Professor Anwen Zhang
- Professor of Economics (Economics)
- Associate (School of Health & Wellbeing)
telephone:
0141 330 6965
email:
Anwen.Zhang@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 6123, Adam Smith Business School, 2 Discovery Place, Glasgow, G11 6EY
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396Biography
Anwen Zhang is Professor of Economics at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. He is an applied microeconomist with primary research interests in health and education economics, and secondary interests in labour and demographic economics. His research applies quasi-experimental and experimental methods to study how policies, institutions, and individual behaviours interact to shape health, education, social, and economic outcomes.
He joined the University of Glasgow in 2019, following postdoctoral research positions at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Cambridge. He was educated at Jilin University, University College London, and Lancaster University. He is a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO).
Research interests
Anwen is a member and the alternate lead of the Applied Economics research cluster.
Areas of expertise:
- Health Economics
- Economics of Education
- Programme Evaluation
- Applied Microeconomics
Research topics
Anwen is primarily interested in studying policy-relevant issues related to health and education. His research seeks to understand the determinants of health and education outcomes, and the effects of health and education policies on these outcomes, by applying quasi-experimental methods to large-scale observational data. His current work focuses on the following inter-related topics:
- Mental health: how various factors such as religion, migration, and peers affect mental health, and the role of policy in shaping mental health outcomes.
- Schools: school inputs and outputs in education and health production, and the roles of policy interventios and social elements in these processes.
- Health policy: effectiveness of health policies, health and healthcare for different demographic groups.
Working papers:
- "Integrating Socio-Emotional Learning into Public Schools: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment" (with Fang Chang, Han Liu, Bin Tang, Wenjie Wu, and Yiming Xia)
- "The Family Multiplier: Understanding Delinquency and Parent-Adolescent Interactions" (with Marc K Chan, Sriya Iyer, and Kai Liu)
- "Uncovering Son Preference Cultures from Migrants under Endogenous Destination Selection" (with Zhongliang Deng, Kai Liu, Xiangqing Liu)
- "Integrated Care Systems and Service Efficiency: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Waiting Times in the English National Health Service" (with Huihui Song and Yiming Xia)
- "In Case You Were Wondering: Long-Term Peer Effects of Curiosity on Student Educational Outcomes" (with Yiming Xia, Weidong Wang, and Ming Wen) [Draft out soon]
Inactive projects
Publications
2026
Liu, Kai, Liu, Xiangqing, Zhang, Anwen 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396 and Deng, Zhongliang
(2026)
Uncovering Son Preference Cultures from Migrants under Endogenous Destination Selection.
Working Paper.
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen.
Chan, Marc K., Iyer, Sriya, Liu, Kai and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2026)
The Family Multiplier: Understanding Delinquency and Parent-Adolescent Interactions.
Working Paper.
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
(doi: 10.17863/CAM.131215).
2025
Chang, Fang, Liu, Han, Tang, Bin, Wu, Wenjie, Xia, Yiming and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2025)
Integrating Socio-Emotional Learning into Public Schools: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment.
Working Paper.
SSRN.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.5735923).
Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2025)
Human beauty illustrates the economic impact of heritable physical traits.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(6),
e241842412.
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2418424122)
(PMID:39903113)
2024
Song, Huihui, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Barr, Benjamin and Wickham, Sophie
(2024)
Effect of Universal Credit on young children’s mental health: quasi-experimental evidence from understanding society.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 78(12),
pp. 764-771.
(doi: 10.1136/jech-2024-222293)
(PMID:39153850)
(PMCID:PMC11672006)
Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2024)
The Economic Impact of Heritable Physical Traits: Hot Parents, Rich Kid?
Documentation.
National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
(doi: 10.3386/w32086).
2023
Green, Colin P., Wilson, Luke B. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2023)
Beauty, underage drinking, and adolescent risky behaviours.
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 215,
pp. 153-166.
(doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.09.011)
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Gagné, Thierry, Walsh, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3390-5039, Ciancio, Alberto ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-0885, Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503 and McCartney, Gerard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6341-3521
(2023)
Trends in psychological distress in Great Britain, 1991-2019: evidence from three representative surveys.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 77(7),
pp. 468-473.
(doi: 10.1136/jech-2022-219660)
(PMID:37188500)
2021
Quintana-Domeque, Climent, Lee, Ines, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503, Battisti, Michele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-8566 and Ho, Antonia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1465-3785
(2021)
Anxiety and depression among medical doctors in Catalonia, Italy, and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLoS ONE, 16(11),
e0259213.
(doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259213)
(PMID:34727110)
(PMCID:PMC8562811)
Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503 and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2021)
COVID-19 and mental health of individuals with different personalities.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(37),
e210928211.
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2109282118)
(PMID:34508007)
Yang, W. et al. (2021) Understanding health and social challenges for aging and long-term care in China. Research on Aging, 43(3-4), pp. 127-135. (doi: 10.1177/0164027520938764) (PMID:32677535) (PMCID:PMC7961665)
2020
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Nikoloski, Zlatko, Albala, Sarah Averi, Yip, Winnie, Xu, Jin and Mossialos, Elias
(2020)
Patient choice of health care providers in China: primary care facilities versus hospitals.
Health Systems and Reform, 6(1),
e1846844.
(doi: 10.1080/23288604.2020.1846844)
(PMID:33314985)
Lu, Weijia, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396 and Mossialos, Elias
(2020)
Parental migration and self-reported health status of adolescents in China: a cross-sectional study.
EClinicalMedicine, 22,
100371.
(doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100371)
(PMID:32462118)
(PMCID:PMC7240332)
2019
Fruehwirth, Jane Cooley, Iyer, Sriya and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2019)
Religion and depression in adolescence.
Journal of Political Economy, 127(3),
pp. 1178-1209.
(doi: 10.1086/701425)
Nikoloski, Zlatko, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Hopkin, Gareth and Mossialos, Elias
(2019)
Self-reported symptoms of depression among Chinese rural-to-urban migrants and left-behind family members.
JAMA Network Open, 2(5),
e193355.
(doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.3355)
(PMID:31050782)
(PMCID:PMC6503489)
2017
Su, M. et al. (2017) Availability, cost, and prescription patterns of antihypertensive medications in primary health care in China: a nationwide cross-sectional survey. Lancet, 390(10112), pp. 2559-2568. (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32476-5) (PMID:29102087)
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Nikoloski, Zlatko and Mossialos, Elias
(2017)
Does health insurance reduce out-of-pocket expenditure? Heterogeneity among China's middle-aged and elderly.
Social Science and Medicine, 190,
pp. 11-19.
(doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.005)
(PMID:28823943)
Articles
Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2025)
Human beauty illustrates the economic impact of heritable physical traits.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(6),
e241842412.
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2418424122)
(PMID:39903113)
Song, Huihui, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Barr, Benjamin and Wickham, Sophie
(2024)
Effect of Universal Credit on young children’s mental health: quasi-experimental evidence from understanding society.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 78(12),
pp. 764-771.
(doi: 10.1136/jech-2024-222293)
(PMID:39153850)
(PMCID:PMC11672006)
Green, Colin P., Wilson, Luke B. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2023)
Beauty, underage drinking, and adolescent risky behaviours.
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 215,
pp. 153-166.
(doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.09.011)
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Gagné, Thierry, Walsh, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3390-5039, Ciancio, Alberto ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-0885, Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503 and McCartney, Gerard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6341-3521
(2023)
Trends in psychological distress in Great Britain, 1991-2019: evidence from three representative surveys.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 77(7),
pp. 468-473.
(doi: 10.1136/jech-2022-219660)
(PMID:37188500)
Quintana-Domeque, Climent, Lee, Ines, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503, Battisti, Michele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-8566 and Ho, Antonia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1465-3785
(2021)
Anxiety and depression among medical doctors in Catalonia, Italy, and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLoS ONE, 16(11),
e0259213.
(doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259213)
(PMID:34727110)
(PMCID:PMC8562811)
Proto, Eugenio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-6503 and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2021)
COVID-19 and mental health of individuals with different personalities.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(37),
e210928211.
(doi: 10.1073/pnas.2109282118)
(PMID:34508007)
Yang, W. et al. (2021) Understanding health and social challenges for aging and long-term care in China. Research on Aging, 43(3-4), pp. 127-135. (doi: 10.1177/0164027520938764) (PMID:32677535) (PMCID:PMC7961665)
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Nikoloski, Zlatko, Albala, Sarah Averi, Yip, Winnie, Xu, Jin and Mossialos, Elias
(2020)
Patient choice of health care providers in China: primary care facilities versus hospitals.
Health Systems and Reform, 6(1),
e1846844.
(doi: 10.1080/23288604.2020.1846844)
(PMID:33314985)
Lu, Weijia, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396 and Mossialos, Elias
(2020)
Parental migration and self-reported health status of adolescents in China: a cross-sectional study.
EClinicalMedicine, 22,
100371.
(doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100371)
(PMID:32462118)
(PMCID:PMC7240332)
Fruehwirth, Jane Cooley, Iyer, Sriya and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2019)
Religion and depression in adolescence.
Journal of Political Economy, 127(3),
pp. 1178-1209.
(doi: 10.1086/701425)
Nikoloski, Zlatko, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Hopkin, Gareth and Mossialos, Elias
(2019)
Self-reported symptoms of depression among Chinese rural-to-urban migrants and left-behind family members.
JAMA Network Open, 2(5),
e193355.
(doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.3355)
(PMID:31050782)
(PMCID:PMC6503489)
Su, M. et al. (2017) Availability, cost, and prescription patterns of antihypertensive medications in primary health care in China: a nationwide cross-sectional survey. Lancet, 390(10112), pp. 2559-2568. (doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32476-5) (PMID:29102087)
Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396, Nikoloski, Zlatko and Mossialos, Elias
(2017)
Does health insurance reduce out-of-pocket expenditure? Heterogeneity among China's middle-aged and elderly.
Social Science and Medicine, 190,
pp. 11-19.
(doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.08.005)
(PMID:28823943)
Research Reports or Papers
Liu, Kai, Liu, Xiangqing, Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396 and Deng, Zhongliang
(2026)
Uncovering Son Preference Cultures from Migrants under Endogenous Destination Selection.
Working Paper.
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen.
Chan, Marc K., Iyer, Sriya, Liu, Kai and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2026)
The Family Multiplier: Understanding Delinquency and Parent-Adolescent Interactions.
Working Paper.
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
(doi: 10.17863/CAM.131215).
Chang, Fang, Liu, Han, Tang, Bin, Wu, Wenjie, Xia, Yiming and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2025)
Integrating Socio-Emotional Learning into Public Schools: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment.
Working Paper.
SSRN.
(doi: 10.2139/ssrn.5735923).
Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Zhang, Anwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3907-8396
(2024)
The Economic Impact of Heritable Physical Traits: Hot Parents, Rich Kid?
Documentation.
National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
(doi: 10.3386/w32086).
Grants
- British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, PI (with Co-I Zhongliang Deng), 07.2020--06.2023
Supervision
Anwen is interested in advising PhD students in the areas of health economics, education economics, and applied microeconomics in general. Topics may include but are not limited to:
- Human capital development
- Determinants and consequences of health and education
- Programme evaluation of health and education interventions
- School environment and interventions
- Health care markets
- Health and education financing
Current supervision
- Agarkov, Trofim
Essays in Economics - Liu, Mingchen
Essays on health issues among developing and developed countries
Completed students
- Abdisalam Mohamed (Director General, Somalia National Bureau of Statistics)
- Xiangqing Liu (Postdoc, University of Padua; Assistant Professor of Economics, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University)
- Zhen Long
- Huihui Song (Postdoc, University of Liverpool)
Teaching
Current teaching
- MA Honours: ECON4052 Health Economics
Past teaching
- MSc: ECON5004P/5102P Research Methods & Dissertation Training
- MA Honours: Skills Workshop (non-credit)
- MA Honours: ECON4003 Econometrics 1 (tutorials and labs)
- MA Honours: ECON4004 Econometrics 2 (tutorials and labs)
- Level 1: ECON1001 Economics 1A
Office
- Room 6123, Adam Smith Business School
Office hours
- Friday 15:30-16:30 during term time, please make an appointment below
Additional information
Administrative services
- Alternate Lead, Applied Economics Research Cluster, 2023/24-present
- Subject Engagement Lead, 2021/22-present
- Complaints and Academic Integrity Officer, 2020/21-23/24
- Co-organiser, Applied Economics Seminar Series, 2020/21-22/23
- Deputy Director, Graduate Centre for Development Studies, 2021/22
Policy report citation of research
- The Scottish Government, "Population Health Framework: Evidence Paper", Jun. 2025.
- European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, "Mental health challenges in the EU health and social care sector during COVID-19: strategies for prevention and management'', Oct. 2024.
- World Health Organisation, "Implementing the primary health care approach: a primer", May. 2024.
- Overseas Development Institute, "Migration and the future of care: supporting older people and care workers'', Jul. 2020.
Media coverage of research
- "Pulchronomics: the economics of beauty'', BBC Business Today, 21 Nov 2024.
- "Frequentar igreja prolonga mais a vida que dieta e exercício, diz especialista'', Gazeta Do Povo, 22 Sep 2024.
- "'Good-looking teenagers' are more likely to drink alcohol than average teenagers", Gigazine, 3 Aug 2024.
- "「見た目がいい10代の若者」は平均的な若者より多く飲酒してしまう可能性", Gigazine, 3 Aug 2024.
- "How attractive appearance leads to more risky behavior among young people", MSN, 10 Jul 2024.
- "Youth | Research: Appearance in connection with adolescent alcohol use", Pledge Times, 10 Jul 2024.
- "Tutkimus: Ulkonäkö yhteydessä teini-ikäisen alkoholinkäyttöön", Helsingin Sanomat, 9 Jul 2024.
- "Attractiveness May Influence Teens' Tendency For Risky Behaviors", Science Alert, 6 Jul 2024.
- "Attractiveness May Influence Teens' Tendency For Risky Behaviors", Yahoo!, 6 Jul 2024.
- "Frumusețea nu aduce fericire. Ce se întâmplă cu oamenii care arată prea bine?", Descopera, 3 Jul 2024.
- "Skeptisk til forskinga som seier at fine folk drikk meir enn andre", NRK, 29 Jun 2024.
- "The downside of being good-looking", Medical Xpress, 27 Jun 2024.
- "Attractive People More Likely to Have Drinking Problems, Scientists Say", Newsweek, 20 Jun 2024.
- "How attractive appearance leads to more risky behavior among young people", News Medical, 20 Jun 2024.
- "Attraktive ungdommer har høyere risikoadferd, viser forskning. Men bare hvis den er ansett som «kul»", Aftenposten, 17 Jun 2024.
- "Den penes problem", Gemini, 30 May 2024.
- "A mental health crisis is brewing among Indian youth. Religion can be a lifeline", The Print, 27 Mar 2024.
- "Are Your Parents Hot? You Might Earn More Money, Study Finds", Mental Floss, 14 Feb 2024.
- "Can having attractive parents increase your chances of getting rich?", CBS News, 9 Feb 2024.
- "The 'beauty bubble' is real. Just ask the man who’s been studying the link between being hot and making more money for 30 years", Fortune, 3 Feb 2024.
- "Making the Religion-Health Research Foundation Even Stronger", Psychology Today, 28 Dec 2023.
- "Insomnia in Healthcare Workers Worsened During the Pandemic", Medscape, 8 Dec 2021.
- "COVID-19: Anstieg von Ängsten und Depressionen bei Ärzten", Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 3 Nov 2021.
- "UK Doctors Experience Long-term Mental Health Effects of COVID-19", Medscape, 3 Nov 2021.
- "Research confirms impact of Covid-19 on doctors' mental health", The Independent, 3 Nov 2021.
- "Study finds high levels of anxiety, depression among medical doctors during COVID-19 pandemic", News Medical, 2 Nov 2021.
- "Depression and anxiety rife among doctors during first and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, study finds", Medical Xpress, 2 Nov, 2021
- "Doctors across the world are feeling depressed and traumatized. That's bad news for patients", Salon, 3 Nov 2021.
- "「人格特質」決定封城帶給你的影響！研究：外向者的心理健康更容易受創", Yahoo! News (Taiwan), 15 Jun 2021.
- "Extroverts likely to suffer higher mental health toll in Covid lockdown", Guardian, 14 Jun 2021.
- "New study reveals how different personalities are affected by lockdowns", The Jerusalem Post, 14 June, 2021.
- "The science is in: Faith can be effective against adolescent depression", America, 19 Aug 2019.
- "High Blood Pressure In China Spiraling Out Of Control", Asian Scientist, 6 Nov 2017.
- "Studie: Blutdruck in China außer Kontrolle", Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 27 Oct 2017.
- "China's out of control 'silent killer' affects one-third of adults", EurekAlert!, 25 Oct 2017.
General interest writing
- "What does beauty have to do with intergenerational inequality?", Kudos. 2025.
- "How has the pandemic affected the mental health of healthcare workers?" (with Climent Quintana-Domeque, Eugenio Proto, Michele Battisti, and Ines Lee), Economics Observatory, 2022.
- "COVID-19 and mental health of individuals with different personalities" (with Eugenio Proto), Kudos, 2021.
- "How has personality affected people’s mental health during the pandemic?" (with Eugenio Proto), Economics Obervatory, 2021.
