He earned his PhD degree in economics at the George Washington University. Prior to joining Georgetown University, Dr. Hou taught economics at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Hou’s research interests are in development economics, applied econometrics, and international economics. In particular, his research focuses on micro-economic development issues in China: rural poverty, inequality, returns to education, determinants of income and consumption, and how those outcomes are affected by openness and market development. One of his papers was recently published in The Review of Economics and Statistics.