Department of Human Ecology

Research Interests

Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks I have built my research agenda around two central themes. First, I am committed to the robust investigation of the primary issues related to economic security as they interface with policy and political systems to influence social and economic realities in society. Second, I am committed to advancing and furthering the development of methodological tools for the policy sciences by applying and developing new techniques and theories to help elucidate pressing questions of policy significance while simultaneously making these tools and findings accessible to policymakers and other stakeholders. Overall, my research seeks to inform the development of data driven economic and social policy that can support the inclusion of disenfranchised populations and promotes equitable development across societies.

My recent work focuses on questions of economic and employment security as well as identifying and developing innovative public policy options that promote economic development in international and national contexts.

Current Projects

• Job quality and labor market mobility after the Great Recession
• Immigration policymaking by subnational governments in migrant receiving states
• Integration of disconnected youth in rural and suburban labor markets
• Global labor in rural societies in the Industrialized West
• The dynamics of poverty, land use and water supply in California

Select Publications

Peer-Review Journal Articles

Visser, M.A. and S. Simpson. (2018). Determinants of County Migrant Regularization Policymaking in the US: Understanding Temporal and Spatial Realities. Accepted for Publication in Environment and Planning A.

Visser, M.A. (2018). Restructuring Opportunity: Employment Change and Job Quality in the US during the Great Recession.  Socio-Economic Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwy002

Visser, M.A. (2018). Care Like Kin: Community Based Youth Organizations and the Social Reproduction of Disconnected Youth in Rural America. American Journal of Community Psychology. 61(3-4): pp. 472-287

Visser, M.A. (2018). The Color Gradient of Economic Opportunity: Skin Tone Labor Market Segmentation and Economic Opportunity for Puerto Ricans in the US. Forthcoming in CENTRO Journal.

Visser, M.A. (2018). Beyond Labor Markets and Schools: Community Based Youth Organizations and the Economic Integration of Puerto Rican and Dominican Youth in New York City. CENTRO Journal 30(1): pp. 4-31.

Visser, M.A. and L.E. Guarnizo. (2017). Room for Maneuver: Rethinking the Intersections between Migration and the Informal Economy in Post-Industrial Economies. Population, Space, and Place. DOI: 10.1002/psp.2085

Visser, M.A. (2017). Shedding Light on Economic Opportunity: Skin Tone and Job Quality during the Great Recession. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43(9): 1562-1579.

Visser, M.A. (2016). A Floor to Exploitation? Social Economy Organizations at the Edge of a Restructuring Economy. Work Employment and Society DOI:0.1177/0950017016638020.

Visser, M.A. (2016). Reshaping Migrant Labor Market Geographies: Local Regularizations and the Informal Economy. Population, Space, and Place DOI: 10.1002/psp.2025.

Visser, M.A., N. Theodore, E.J. Melendez, and A. Valezuela, Jr. (2016). From Economic Integration to Socioeconomic Inclusion: Day Labor Worker Centers as Social Intermediaries. Urban Geography 38(2): 243-265

Melendez, M.A. Visser, N. Theodore, and A. Valenzuela. (2016). Day Laborers’ Work Related Injuries: An Assessment of Risks, Choices, and Policies. International Migration 54(3): 5-19.

Visser, M.A. and E. Melendez. (2015). Working in the New Low Wage Economy: Understanding Participation in Low Wage Employment in the Recessionary Era. WorkingUSA 18 (1): pp. 7-29.

Visser, M.A. and H.R. Cordero-Guzman. (2015). Low Wage Workers and Organizing. WorkingUSA 18(1): pp. 1-6.

Melendez, E., R. Borges-Mendez, M.A. Visser, and A. Rosofsky. (2015). The Restructured Landscape of Economic Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Regional Workforce Development Collaborations. Economic Development Quarterly. 49(2):150-166.

Melendez, E., M.A. Visser, N. Theodore, and A. Valenzuela. (2014). Worker Centers and Day Laborers Wages. Social Science Quarterly. 95(3): 835-851.

Visser, M.A. (2014). Two Plus Two Equals Three: The Cost of the Hispanic Undercount in Government Census Surveys. American Review of Public Administration. 44(2): 233-251.

Servon, L., M.A. Visser, and R. Fairlie. (2011). Estimating the Capital Gap for Small Businesses in New York City.  Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management. 23(4): 451-477.

Visser, M.A. and LJ. Servon. (2011). Progress Hindered: The Retention and Advancement of Females in Science, Engineering and Technology Careers. Human Resources Management Journal. 21(3): 272-284.

Visser, M.A. and E. Melendez. (2011). Puerto Ricans in Low Wage Jobs and Labor Markets: The Issues, Trends and Policies. CENTRO Journal. 23(11): 3-28.

Melendez, E. and M.A. Visser. (2011). Changes in the Structure of Low-Wage Labor Markets and Skills Selectivity among Puerto Rican Migrants. CENTRO Journal. 23(11): 46-61.

Servon, L., M.A. Visser, and R. Fairlie. (2010). The Continuum of Capital for Small and Micro-businesses. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship. 15(3): 301-323.

Edited Special Issues

Visser, M.A. & L.E. Guarnizo. (2017 -In Press). Migration and the Informal Economy: Interrogating the Implications for Policy and Economic Security of Developed Economies.  Population, Space, and Place: 23(8).

Visser, M.A. & H.R. Cordero-Guzman. (2015). Low Wage Workers & Organizing. WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society. 18(2).

Referred Book Chapters

Visser, M.A. & S.A. Simpson. (2018). Understanding Local Government’s Engagement in Immigrant Policymaking in the US. In Darling, J. and H. Bauder (eds). From Nation to City: Rescaling Migration, Citizenship, and Rights. Forthcoming from Manchester University Press.

Public Policy Reports & Briefs

Visser, M.A., L. Panyanouvong and D.J Fiedler-Riddle. (2018) A Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of the Community-Based Mobile Manufacturing of Structural Masonry Using Regional Materials Project: A Report to the USDA. Research Report. United States Department of Agriculture, Small Business Research and Innovation Grant Program/Watershed Materials.

Visser, M.A. (2016).  On the Frontlines: Community Based Organizations and the Economic Integration of  Disconnected Youth in the San Joaquin Valley. Research Report. Institute of Public Anthropology. The California State University, Fresno.

Visser, M.A. (2015). School, Work, and the Transition to Adulthood of Youth in the San Joaquin Valley. Research Brief. Institute of Public Anthropology.  The California State University, Fresno.

Melendez, E., M.A. Visser, R. Plaza, and R. Segura. (2012) The Transition of Puerto Rican Youth to Adulthood. CENTRO Research Brief. Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York.

Melendez, E., A. Valenzuela, N. Theodore, M.A. Visser, and A.L. Gonzalez. (2010). Day Labor Centers and Community Outcomes. Los Angeles: Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, University of California, Los Angeles.

Melendez, E., A. Valenzuela, N. Theodore, M.A. Visser, and A.L. Gonzalez. (2010). Differences in the Types of Operations of Day Labor Worker Centers. Los Angeles: Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, University of California, Los Angeles.

Melendez, E., A. Valenzuela, N. Theodore, M.A. Visser, and A.L. Gonzalez. (2010). Worker Centers and Day Labor Market Outcomes. Los Angeles: Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, University of California, Los Angeles.

PhD

Ph.D., Public and Urban Policy. New School University, 2011.

Courses Taught

CRD 247 - Transformation of Work

CRD 172 - Social Inequality

CRD 162 - People Work and Technology