Jie Li

Biography

Dr. Li is a Senior Research Associate in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and Director of Programs in the Food Industry Management Program at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

Dr. Li’s research applies experimental and behavioral economics to decision-making across the food supply chain, from consumers to producers to food business managers, with a focus on products and practices that matter for health and sustainability. Using discrete choice experiments, experimental auctions, and field experiments, she studies how consumers value novel and sustainable foods, how growers decide whether to adopt new technologies, and how food businesses weigh investments in areas such as sanitation and tasting-room operations. Her recent projects span fortified complementary foods in West Africa, domestically farmed fish in Saudi Arabia, perennial grains and alternative proteins in the United States, grape growers’ adoption of clean plant materials, and food business preferences for novel sanitation technologies. The findings inform product development, marketing, and policy decisions by firms, industry groups, and governments.

Dr. Li founded Cornell’s summer program in economics and business in 2017 and has directed it every year since. Now the SC Johnson Summer Program in Business and Economics, the program has brought more than 1,000 students from around the world to the Ithaca campus and is fully self-sustaining. As Director of Programs at FIMP, she leads its precollege and college summer programs and works to connect Cornell faculty and the food industry through research with practical impact. She teaches business analysis simulation in the summer program and serves on MS and PhD committees in the graduate fields of Applied Economics and Management and Food Science.

Education

PhD Cornell University, 2017
MS Cornell University, 2011
BS Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 2009

Research

• Li, Jie; Zhang, Yanan; Ballco, Petjon; Gomez, Miguel; Broom, Muhammad; Timmons, Michael. "Can domestic aquaculture compete? Consumer willingness to pay and cost benchmarks in the Arabian peninsula"Aquaculture Economics and Management. (forthcoming).
• Elena, Krasovskaia; Li, Jie; Gomez, Miguel; Nicholson, Charles; Sauer, Christine. "Consumer Evaluation of Organic, Local, and Controlled-Environment Grown Lettuce: Evidence From an Experimental Auction in Two Study Sites"Agricultural Economics. 57.1 (2026): e70077
• Li, Jie; Homami, Nima; Ryan, Matthew; Wayman, Sandra; Law, Eugene; et al. "Grain of the Future: Consumer Demand for Bread Made of Sustainable Perennial Grain Intermediate Wheatgrass"Agricultural Economics. 57.2 (2026): e70102
• Li, Jie; Gonzalez, W.; Monterrosa, E.; Gomez, Miguel; Nicholson, C. "Choice Experiments and Value-Chain Modeling of Attribute Improvements to Increase Vegetable Consumption in Kenya"Food Policy. 127 (2024): 102682
• Li, Jie; Silver, Casey; Gomez, Miguel; Milstein, Mark; Sogari, Giovanni. "Factors influencing consumer purchase intent for meat and meat substitutes"Future Foods. 7 (2023): 100236
• Li, Jie; Wagner, Sara; Gomez, Miguel; Mansfield, Anna. "Customer Satisfaction and Sale Performance in New York State Brewery Tasting Rooms"Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 52.1 (2023): 132-150
• Li, Jie; Troendle, J.; Gomez, Miguel; Ifft, Jennifer; Golino, D.; Fuchs, M. "Returns to public investments in clean plant centers: A case study of leafroll virus-tested grapevines in support of cost-effective grape production systems"Journal of Wine Economics. 17.3 (2022)