Shawn Chen

Shawn Chen is a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in North America) at the UWA Business School, Department of Economics, University of Western Australia. He holds PhD degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2015) and Peking University (2005). His academic career includes a previous position as Lecturer at Renmin University of China (2005-2011).

His research focuses on the interplay between taxation, development, and state building, particularly examining how tax systems and rent extraction in developing countries including China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India are affected by fiscal regimes and political institutions. His work investigates how discretionary tax enforcement leads to production efficiency loss, regional economic inequality, policy uncertainty, corruption, and weak tax capacity.

Chen's research portfolio shows a clear trajectory from theoretical work on human capital and economic growth to increasingly policy-relevant studies on tax systems in developing economies. His recent publications demonstrate a sophisticated methodology combining structural modeling with firm-level data from multiple developing countries, particularly focusing on China, Sri Lanka, and other emerging economies.

His scientific contributions have been recognized with multiple awards including the Early-Career and Mid-Career Researcher Award from the Western Australia Chinese Scientists Association (2023), Outstanding Early-Career Researcher Award (2017), and Best Dissertation Award of Peking University (2005).

• Early-Career and Mid-Career Researcher Award, Western Australia Chinese Scientists Association (2023)
• Outstanding Early-Career Researcher Award, Western Australia Chinese Scientists Association (2017)
• UNU-WIDER travel fund, United Nations University (2017)
• Michio Morishima Fund, STICERD, LSE (2015)
• Best Paper Award, Annual Public Finance Forum in China (2015)

Chen has secured substantial research funding totaling AU$920,332 for seventeen projects since 2010, with AU$382,000 for six ongoing projects. He actively supervises students at all levels, with a total of 21 students supervised across PhD, Master's, and Honours programs. His external positions include Fellow at the Centre for Public Value at UWA, Adjunct Professor at Universitas Airlangga, and Research Affiliate at Australian National University.