Chen’s research focuses on mechanism design and experimental economics. The fundamental challenge Chen addresses in her research is the design of robust mechanisms when the agents involved are not perfectly rational.  In meeting this challenge, she applies experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches to incorporate dynamic learning theories from economics and cognitive psychology into the static mechanism design framework. In other work she synthesizes economic and social psychology theories to understand the effects of social identity in economic decision making, and to develop approaches to increasing member contributions in online communities. She also investigates efficient and fair mechanisms for allocating indivisible resources. Chen has published in leading economic journals, such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Public Economics, and Games and Economic Behavior. She has also published in prestigious conference proceedings in computer science, such as CHI and WSDM. Chen’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation. She serves as an associate editor of Management Science, an advisory editor of Games and Economic Behavior, and an associate editor of Experimental Economics. She is the President-Elect of the Economic Science Association.