Short Bio
Prof. Dr. Lin Zhang is an Associate Professor (tenured) at City University of Hong Kong. His primary research focuses on energy and sustainability economics. In his ultimate pursuit of regional sustainable development, his work utilizes economic and interdisciplinary methods to seek policy solutions to energy and environmental sustainability from interdisciplinary lenses. He has also extended his research interests into policy issues related to business and social sustainability. Dr. Zhang received bachelor’s degrees from Peking University and a PhD in economics from ETH Zurich. Dr. Zhang has been elected as a council member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), and serves as the editor of The Energy Journal. Dr. Zhang has been listed in several international scholars rankings in 2024: He has been ranked among the top 0.5% scholars in social sciences by ScholarGPS, the world’s top 2% scientists in the released metrics compiled by Stanford University, the world top 5% economist (publications in the last 10 years) by RePEc. In 2024, Prof. Zhang was selected as one of the 18 SUSI Scholars on Economics and Sustainable Development globally by the U.S. Department of State.
Research Interests
- Subjects covered in my work:
- Energy & Sustainability Economics (with particular interests in energy transition and carbon neutrality)
- Green Business & Finance (with particular interests in corporate strategy for sustainability and resource use)
- Sustainable Economic Development (with particular interests in green growth and growth under climate Risks)
- Methods used in my work:
- Macro: Growth Theory, CGE, Data Envelopment Analysis
- Micro: Applied Econometrics, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Machine Learning
Publication list
Please check my complete publication record through my Personal Webpage or CityU Scholar
- Ten Representative peer-reviewed articles:
- Wei Jin, Frederick van der Ploeg, and Lin Zhang (2024): How Clean Capital Slows Down Disinvestment of Carbon-Intensive Capital in the Low-Carbon Transition. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 162, 104857. Link
- Xiaojun Yu, Qiang Li, Lin Zhang (2024): Major government customer and corporate environmental responsibility: Evidence from China. Journal of Business Research, 183, 114853. Link
- Yao An and Lin Zhang (2023): The Thirst for Power: The Impacts of Water Availability on Electricity Generation in China. The Energy Journal, 44(2), 205-240. Link
- Hongyan Zhang & Lin Zhang (2023): Public support and energy innovation: Why do firms react differently? Energy Economics, 119, 106528. Link
- Yao Yao, Xue Li, Russell Smyth, Lin Zhang (2022): Air pollution and political trust in local government: Evidence from China. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 115, 102724. Link
- Christos Karydas and Lin Zhang (2019): Green tax reform, endogenous innovation and the growth dividend. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 97, 158-181. Link
- Lucas Bretschger, Filippo Lechthaler, Sebastian Rausch, Lin Zhang (2017): Knowledge diffusion, endogenous growth and the costs of global climate policy. European Economic Review, 93, 47-72. Link
- Lin Zhang (2017): Correcting the uneven burden sharing of emission reduction across provinces in China. Energy Economics, 64, 335-345. Link
- Lin Zhang (2017): The knowledge spillover effects of FDI on the productivity and efficiency of research activities in China. China Economic Review. 42, 1-14. Link
- Massimo Filippini and Lin Zhang (2016): Estimation of the energy efficiency in Chinese provinces. Energy Efficiency, 9(6), 1315-1328. Link
- Non-peer-reviewed Media articles:
- Q. Li and L. Zhang (2024): The Impact of AI on the Energy Sector in China. IAEE Energy Forum, 2nd Quarter 2024, p5-7. Link
- L. Zhang (2022): Hong Kong’s Fight for Climate Change: Facts, Challenges, and Opportunities. IAEE Energy Forum, 3rd Quarter 2022, p8-9. Link
- J. Shang and L. Zhang (2019): In the fight against climate change, hydrogen could be the answer to Hong Kong’s quest for greener fuel. South China Morning Post, 2019-09-24. Link
- L. Zhang (2019): Win the trade war and lose the world? Why US and China need to focus on war against climate change. South China Morning Post, 2019-01-03. Link
- 中文代表作：
Awards
- 2024 SUSI Scholar on Economics and Sustainable Development by the U.S. Department of State (one of the 18 Global Leaders)
- 2024 Top 2% most highly cited scientists by Stanford University
- 2024 Top Scholar (top 0.5% in Social Sciences and Overall) by ScholarGPS
- 2024 Excellent Young Researcher Award of the School of Energy and Environment
- 2024 Best Paper Award for the paper titled “Visible hands: High temperatures, power rationing, and firm performances” by the International Conference on Climate and Energy Finance
- 2023 Outstanding paper award for the paper titled “High carbon path dependence, low carbon expectation, and green transition of technological paradigm” by China Society of Industrial Economics
- 2022 Honorable Mention Award for the CPSG Inaugural Best Policy Research Article Award
- 2021 Outstanding Paper Award at Global Paper Competition on Sustainable Paths Toward Carbon Neutrality
- 2021 Certificate of Merit for papers selected by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE)
- 2018 Outstanding reviewer for the Journal of Environmental Management
- 2017 Outstanding reviewer for Economic Modelling
- 2015 Best doctoral thesis by Swiss Association of Energy Economics Ref
- 2014 Fellow of the UBS International Center of Economics in Society
- 2011 Young economist nominated by OFID (The OPEC Fund for International Development) for the 4th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on Economic Sciences
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