The 18th session (the 52nd in total) of the "Engineering Management Forum" series, organized by the School of Economics and Management at Beihang University, was held offline at 17:00 on December 27, 2024, in Room A1028 of the New Main Building. The guest speaker for this session was Associate Professor Ling Shuai from Tianjin University, specializing in urban transportation management. The topic of the lecture was "Social Norms at Crosswalks: Impact on Pedestrian-Yielding Behavior and Nudge Intervention Effectiveness." The lecture was hosted by Professor Tian Qiong from the School of Economics and Management, with faculty and students from the school attending the session.
Professor Ling first introduced the concept of nudge theory in economics and inspired by this theory, explored the role of social norms in crosswalk driving behavior. He discussed how these norms influence whether drivers yield to pedestrians and the effectiveness of norm-based "nudge" interventions in changing such behavior. Professor Ling then presented the data collection process for his experiments, which involved respondents from Zhejiang and Hubei provinces. The results showed that respondents from Zhejiang (a province with a higher pedestrian-yielding rate) were more likely to perceive a higher frequency of yielding behavior (descriptive norm) and were also more inclined to view non-yielding as inappropriate (injunctive norm) compared to respondents from Hubei (a province with a lower pedestrian-yielding rate). Building on this, Professor Ling validated these findings with a larger sample and showed that nudge interventions and the introduction of surveillance cameras were particularly effective. Interestingly, respondents from high-yielding provinces had higher acceptance and perceived effectiveness of the nudge interventions. Finally, Professor Ling explained the empirical research paradigm and shared his experience with submitting papers in Chinese. Faculty and students engaged in an in-depth discussion with Professor Ling on the research topic, and the seminar concluded successfully in a lively atmosphere.
Ling Shuai is a Distinguished Research Fellow and Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Economics at Tianjin University, as well as a Doctoral Supervisor. He serves as the Executive Director of the Tianjin Modern Urban Governance Laboratory and is a member of the Youth Committee of the Chinese Society of Management Science and Engineering. His main research focus is urban transportation management. He has led and participated in more than 10 national-level projects, including the Youth/General and Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Professor Ling has published over 50 papers in domestic and international journals, including Transportation Research Part A/B/C and Chinese Journal of Management Science. His policy recommendations have been reviewed by senior leadership at the central government and Tianjin municipal government. He has received multiple awards, including recognition from relevant central ministries, the Second Prize in the National University Teachers Innovation Competition, and the First Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Social Sciences in Tianjin. As an expert in his field, he has provided consulting services to several companies, including State Grid Corporation of China and China Energy Engineering Group.
