Hi! I am Tianhua Zou (邹恬华), a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Economics at Renmin University of China (RUC), currently a visiting student researcher at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI).

My research focuses on sustainable development, bridging:

• the welfare of disadvantaged populations;
• environmental policy and the energy transition.

I approach these questions with:

• large-scale household surveys and randomized controlled trials (RCTs);
• causal inference powered by machine learning and LLMs;
• AI agents in economic research, as an active user and advocate.

I am actively involved in the following labs:

• Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation Lab, School of Applied Economics, Renmin University of China (with Professor Lunyu Xie)
• China Residential Energy Consumption Survey (CRECS) Lab, Department of Energy Economics, Renmin University of China (led the 2023 round)
• Rural Education Action Program (REAP), Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI), Stanford University (with Professor Scott Rozelle)
• Economics for Sustainability and Energy Transition (eSET), Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University (with Professor Shanjun Li)