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@harvard.edu
Martha Chen

Profile

Martha Chen is a Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and International Coordinator of the global research-policy-action network Women in Informal Employment:Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). An experienced developmentpractitioner and scholar, her areas of specialization areemployment, gender, and poverty with a focus on the working poor inthe informal economy. Before joining Harvard in 1987, she had twodecades of resident experience in Bangladesh working with BRAC (nowthe world's largest non-governmental organization) and in India,where she served as field representative of Oxfam America for Indiaand Bangladesh. Marty received a PhD in South Asia Regional Studiesfrom the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of numerousbooks including Bridging Perspectives: Labour, InformalEmployment, and Poverty (co-edited with Namrata Bali and RaviKanbur), The Progress of the World’s Women 2005: Women, Workand Poverty (co-authored with Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, JamesHeintz, Renana Jhabvala and Chris Bonner), MainstreamingInformal Employment and Gender in Poverty Reduction(co-authored with Joann Vanek and Marilyn Carr), Women and Menin the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture (co-authoredwith Joann Vanek) and Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in RuralIndia. Dr. Chen was awarded a high civilian award, the PadmaShri, by the Government of India in April 2011; and a Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War award by the Government of Bangladesh in December 2012.

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:

  • Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles
    • Chen, Martha. "Informal Workers in the Developing World: Organizing in the Global Economy." New Labor Forum 22.1 (January/February 2013): 67-73.
    • Chen, Martha, and Joann Vanek. "Informal Employment Revisited: Theories, Data, and Policies." Indian Journal of Industrial Relations 48.3 (January 2013).
    • Chen, Martha. "Urban Employment in India: Recent Trends and Future Prospects." MARGIN—The Journal of Applied Economic Research 6.2 (2012).
  • Book Chapters
    • Chen, Martha. "Women and the Informal Economy: Economic Actors and Global Leaders." Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change. Ed. Trish Tierney. Institute of International Education Foundation, 2013.
    • Chen, Martha. "Global Recession and the Informal Economy: Evidence from Latin America and Beyond." The Global Economic Crisis in Latin America. Ed. Michael Cohen. Routledge, May 2012.
  • Edited Volumes
    • Bali, Namrata, Martha Alter Chen, and Ravi Kanbur, eds. Bridging Perspectives: Labour, Informality, and Poverty. SEWA Academy, 2012.
  • Research Papers/Reports
    • Chen, Martha. "Self-Employed Women’s Association of India: A National Trade Union and International Role Model." Case Study for World Development Report 2013, World Bank, 2012.
    • Chen, Martha, Chris Bonner, Mahendra Chetty, Lucia Fernandez, Karin Pape, Federico Parra, Arbind Singh, and Caroline Skinner. "Urban Informal Workers: Representative Voice & Economic Rights." Background Paper for World Development Report 2012, World Bank, 2012.
    • Chen, Martha. "The Informal Economy: Definitions, Theories and Policies." WIEGO Working Paper No. 1, August 2012.