Professor Shi’s research generally seeks to understand the economic and societal impacts of information technology. Specifically, her current research centers around examining the impact and effective design of information and AI strategies for digital multisided platforms, using empirical tools including econometrics, randomized field experiments, and business analytics.

Professor Shi has collaborated with digital platforms in various sectors, including e-commerce, social media, matching, and entertainment. Many of the good practices suggested by her studies have been adopted by these collaborating platforms. Professor Shi has published in Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly. She is also invited to present her work at premier conferences, workshops, and IT companies. Her dissertation and research have been honored and won multiple awards, including the CIBER Research Award, the Smith Outstanding Dissertation Award, the ISS Nunamaker-Chen Dissertation Award (runner-up), and the INFORMS e-Business Section Best Paper Award (runner-up). She is also the 2021 recipient of the ISR Best Reviewer of the Year and currently serves as an ERB member for ISR.