Can Chen

Ph.D., University of Nebraska

Public Budgeting & Financial Management, Infrastructure Finance & Policy, Fiscal Transparency

Can Chen is a tenured associate professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and the Director of Ph.D. Programs in Public Policy. He founded and leads the Infrastructure Finance & Policy Lab (iFPL).  Dr. Chen’s substantive research topic interests include infrastructure finance, fiscal transparency, budgeting, and public financial management. His methodological interests are causal research designs and computational social sciences. His professional website is available at https://sites.google.com/view/canchen/home

Dr. Chen has published a book on innovative infrastructure finance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). His journal publications appear in Public Budgeting & Finance, Public Finance Review, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Municipal Finance Journal, Policy Studies Journal, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Transport Policy, Journal of Air Transport Management, Public Works Management & Policy, Public Administration, American Review of Public Administration, Public Management Review, International Public Management Journal, Public Performance and Management Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences, State and Local Government Review, and others. He has received three national research awards: the ASPA’s William J. Petak Best Paper Award, the ASPA’s Garcia-Zamor Best Paper Award, and the NASPAA’s Best Doctoral Student Manuscript Award. His research was supported by grant funding from the Volcker Alliance, World Bank, GASB, ICMA, Center for the Study of Federalism, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Open Government Partnership.

Dr. Chen currently serves on the Standing Committee of the Transportation Economic and Finance (Co-Chair of Research Task Force) of Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Executive Committee of the Association of Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM). He is the Chair for Chinese Policy Scholar Group (CPSG) and the past chair of the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Transportation Policy and Administration (STPA). Dr. Chen is a certified research associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute and the Symposium Editor for Public Finance and Management, Associate Editor for the Chinese Public Administration Review (CPAR), and International Review of Public Administration (IRPA).