Ph.D. Public Management                   2016

School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Zhicheng Scholar, Professor of Public Administration       2026- present

School of Government, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

My research investigates how multilevel government organizations adapt and perform under the dual dynamics of internal political control and external reputational and legitimacy-related pressures in the digital era. I focus on three interrelated dimensions that together explain the logic of governance in contemporary China: (1) how agencies manage reputation and interact with citizens in an environment saturated with media and data flows; (2) how leadership attention and ideology shape bureaucratic survival, reform, and decision-making; (3) how central priorities are transmitted into effective local implementation through the alignment of attention, structures, and incentives across multiple tiers of government. By integrating theories of bureaucratic reputation, political attention, and policy implementation with computational methods and large-scale empirical analysis within the institutional context of China’s multilevel governance, my work develops new frameworks to understand how bureaucracies balance legitimacy, responsiveness, and efficiency in a rapidly evolving governance context.

Chen, S., Christensen, T., & Ma, L. (2023). Reputation Management and Administrative Reorganization: How Different Media Reputation Dimensions Matter for Agency Termination. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (SSCI, JCR Q1), 33(2), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muac028

Chen, S., Yuan, L., Wang, W., Gong, B. (2025). Decentralization, local information, and effort substitution: Evidence from a subnational decentralization reform in China. Governance (SSCI, JCR Q1), 38(2), e12884. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12884 

Chen, S., Christensen, T., & Ma, L. (2019). Competing for Father's Love? the Politics of Central Government Agency Termination in China. Governance (SSCI, JCR Q1), 32(4), 761-777. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12405

Chen, S., Christensen, T., & Ma, L. (2024). Written Directives and Ministerial Tenure in China: A Novel Gauge for Political Performance? Journal of Asian Public Policy (SSCI, JCR Q1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2024.2339078

Ma, L., Liu, W., Chen, S.*, Christensen, T. (2025). Where you are matters: Network position, designed network, and central government agency termination. Public Administration (SSCI, JCR Q1), 103(2), 417-440. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.13026

Mu, R., Chen, S.* and Christensen, T. (2025) Reputation signals, individual characteristics and citizens’ coproduction willingness, Public Management Review(SSCI, JCR Q1), pp. 1-26. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14719037.2025.2591760.

Li, H., Chen, S.*, Yao, R. and Christensen, T. (2026) Managing emergencies and shaping images: how swift crisis interventions affect public perception of local government reputation, Public Management Review(SSCI, JCR Q1), pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2025.2610360.

Wang, Y., Chen, S.*, & Araral, E. (2021). The Mediated Effects of Urban Proximity on Collective Action in the Commons: Theory and Evidence from China. World Development (SSCI, JCR Q1), 142, 105444. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105444

Svensson, J., Wang, Y., Chen, S., Garrick, D. and Zheng, H. (2025) ‘Two hands, multiple fingerprints’: how ideology and politics shaped China’s water market reforms (1998–2021), Environmental Politics (SSCI, JCR Q1), pp. 1-24. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2560168.

Wang, H., Fan, C., & Chen, S.* (2021). The Impact of Campaign-style Enforcement on Corporate Environmental Action：Evidence from China’s Central Environmental Protection. Journal of Cleaner Production(SSCI, JCR Q1), 290, 125881. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125881

Meng, Q., Chen, X., Chen, S.*, Christensen, T. (2025). Reputation Management and Communication under Political Control: The Case of China’s Central Bank. International Public Management Journal(SSCI, JCR Q1). https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2025.2503830

Ma, L., Wang, H., & Chen, S.* (2024). Local protectionism and national oversight: political connection and the enforcement of environmental regulation in China. Journal of Chinese Governance(SSCI, JCR Q1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/23812346.2024.2421648

Chen, S., Wang, Y.*, & Svensson, J. (2020). How to Promote Effective Irrigation Pricing Reform in Northern China? Insights from the Taocheng District. International Journal of Water Resources Development(SSCI, JCR Q2), 36(4), 697-715.

National Talent Program for Young Top-notch Talents, 2024

Top 1% of CNKI Highly Cited Scholars in Public Administration, 2024

Selected by the Outstanding Funders of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2019 (one of the 4 selected candidates for the management discipline in China that year).

Council member, International Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), 2024- (currently the only representative of Chinese scholars).

 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) International Chapter Paper of the Year Award, 2021 (Unique of the Year).

 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Chinese Public Administration Article of the Year Award, 2026(Runner-up).

Scholar of the Year of China Young Agricultural Economists Forum, 2024 (one of the 5 selected candidates in the field of national agriculture, rural and rural policies that year).

Academic Rising Stars featured in Issue 7 (2024) of Agricultural Economics Bulletin - the official working report of the Agricultural Economics Discipline Review Group under the State Council Academic Degrees Committee (one of the 3 selected candidates that year)

Best Case Award of China Graduate Public Management Case Competition, 2023 (top 0.18%, the only two demonstration cases on the official website of Chinese MPA Education and Guidance Committee).

Best Instructor(2024), First Prize (2024), Third Prize (2023), Excellence Award (2024) of China Graduate Public Administration Case Competition

Teaching expert of the 9th China Graduate Public Management Case Competition Kick-off Meeting and Case Writing Seminar, 2024

Outstanding Master's Thesis Advisor, Tsinghua University, 2023

Outstanding Master's Thesis Advisor, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, 2022, 2023, 2024