Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business, NYU Shanghai
I am Zhikun Lu, an assistant professor of operations and business analytics at NYU Shanghai. I obtained my PhD in Business from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, advised by Ruomeng Cui and Tianshu Sun. My research focuses on causality-driven decision making in business, leveraging empirical evidence to inform economic modeling and decision algorithms. I have collaborated with leading tech companies, including Alibaba, Amazon, DiDi, and Tencent, developing causal-machine-learning-based solutions that improve sales, customer lifetime value, and user engagement. I am passionate about discovering innovative ideas, learning new skills, and applying them to solve real-world business challenges.
Contact: zhikun.lu[at]nyu.edu · Google Scholar · SSRN · NYU Profile · 中文官方主页 · CV
The Value of Last-mile Delivery in Online Retail
with R. Cui, T. Sun, L. Wu. Forthcoming, Management Science
Second Place, 2025 INFORMS Service Science Best Student Paper; Runner-up, 2025 POMS College of Service Operations Best Student Paper; Runner-up, 2024 POMS College of Supply Chain Management Best Student Paper
Preferential Credit Policy with Sectoral Markup Heterogeneity
with K. Chen, Y. Huang, X. Liu, Y. Wang. 2026, Journal of International Economics
Sooner or Later? Promising Delivery Speed in Online Retail
with R. Cui, T. Sun, J. Golden. 2024, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
Finalist, MSOM Student Paper Competition; Winner, 2021 ICIS Best Paper in Track Award (Digital and Mobile Commerce)
How Contagious Was the Panic of 1907? New Evidence from Trust Company Stocks
with C. Fohlin. 2021, AEA Papers and Proceedings
Short Sale Bans May Improve Market Quality During Crises: New Evidence from the 2020 Covid Crash
with C. Fohlin, N. Zhou
See VoxEU for a non-technical summary
A Model of China's Economic Vertical Structure
with X. Li, X. Liu, Y. Wang. Revise & Resubmit
Incentives in Online Gaming: Optimal Policy Design with Dynamic Causal Machine Learning
with R. Cui, Y. Su
Food Delivery Platform Expansion Strategies: A Structural Approach
with R. Cui, W. Zhang
Applied Machine Learning for Business, Undergrad, Spring & Fall 2026, NYU Shanghai
Applied Causal Inference for Business (in the Age of AI), MSBA, Fall 2026, NYU Shanghai
Associate Editor, "Empirical Studies in Supply Chain Management," Decision Sciences
Editorial Board Member, "Agentic AI & Human-Agent Collaboration in Business," Decision Sciences
Reviewer: Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Service Sciences
© 2026 zhikun.lu