Skip to Main Content

Agricultural economics student uses research as creative outlet

Do California residents choose to adopt solar panels because their neighbors do?


How do social pressures influence fertility decisions in rural China?

Is the production of all-electric vehicles impacted by governmental policies and imperfectly competitive market structures? 

Jixuan (Edie) Yao’s research addresses questions others may not think to associate with agricultural economics. And to answer them, Yao prefers to let the data speak for her. 

“I don’t want to argue.” Instead, Yao said she would rather use solid research to convince people “in a silent, but powerful way.”

Yao was raised in Linzi, a small city 500 miles north of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics where she began her college career. Yao enjoys pure theoretical math and physics, but she chose to study actuarial science when others advised her to choose a major “more conducive to finding a job.” 

An internship at an insurance company helped her realize the fit was not right. While Yao found the salary offered by the highly-regulated field appealing, there was little room for creativity. 

“I could not envision sitting in a small cubicle in an office for the rest of my career.” 

Yao joined a master’s program in applied economics and management at Cornell University. There, her research focused on crop insurance. 

“I find research is very creative,” said Yao. “It confirmed that I wanted to do a Ph.D.” 

Yao searched American university websites for her interests amid faculty research expertise and decided to study agricultural economics at Purdue. She began her doctoral work under the advisorship of Michael Delgado, associate professor of agricultural economics, in 2016. 

Yao’s research focuses on modeling social and market dynamics. She develops mathematical representations of the topics she finds most interesting: household behavior and environmental protection. “My research is about living a better life and caring for the environment,” explained Yao. 

She also taught Mathematical Tools for Agricultural and Applied Economics, a core component of the department’s master’s program. 

“For me it’s fun,” Yao said. “My role is to fill a gap for master’s students by teaching them all the math knowledge you need to learn to write a thesis. It’s a summary class — one semester, but a lot of content.” 

Yao intends to continue in academia through a postdoc or faculty position. 

“I used to worry a lot whether I could find a job,” Yao recalled. “My advisor encouraged me to focus on what I really like and be confident.”

Featured Stories

Leo Koenigsfeld
Leo Koenigsfeld - Graduate Ag Research Spotlight

Leo Koenigsfeld grew up in a small town in central Missouri with the unlikely name of...

Read More
Seedlings growing in a slash-and-burn agricultural field in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa. Credit: © FAO / Giulio Napolitano
Mobilizing AI to monitor forest growth and carbon sequestration

More than 1.6 million square miles of forests have disappeared since 1990, according to the Food...

Read More
Jiaxin Long
Jiaxin Long - Postdoctoral Scholar Feature

Many of us remember our high school lessons in genetics – drawing Punnett squares,...

Read More
Chuyan Chen served as a panelist last year at NASA’s Deep Space Food Symposium. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Ohio State University
Food science alumna preps fare for low-Earth orbit and beyond

Shortly after Neil Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012, Chuyan Chen noticed a lone white flower next...

Read More
Lower sugar cookie
Inventing a lower-sugar cookie that’s still a treat

Every job has its perks. For Lisa Mauer, “cookie baking trials” is one of hers. ...

Read More
Halee Fisher infant of the White House in her cap and gown.
Purdue alumna Halee Fisher grows a career at the USDA

Purdue University alumna Halee Fisher, who earned degrees in Agricultural Economics and Political...

Read More
To Top