His research centers on environmental economics, economics of innovation, and international trade. His research has appeared in top academic journals in the fields of environmental and resource economics, agricultural economics and energy economics.
Recent projects include economic analysis of climate change, welfare impacts of biofuel policies, and effects of environmental policies on environmental innovation. His current projects on climate change and low-carbon innovation have received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Before joining Duke Kunshan, he had held positions as a Chu-Tian junior scholar at the Hubei Provincial Department of Education, an associate professor at Wuhan University's School of Economics and Management, and a postdoctoral research associate and visiting scholar at Iowa State University. He has also served as the referee for leading journals in environmental economics, such as JEEM, JAERE, ERE.
Cui has a B.S. in economics and mathematics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, an M.Sc. in economics from Wuhan University and a Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University.