Research Interests for Charles M. Becker

Charles Becker is interested in exploring the economies of such countries as Kazakhstan, India, sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. His research has focused on economic demography, social security system forecasting, CGE modeling, mortality and disability risk, determinants of health care utilization, computable general equilibrium simulation modeling, and urban economics. His on-going projects involve assessing infant mortality rates, poverty in developing countries, accidental deaths in middle-income countries, and the performance of minority students in Economics doctoral programs. He recently worked with Irina Merkuryeva on a project investigating, “Disability Risk and Miraculous Recoveries in Russia,” and with Rebecca Anthopolos on, “Gobal Infant Mortality: Initial results from a cross-country infant mortality comparison project.” He also collaborated with Grigory Marchenko, Sabit Khakimzhanov, Ai-Gul Seitenova, and Vladimir Ivliev on a project entitled, “Social Secutiry Reform in Transition Economies: Lessons from Kazakhstan,” and with Amitava Krishna Dutt and Jaime Ros on, “Urbanization and Rural-Urban Migration.”

Keywords:

Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cause of Death, Child, Child, Preschool, Disability Evaluation, Disabled Persons, Female, Health Status, Health Surveys, Health Transition, Humans, Incidence, Income, Infant, Infant Mortality, Infant, Newborn, Kazakhstan, Life Expectancy, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Mortality, Poverty Areas, Prevalence, Regression Analysis, Residence Characteristics, Risk Factors, Russia, Sex Factors, Social Welfare, Time Factors, Urban Population

Current projects:

social security forecasting in Kazakhstan

multi regional social security forecasting in Kyrgyzstan

mortality risk in Kazakhstan

migration in the former USSR

disability risk in Russia

determinants of health care utilization in Russia

Russian financial sector development

suburbanization in Indian cities

minority enrollments in graduate economics programs

determinants of poverty in Kyrgyzstan.

Areas of Interest:

pension/social security system forecasting
urbanization and migration in developing countries
inter-regional migration in the former USSR
mortality and disability in the former USSR
population aging and fertility in developing and transition countries
US minority student performance and progression to graduate study

Representative Publications

1. Charles M. Becker, Grigory A. Marchenko, Sabit Khakimzhanov, Ai-Gul S. Seitenova, and Vladimir Ivliev, SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM IN TRANSITION ECONOMICS: LESSONS FROM KAZAKHSTAN (2009), New York: Palgrave Macmillan
2. Charles M. Becker and Gregory N. Price, Curriculum Intensity in Graduate Preparatory Programs: Impact on Performance and Progression to Graduate Study among Minority Students in Economics, in DOCTORAL EDUCATION AND THE FACULTY OF THE FUTURE, edited by Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Charlotte V. Kuh (2008), Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, ISBN 978-0-8014-4543-9
3. Becker, CM, Urbanization and rural-urban migration, in INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, edited by Amitava Krishna Dutt and Jaime Ros (December, 2008), pp. 516-531, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar
4. Charles M. Becker, Ai-Gul Seitenova and Dina S. Urzhumova, Pension Reform in Central Asia: an Overview, in ECONOMICS OF INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES, edited by Masaaki Kuboniwa and Yoshiaki Nishimura (2006), Tokyo: Maruzen Publishers (Ch. 9.)