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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Carlo Azzarri

Carlo Azzarri is a Senior Research Fellow in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. His work focuses on the relationships among poverty, nutrition, food security, agriculture, the environment, production, and migration—analyzed at both micro and macroeconomic levels, primarily using quantitative methods.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Development Strategies and Governance

Kevin Chen

Senior Research Fellow

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Kevin Chen

Bio

Kevin Chen (陈志钢) is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit based in Beijing, China. He is also Director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), jointly established by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and IFPRI. He currently serves as a co-editor of the China Agricultural Economic Review. Kevin has more than 17 years of research and outreach experience in development issues related to agricultural production, markets, trade, environment, and policy.

Before joining IFPRI in 2009, Kevin was Field Director of the China–Canada Small Farmer Adapting to Global Markets Project, jointly funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Chinese Ministry of Commerce. He was also an Assistant Professor and, later, an Associate Professor with the Department of Resource Economics and Sociology, University of Alberta. Between 2003 and 2004, Kevin served as a co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. Kevin holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and Business from the University of Guelph, an MS in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, and a BS in Agricultural Economics and Management from Zhejiang Agricultural University.

Publications

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Publications

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Journal Article

The role of industrial clustering: From layoff to self-employment after the Chinese state-owned enterprise reform

2025Zhang, Yunfei; Chen, Kevin Z.
Details

The role of industrial clustering: From layoff to self-employment after the Chinese state-owned enterprise reform

Year published

2025

Authors

Zhang, Yunfei; Chen, Kevin Z.

Citation

Zhang, Yunfei; and Chen, Kevin Z. The role of industrial clustering: from layoff to self-employment after the Chinese state-owned enterprise reform. Applied Economics Letters. Article in press. First published online March 22, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2024.2332538

Country/Region

China

Keywords

Asia; Eastern Asia; Employment; Labour Market; Unemployment; Working Population; Public Ownership; Reforms; Entrepreneurship

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2024.2332538 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

A missing link: The interdependence between sugar-sweetened beverage and cigarette consumption from China

2025Liu, Lu; Chen, Kevin Z.
Details

A missing link: The interdependence between sugar-sweetened beverage and cigarette consumption from China

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and cigarettes are addictive substances and addictive substances are often related in consumption with each other. However, the potential interdependence between SSB and cigarette consumption has not been explored in the literature. As SSB and cigarette consumption have posed a great threat to individual health, the knowledge of such interdependence is critical for policymakers to design and coordinate government interventions. We thus employed Heckman sample selection model and simultaneous equation model to identify and validate the interdependence between SSB and cigarette consumption across subgroups exhibiting different smoking behaviors with individual-level data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) during the period from 2004 to 2011. We find that SSBs and cigarettes are complements in that individuals who ever smoked are more likely to consume SSBs frequently with higher level of SSB intake eventually and SSB intake of current smokers increases along with the amount of cigarettes smoked. SSBs and cigarettes are also substitutes in that former smokers are more likely to consume SSBs compared with current smokers. The complementary relation observed among current smokers implies that government interventions targeting one of the two goods may yield a double dividend effect on health whereas the substitutable relation displayed by former smokers suggests that the health effect of interventions designed to reduce the consumption of one good may be tempered by an elevated demand for the other.

Year published

2025

Authors

Liu, Lu; Chen, Kevin Z.

Citation

Liu, Lu; and Chen, Kevin Z. 2025. A missing link: The interdependence between sugar-sweetened beverage and cigarette consumption from China. PLoS ONE 20(1): e0316891. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316891

Country/Region

China

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Behaviour; Beverages; Cigarettes; Health

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316891 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Information framing effects on diet choices among Chinese urban residents

2025Chen, Kevin Z.; Yu, Luyun; Lin, Wen; Ortega, David L.
Details

Information framing effects on diet choices among Chinese urban residents

Year published

2025

Authors

Chen, Kevin Z.; Yu, Luyun; Lin, Wen; Ortega, David L.

Citation

Chen, Kevin Z.; Yu, Luyun; Lin, Wen; and Ortega, David L. Information framing effects on diet choices among Chinese urban residents. Agribusiness. Article in Press. First published on November 29, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21998

Keywords

Diet; Feeding Preferences; Urban Population; Health; Information; Consumers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21998 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Reinventing payment for environmental services (PES) from the ground up: An alternative, community-driven model in China
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 30, 2025

Reinventing payment for environmental services (PES) from the ground up: An alternative, community-driven model in China

By Yunyi Zhou, Wei Zhang, and Kevin Chen

Lessons from Qingshan village.

How China can address threats to food and nutrition security from the coronavirus outbreak
IFPRI Blog
 | 
February 12, 2020

How China can address threats to food and nutrition security from the coronavirus outbreak

By Kevin Chen, Yumei Zhang, Yue Zhan, Shenggen Fan, and Wei Si

Important steps to avoid potential hiccups in the food supply and other problems during the coronavirus outbreak..

How do earthquakes shape economic behavior?
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 14, 2019

How do earthquakes shape economic behavior?

By Kevin Chen, Mateusz Filipski, and Xiaobo Zhang

Research shows how a disaster can impact an economy beyond the simple rebuilding process. The Sichuan earthquake induced a lifestyle shift in households toward greater spending and shifted the economy away from industrial production.

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Events

The 16th China Agricultural Economic Review (CAER) - IFPRI Annual Conference
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

October 18 to 20, 2024

The 16th China Agricultural Economic Review (CAER) – IFPRI Annual Conference

The China Agricultural Economic Review (CAER) and IFPRI are delighted to announce the Sixteenth CAER-IFPRI Annual Conference, co-organized with Hunan Agricultural University (HUNAU). The theme of 2024 conference is Bridging Sustainability: Integrating Green Finance for Agricultural and Rural Development. Internationally and nationally renowned scholars have been invited to present and discuss their insights at the […]

China Agricultural Sector Development Report 2024 and IFPRI 2024 Global Food Policy Report Launch
Series/Special Event

 | 

June 7, 2024, 9:00 – 11:30 am

China Agricultural Sector Development Report 2024 and IFPRI 2024 Global Food Policy Report Launch

Hybrid Event: June 7, 2024 – 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM +08. The China Agricultural Sector Development Report 2024 (CASDR) and IFPRI 2024 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) hybrid launch event will feature keynote speakers as well as presentations on the overview of the GFPR’s and CASDR’s findings.

2023 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Meeting
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

July 23 to 25, 2023

2023 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Meeting

Event: July 23, 2023 – 8:30 AM to July 25, 2023 – 4:15 PM EDT. IFPRI is participating in the 2023 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Meeting.

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News

April 28, 2020 | In the News

Nation resolute in meeting poverty goal (China Daily)

China Daily reported on the goals of China leadership for resolute policy action to minimize the shock from the pandemic and win the battle against absolute poverty. Senior Research Fellow Kevin Chen (Chen Zhigang) stated that President XI has overseen a poverty reduction campaign that is guided by a very mature concept and vision, and the immediate challenges from the […]

March 16, 2020 | In the News

Connection Between Coronavirus and Global Food Systems (One Green Planet)

One Green Planet reported on Covid-19 and the potential for a global food security crisis. There is a connection between disease outbreaks and food insecurity brought on by trade disruptions. Senior Research Fellow Kevin Chen, recommends that policymakers monitor food prices closely, restore operations of regional supply chains in China, increased financial support and corresponding […]

October 30, 2019 | In the News

How do earthquakes shape economic behavior? (Vox China)

Research Fellows Kevin Chen, Mateusz Filipski, & Xiaobo Zhang found opposite results that differ from the common economic prediction theories of behavior after a disaster. They discuss their results in this blog post.

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Research

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