Chen Zhen

Chen Zhen serves as Director of Graduate Studies and Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, where his research develops policy-relevant structural models of consumer food behavior using large-scale household and retail scanner data. His work focuses on predicting outcomes of nutrition policies including sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, SNAP modifications, and shelf-labeling systems.

Education

• Ph.D. in Economics, North Carolina State University, 2006
• M.S., Montana State University, 2001
• B.A., University of Colorado, 1999

Professor Zhen specializes in advancing high-dimensional demand systems like the EASI model to evaluate real-world policy impacts, with particular expertise in habit formation dynamics for tobacco and beverages. His research has secured approximately $7 million in funding from USDA, NIH, Gates Foundation, and other major institutions, and has been featured in New York Times and NPR coverage. Current projects examine panel food price indexes, Sub-Saharan Africa food demand, and healthy food subsidy efficiency.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2020-2024) reveals three dominant research trajectories: 1) International policy comparisons (China, Tanzania, Sub-Saharan Africa) examining income effects on nutrition, 2) Methodological innovations in handling endogenous prices and truncated purchases in demand systems, and 3) Nuanced evaluation of SSB tax mechanisms including volume-based versus calorie-based approaches. His work consistently demonstrates how policy impacts vary across socioeconomic groups.

As Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Zhen oversees academic programs while maintaining an active research agenda supported by major federal and private grants. His $7 million funding portfolio includes projects for USDA, FDA, NIH, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on food demand modeling, obesity prevention, and nutrition policy evaluation across diverse populations.