Haiyan Deng

Biography

Dr. Haiyan Deng is a distinguished scholar and educator whose career bridges the realms of industry and academia, underpinned by her transdisciplinary expertise and rigorous research in quantitative methods and system analytics. Since joining Cornell University's Systems Engineering program in 2012, Dr. Deng has enriched the curriculum with courses that empower engineering students with critical analytical skills and interdisciplinary knowledge. Her industry experience includes a pivotal role as an economist at The Conference Board, where she led impactful research on China’s economy. Dr. Deng’s academic journey began with her doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis, focusing on market structures and international trade. Her research spans international trade, industrial organization, productivity, labor economics, and development economics, integrating diverse fields such as system dynamics, economics, accounting, and finance. This unique blend of expertise enables Dr. Deng to develop comprehensive analytical models and simulations that address complex societal challenges, fostering data-driven decision-making among her students and peers.

—

Deng joined the faculty in Cornell's System Engineering program as a lecturer in 2012, bringing her expertise in economics, business, accounting, finance, industrial organization, and system dynamics. At Cornell, she has designed and taught several key courses that provide engineering students with critical analytical skills.

One of the courses she developed is SYSEN 5220, System Dynamics, an outcome-driven course that teaches policy analysis in complex systems through the system dynamics modeling approach. Students learn the role of dynamic simulation modeling in decision-making and master iterative modeling techniques like causal loop diagrams and stock and flow diagrams. The course covers dynamic behaviors arising from feedbacks, delays, and nonlinearities using interdisciplinary examples from areas like supply chains and economic growth.

Another course Deng created is SYSEN 5140, Economic and Financial Decisions for Engineers. This comprehensive course targets engineering students, covering financial accounting principles, managerial accounting concepts like product costing and cost allocation, as well as methods for economic and financial decision-making like capital budgeting. It equips students with essential skills to understand financial statements, analyze costs, and make informed engineering decisions considering economic factors.

In addition to teaching, Deng has supervised Master of Engineering student projects providing economic and financial analysis on topics like releasing Fukushima radioactive wastewater into the ocean. Her project groups perform in-depth cost modeling and cash flow projections to evaluate the economic viability and tradeoffs of potential policy decisions.

With her interdisciplinary expertise spanning system dynamics, economics, accounting, finance, industrial organization and quantitative analysis, Deng aims to empower the next generation of systems engineers and leaders with data-driven decision-making capabilities to tackle complex societal challenges. Her courses seamlessly integrate these disciplines to provide a holistic analytical toolkit.

Prior to joining Cornell, Deng was an economist at The Conference Board, a leading non-profit research institute, specializing in the Chinese economy from 2004–2010. As a principal investigator, she led research projects analyzing China's industrial productivity growth, capacity utilization, and labor market dynamics. Her team facilitated key collaborations with the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Deng's research interests originated during her doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis, where she focused on estimating the World Trade Flows, national market structure, and pricing strategy in China's automobile industry from 1997-2004. Collaborating with Professor Robert Feenstra, she also contributed to estimating real production and expenditures across nations and improving the Penn World Table.  Both the World Trade Flows and the Penn World Table are world renowned datasets due to their wide usage for cross-country analysis.

Research Interests

Dr. Haiyan Deng's research spreads over various economic topics, such as international trade, industrial organization, productivity, labor economics, discrete choice modeling, and development economics. Her interdisciplinary expertise allows her to develop holistic analytical models integrating economics, system dynamics, accounting, finance, and industrial organization principles to address complex societal challenges. Additionally, Deng applies quantitative techniques like simulations, cost modeling, and economic cash flow analysis to evaluate policy options and inform strategic decision-making.