Meet a researcher

Shuai Chen

Living Conditions Department

I am an applied economist having research interests including labor economics, political economy, and behavioral economics. Before completing my PhD in Economics at Tilburg University, Netherlands, I obtained my Bachelor Degree in Economic Statistics from Xiamen University, Mainland China and got my Master Degree in Mathematical Statistics and Probability from Purdue University, USA.

Following an academic visit to the London School of Economics (LSE), I joined the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research. In addition, I'm a Research Affiliate of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO), and Research Affiliate of the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) Rotterdam.

My PhD thesis, entitled “Marriage, Minorities, and Mass Movements” has investigated

1. The effects of partnership dynamics on well-being;
2. The symbolic functions of marriage on the stability of formal partnerships, both of them are with a special focus on sexual minorities;
3. How economic insecurity and cultural backlash have shaped the current populist attitudes and preferences, and have triggered the populist voting behavior in the United States.

Several chapters of the thesis have been published in leading journals such as Demography, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and Health Economics.

More recently, my studies have focused on inequality in race and family background, and political trust. Social equality and trust (towards institutions and between citizens) are instrumental to social prosperity, economic development and individual well-being. Inequality in race and family background, however, undermines social cohesion, trust, and advancement.

I regard myself as an academic economist who aims to contribute to the intellectual climate of academia and institutions, as well as to the public good of free economic knowledge for the general audience. I hope to provide relevant and helpful advice and suggestions to both private and public sectors, with my rigorous economic research.

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