, most recently, Progress of the Worlds Women 2005: Women, Work, and Poverty; Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture; and Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in Rural India. Chen received a PhD in South Asia regional studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Courses

Fall

  • PED-375 The Informal Economy: Links with Poverty, Growth, and Economic Crises

Media Expertise

Martha Chen welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Book Chapters
    • Chen, Martha. "Rethinking the Informal Economy: Linkages with the Formal Economy and the Formal Regulatory Environment." Towards Full and Decent Employment. Ed. Jose Antonio Ocampo and Jomo K.S.. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 234-255.
    • Chen, Martha. "A Spreading Banyon Tree: The Self-Employed Women's Association, India." From Clients to Citizens: Communities Changing the Course of Their Own Development. Ed. Alison Mathie and Gordon Cunningham. Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 2008.
    • Chen, Martha. "Famine, Widowhood, and Paid Work: Seeking Gender Justice in South Asia." Arguments for a Better World: Essays in Honor of Amartya Sen: Volume II: Society, Institutions, and Development. Ed. Kaushik Basu and Ravi Kanbur. Oxford University Press, 2008.
    • Chen, Martha. "Informalisation of Labour Markets: Is Formalisation the Answer?" The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization: Towards Embedded Liberalism? Ed. Shahra Razavi. Routledge Press, 2008, 191-218.
  • Magazine and Newspaper Articles
    • Chen, Martha. "Addressing Informality, Reducing Poverty." Poverty in Focus: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs - The Policy Challenge. December 2008, 6-7.
  • Research Papers/Reports
    • Chen, Martha. "Cornell-SEWA-WIEGO 2008 Dialogue - Ahmedabad and Delhi - Compendium of Personal and Technical Notes." Cornell University: Department of Applied Economics and Management Working Paper 2008-15, June 2008.