Xing CHEN

About Me

Hi! My name is Xing Chen (陈醒, meaning of my first name). I am an assistant professor at School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University. I obtained my PhD in Environmental Economics and bachelor degree in Environmental Science from Peking University. My advisor was Professor Jintao Xu from National School of Development. Additionally, I spent a year as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, supervised by Professor Peter Berck.

My experiences in Shanghai ignited my interest in politics. My current research focuses on public opinion and political economy under authoritarianism. Drawing on real-world observations, I provide empirical insights into how information, trauma, and psychosocial factors shape political trust and elite decision-making. I am particularly interested in how the collective unconscious of authoritarianism distorts rational perceptions of new information.

My research has appeared or is forthcoming in Governance, Journal of Development Economics, World Development, and other journals.

Research Interests

• Public Opinion, Political Psychology, Political Economy, Environmental Economics and Politics

Employment

• Assistant professor, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, 2020-present

Education

• PhD in Environmental Economics, Peking University, 2020
• Visiting scholar, Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, 2017-2018
• B.S. in Environmental Science, Peking University, 2015

Publications

• Chen, Xing, Jintao Xu, Yuanyuan Yi, and Andong Zhuge. 2025. “Land Reform, Emerging Grassroots Democracy and Political Trust in China.” World Development 185: 106792. [link], [slides], [中文简介].
• Chen, Xing, Peng Zhang, Ping Zhang, and Andong Zhuge. 2024. “The Enduring Trauma: How Officials’ Childhood Famine Experiences Affect Year-End Spending Surge.” Journal of Development Economics 171: 103356. [link]
• Chen, Xing, Xiaoxiao Shen, and Andong Zhuge. 2024. “Pollution Matters: The Political Cost of Information Disclosure.” Governance 37(4): 1275–97. [link]
  • APPAM-CPSG Best Policy Journal Article Award (Honorable Mention), 2024
  • China Public Administration Annual Conference Best Paper Award (Third Prize), 2023
• Chen, Xing, Hanchen Jiang, and Jiaheng Ling. 2024. “Addressing Multitasking Problems through Promotion Incentives: An Empirical Study of Local Governments in China.” Public Performance & Management Review 47(3): 654–80.[link]
  • Cited by Handbook of Political Economy (edited by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson)
• Chen, Xing, Xuan Wang, Tianyang Xi, and Jintao Xu. 2023. “Estimating the CO2 Marginal Abatement Cost and Implications for Climate Policies in China’s Industrial Sector: A Firm-Level Analysis.” China Economic Journal 16(2): 217–39. [link]
• Chen, Xing, and Jintao Xu. 2018. “Carbon Trading Scheme in the People’s Republic of China: Evaluating the Performance of Seven Pilot Projects.” Asian Development Review 35(2): 131–52. [link]
• 陈醒，李睿. 2024. “目标设定的边界效应：省级政府设定经济与环保目标的策略性行为研究.” 复旦城市治理评论 (01):330-354.(Title in English: The Border Effect of Target Setting: A Study on the Strategic Behavior of Provincial Governments in Setting Economic and Environmental Targets).[link]
• 陈醒, 余晓非. 2023. “中国碳交易市场的减排效果：基于合成控制法的实证分析.” 复旦公共行政评论 (1): 207–40.(Title in English: The Emission Reduction Effect of China’s Carbon Trading Market: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Synthetic Control Method).[link]
• 陈醒, 徐晋涛. 2021. “化工企业污染物影子价格的估计—— 基于参数化的方向性距离函数.” 北京大学学报自然科学版 57(2): 341.(Title in English: Estimating the Shadow Prices of Pollutants in Chemical Enterprises: Based on a Parametric Directional Distance Function).[link]
• 北京大学国家发展研究院能源安全与国家发展研究中心、中国人民大学经济学院能源经济系联合课题组,王敏. 2018. “关于中国风电和光伏发电补贴缺口和大比例弃电问题的研究.” 国际经济评论 (4): 67-85+6.(Title in English: A Study on the Subsidy Gap and High Curtailment of Wind and Solar Power in China).[link]
  • Led to policy change in China’s renewable energy auction rules.

Working Papers

• The Dynamics of Public Opinion on COVID-19 Policies in China (first author with Jiakun Zheng, Jianhua Xu and Yana Jin). [ssrn]
• Depression Undermines Political Trust (first and corresponding author with Xiaoxiao Shen)
• Power Illusion and Regime Support (first and corresponding author with Xiaoxiao Shen)

Awards

• CPSG Best Policy Research Article Award (honorable mention), 2024
• China Public Administration Annual Conference Third Prize for Best Papers, 2023
• Peking University Outstanding Research Award, 2019
• Scholarships for Joint Doctoral Programs, China Scholarship Council (CSC), 2017

Book and Book Chapters

• Chen, Xing. 2024. Environmental Governance in China: Theory and Practice (in Chinese). Fudan University Press.[link]
• Chapter 8: Simple Regression Analysis; Chapter 9: Multiple Regression Analysis. Political Science Research Methods (in Chinese).[link]
• “Building Carbon Market in China: Take Stock and Look Ahead”, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation in China: Policy,Technology and Market. Springer. 2022.[link], [PDF]
• Review of the Progress of China’s Carbon Trading Pilots, Chapter 5 of China Low Carbon Economic Development Report 2017(in Chinese)[link]
• Identifying the problems of China’s wind power and photovoltaic power generation subsidy policies,” Chapter 3 of Study on Subsidy Policies for Wind Power and Photovoltaic Power Generation in China(in Chinese).[link]

Fundings and Projects

• Study on Renewable Energy Electricity Price Subsidy and Price Formation Mechanism. China Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program Phase II, NDRC & CRESP (the World Bank)[link]
• BHP-PKU Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Research[link]

Teaching

At Fudan University, I have a lot of joy teaching quantitative methods and causal inference courses at various levels and sometimes received incredibly high teaching evaluation scores. At Peking University, I taught graduate-level microeconomics for international students.

Instructor at Fudan University

• Research Methods in Social Science(POLI620041): graduate course, Fall 2021 Average Ratings: 99.76/100.
  Introduction:

  This course will prepare newly admitted graduate students for other quantitative analysis courses offered in the Politics/Public Administration department and elsewhere. Students will learn basic probability and statistics, as well as programming using Stata. Course is equivalent to intermediate econometrics, covering cross-sectional data analysis.
• Quantitative Research Methods in Public Administration (POLI630112): graduate course, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Average Ratings: 99.64/100.[readinglist]
  Introduction:

  Graduate Course. An advanced course covering panel data analysis, as well as techniques for causal inference and empirical strategy, including Difference-in-difference(DID), instrumental variable method (IV), regression discontinuity design(RDD), and synthetic control methond (SCM). Using data from published journal articles, students will learn how to clean data, create graphs and tables, and conduct basic statistical analysis.
• Principles of Economics(POLI130004): undergraduate course, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024. Average Ratings: 93.1/100.
  Introduction:

  An introduction course to core concepts and theories of economics for newly admitted undergrads at Fudan.
• Quantitative Research Method (POLI130173):undergraduate course, Fall 2022, Average Ratings: 89.76/100.
  Introduction:

  An introduction course covering basic statistical analysis.
• Environmental policy and management (POLI130226):undergraduate course, Spring 2022, Average Ratings: 92.44/100.
  Introduction:

  This course provides an overview of China's environmental governance since 2000. By introducing the microeconomic foundations of environmental policies, analyzing China's pollution control efforts, and examining the impacts of environmental regulation, this course aims to equip students with the knowledge about the policy design and implementation in addressing future environmental challenges.
• Performance Evaluation in Public Sector (POLI130114): undergraduate course, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Average Ratings: 95.87/100.
  Introduction:

  An introductory course for causal inference and policy evaluation techniques in the context of China governance.
• Public Economics (MPA630060):Spring 2023, Fall 2024. MPA course
• Performance evaluation and strategic management: Spring 2021, MPA course. Average Ratings: 99.55/100

Teaching Assistant at Peking University

• Microeconomics:Graduate Courses, (Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development)

Conference and Invited talks

• 2025: Shanghai Jiaotong University (School of International and Public Affairs), MPSA (co-author presentation), SPSA (co-author presentation)
• 2024: Authoritarian Political Systems Group Workshop (virtual), APSA, MPSA, International Conference on China Policy Studies, PMRC, International Conference on Comparative Public Policy, IRSPM
• 2023: China Economics Annual Conference; Political Science Speaker Series (virtual)
• 2021: CCER Summer Institute
• 2019: China Economics Annual Conference; The 8th Congress of the East Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics
• 2018: The 6th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists
• 2017: Asian Development Review Conference

Manuscript Referee

公共管理评论, 经济学季刊(*2), Chinese Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Environmental Politics, Global Public Policy and Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Chinese Governance, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Public Administration and Development, Public Management Review, Public Performance & Management Review, World Development

Professional Activities

• Editorial board: Global Public Policy and Governance, October 2024-

PhD Program Placements of Research Assistants

• Undergraduate Students: Xintian Wang (PhD in Political Science, Rochester), Renji Zhou (MA in Michigan)
• Master Students: Zhuowen Qin (PhD in Political Economy, KCL), Gulijiayina Wusufukan (PhD in International Development, Oxford), Jiaheng Ling (PhD in Public Policy, Tsinghua), Andong Zhuge (PhD in Public Policy, Fudan)
• I’m currently looking for a part-time research assistant. Please send me an email if you are interested.

Additional Information

• Language: English (fluent); Mandarin Chinese (native)
• Software: Stata, MATLAB, ArcGIS, LaTeX