About Me

Hi! My name is Xing Chen (陈醒, meaning of my first name). I am an associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA) at Fudan University.

I study the political economy of authoritarian information: how states produce political messages, and how citizens perceive them. On the supply side, I show that propaganda is often performative, produced to signal loyalty upward rather than to persuade downward. On the demand side, I find that citizens often evaluate their government through official labels and identity cues rather than underlying conditions. Both are largely unconscious, emotional adaptations to an environment of distorted information and hierarchical authority. Ultimately, I want to explain how such adaptations sustain authoritarian rule even without deliberate design.

I approach these questions with causal inference methods, drawing on original surveys, experiments, and administrative data, primarily from China. Before turning to political science, I trained in environmental economics, earning my Ph.D. from Peking University.

My research has appeared or is forthcoming in World Development, Research & Politics, Journal of Development Economics, Governance, and other journals, as well as the Oxford Handbook on Authoritarian Politics.

Research Interests

• Political Economy of Information, Political Psychology, Public Opinion, Chinese Politics

Employment

• Associate professor, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, 2026-present
• Assistant professor, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, 2020-2026

Publications:

• Chen, Xing*, and Xiaoxiao Shen. 2025. “Silent Suffering: Depression, Perceived Inequality, and Political Trust.” Research & Politics 12(3): 20531680251374167. [link]
• Chen, Xing, and Hanchen Jiang*. 2025. “Bridging Trust through Institution and Process: How Does Digital Government Increase Citizens’ Trust in Local Government?” Public Management Review: 1–26. [link]
• 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], [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], [中文简介].
• 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 key revisions to China’s renewable energy auction policy.

Working Papers

• The Dynamics of Public Opinion on COVID-19 Policies in China (with Jiakun Zheng, Jianhua Xu and Yana Jin). [ssrn]

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

• Huang, Haifeng, and Xing Chen. 2026. Propaganda: Beyond Persuasion. Chapter for Oxford Handbook on Authoritarian Politics. Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
• 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 Grants

• 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]

Conference and Invited talks

• 2026: Aarhus University (Information from Abroad Workshop), UCSD (Young Scholars Conference), Peking University (Inaugural PKUSG-HKUPPA Joint Conference on Development and Governance), Fudan University (Comparative Politics Conference), Duke Kunshan University, Renmin University of China, Tsinghua University, NYU Shanghai, Nanjing University
• 2025: Tsinghua University (Department of Political Science), University of International Business and Economics (School of Government), Korea University (Inaugural Conference on Peace and Democracy in Asia Pacific and the World), APSA, Peking University (CCER Summer Institute), Hong Kong University (8th Empirical Political Science Workshop in Hong Kong), Shanghai Jiaotong University (School of International and Public Affairs)
• 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, 公共行政评论，经济学季刊(✖2), Chinese Political Science Review(✖2), 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(✖3), Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Economic History, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Political Behavior, Public Administration and Development, Public Management Review(✖3), Public Performance & Management Review, Review of Development Economics, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, World Development

Professional Activities

• Editorial board: Global Public Policy and Governance, October 2024-
• Director of the Campus Asia Program (Fudan)

Teaching

At Fudan University, I teach quantitative methods and causal inference at both undergraduate and graduate levels, with consistently high student evaluations. 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, Fall 2025. 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, Fall 2025. 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)

PhD Program Placements of Research Assistants

• Undergraduate Students: Xintian Wang (PhD in Political Science, Rochester), Renji Zhou (MA in Michigan; PhD in Political Science, MIT)
• 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.

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

Additional Information

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