Dr. Lin Zhang holds a Bachelor in economics and a Bachelor in mechanical engineering from Peking University, a MSc in management and economics and a Ph.D. in economics from ETH Zurich. Subsequently he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich. He was also a researcher associated with the Energy Science Center, Simulation Lab, and the Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society, and Transition in Switzerland. With a focus on energy and environmental economics, his research aims to develop improved quantitative modeling approaches for the design, evaluation, and upgrade of sustainable energy policies at local, regional, and global levels. His work employs applied economic modeling framework to explore the interaction among the economy, energy, and the environment. He also develops econometric models to study energy demand and efficiency, as well as dynamic general equilibrium models for the integration of technology details with macroeconomic models.

Zhang’s work has been extensively presented in international conferences and published in leading peer-reviewed international journals in energy economics. In addition, his findings have been well received by Swiss Federal Office of Energy. He serves as the reviewer for the 21st Spring Meeting of Young Economists (2016) and many international journals. He was on the board of local organizing committee for the 22nd Annual meeting of European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (2016), Conference on Sustainable Resource Use and Economic Dynamics (2012, 2014), and the organizer for the institutional network meeting for China at EAERE (2016).

Research Interests:

• Energy and environmental economics
• Efficiency and productivity analysis
• Energy policy
• Applied economics
• Computable general equilibrium modeling

On-going research grants (PI)

• Project No. 7200527, “A Numerical Macroeconomic Analysis of Hong Kong's Environmental and Energy Policy”, CityU Startup Grant, 200,000 HKD
• Project No. 9042428, “Implementing Environmental Policy in a Politically-constrained World; Second Best under Uncertainty”, GRF, 602,261 HKD
• Project No. 6986045, “Energy Efficiency of Campus Buildings and Energy Conservation”, Campus Sustainability Fund, 114,600 HKD
• Project No. 9048111, “Climate change, green city and economic growth: An integrated assessment of the economic effects of Hong Kong’s climate and energy policies”, GRF/ECS, 519,200 HKD

Position(s) available

Open positions in Dr. Zhang’s group can be found at http://www.cityu.edu.hk/see_eeem/open-positions.html.

Recent Publications

• C. Karydas and L. Zhang (2018): Green tax reform, endogenous innovation and the growth dividend. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming. (Available online)
• L. Zhang and P.K. Adom (2018): Energy Efficiency Transitions in China: How Persistent are the Movements To/From the Frontier? The Energy Journal, forthcoming. (Available online)
• T. Geissmann and L. Zhang (2018): Knowledge Economy and Industry Performance in China: a Provincial Level Analysis. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, forthcoming. (Available online)
• L. Zhang and Y. An (2018): The government capacity on industrial pollution management in Shanxi province: A response impulse analysis. Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 223, 1037-1046. (Available online)
• L. Zhang, P.K. Adom, and Y. An (2018): Regulation-induced structural break and the long-run drivers of industrial pollution intensity in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 121-132. (Available online)
• L. Zhang (2018): Book Review on “Energy Economics: Energy Efficiency in China (authored by Hua Liao and Yi-Ming Wei)”. The Energy Journal, 39 (3), 272-274.
• C. Karydas and L. Zhang (forthcoming): Green tax reform, endogenous innovation and the growth dividend. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, forthcoming.
• R. Salim, Y. Yao, G. Chen, L. Zhang (2017): Can foreign direct investment harness energy consumption in China? A time series investigation. Energy Economics, 66, 43-53. (Available online)
• L. Zhang (2017): Correcting the uneven burden sharing of emission reduction across provinces in China. Energy Economics, 64, 335-345. (Available online)
• L. Bretschger, F. Lechthaler, S. Rausch and L. Zhang (2017): Knowledge diffusion, endogenous growth and the costs of global climate policy. European Economic Review, 93, 47-72. (Available online)
• L. Zhang (2017): The knowledge spillover effects of FDI on the productivity and efficiency of research activities in China. China Economic Review. 42, 1-14. (Available online)
• L. Bretschger and L. Zhang (2017): Carbon policy in a high-growth economy: The case of China. Resource and Energy Economics, 47, 1-19. (Available online)
• L. Bretschger and L. Zhang (2017): Nuclear phase-out under stringent climate policies: A dynamic macroeconomic analysis. The Energy Journal, International Association of Energy Economics, 38(1), 167-194. (Available online)
• M. Filippini and L. Zhang (2016): Estimation of the energy efficiency in Chinese provinces. Energy Efficiency, 9(6), 1315-1328. (Available online)
• V. C. Jaunky and L. Zhang (2016): Convergence of operational efficiency in China’s provincial power sector. The Energy Journal, International Association of Energy Economics, Vol. 37, SI1, 3-27. (Available online)
• L. Bretschger and L. Zhang (2014): Exploring the Limits in Dynamic Energy Modelling: Bottom-up framework, uncertainty, and multi-regional setup using the CITE model approach, Final Report for the Swiss Federal Office Of Energy, Publication 290981, Bern, Switzerland. (Available online)
• L. Zhang (2013): Model projections and policy reviews for energy saving in China’s service sector. Energy Policy, Volume 59, 312-320. (Available online)

Services to community

Refereeing for Peer-reviewed Journals:
Nature Energy; PLOS ONE; Journal of Environmental Economics and Management; The Energy Journal; Energy Policy; Energy Economics; Environment and Development Economics; Energy and Environment; Energies; Economic Modeling; Journal of Contemporary Management; Review of Economics & Finance; Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies; Universal Journal of Management; Sustainability; Emerging Markets Finance and Trade.

Refereeing for Conferences:

• 2016 International Conference on New Energy and Future Energy System (NEFES 2016)
• 2016 Spring Meeting of Young Economists
• 2014 Conference on Sustainable Resource Use and Economic Dynamics (SURED 2014)