Elena Belavina

Elena Belavina is an Associate Professor at the SC Johnson College of Business. She collaborates with startups, established companies, and public agencies to study sustainable food systems and transportation. In collaboration with a leading Food-Tech company, her recent research examines the impact of adopting computer-vision-enabled tech on food waste in commercial kitchens. It also develops machine-learning-based classifiers for the detection of food-production problems. Previously, she studied how the grocery industry's structure and pricing policies influence food waste, the environmental impact of online grocery shopping, and the design of bike-share systems. She has also studied sustainable sourcing, relational contracts, and supply network design including the role of supply chain intermediaries. Methodologically, her research involves holistic analysis of logistic and economic systems, econometric analysis of large datasets to advise on system improvements and policies, and machine learning.

Prior to joining Cornell University, Elena was on the faculty of the Booth School at the University of Chicago. She earned a Ph.D. from INSEAD, and bachelor's and master’s degrees in applied mathematics and physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Selected Publications

• Belavina, Elena. "Grocery Store Density and Food Waste"Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. 23.1 (2021)
• Belavina, Elena; Girotra, Karan; Kabra, Ashish. "Online Grocery Retail: Revenue Models and Environmental Impact"Management Science. 63.6 (2017): 1781-1799
• Belavina, Elena; Marinesi, Simone; Tsoukalas, Gerry. "Rethinking Crowdfunding Platform Design: Mechanisms to Deter Misconduct and Improve Efficiency"Management Science. 66.11 (2020)
• Kabra, Ashish; Belavina, Elena; Girotra, Karan. "Bike-Share Systems: Accessibility and Availability"Management Science. 66.9 (2020)
• Astashkina, E.; Belavina, Elena; Marinesi, S. "The Environmental Assessment of The Advent of Online Grocery Retailing" (in preparation).
• Kabra, Ashish; Belavina, Elena; Girotra, Karan. "Designing Promotions to Scale Marketplaces" (in preparation).
• He, Pu; Zheng, Fanyin; Belavina, Elena; Girotra, Karan. "Customer Preference and Station Network in the London Bike Share System"Management Science. 67.3 (2021): 1329-1992
• Belavina, Elena; Girotra, Karan. "The Relational Advantages of Intermediation"Management Science. 58.9 (2012): 1614-1631

Awards and Honors

• Finalist IBM Service Science Best Student Paper Competition for paper "Route Preference and Station Network in the London Bike Share System" (2018) INFORMS Service Science Section
• Business of Food Grants Program Recipient (2019)
• Best paper Award (3rd place) (2011) Junior Faculty Interest Group
• Runner-up, The George and Marrion Plossl Research Fellowship (2010) Association for Chain Management (APICS) Educational and Research Foundation
• Finalist IBM Service Science Best Student Paper Competition for paper "The Environmental Assessment of Online Grocery Shopping" (2018) INFORMS Service Science Section

Recent Courses

• HADM 9320 - Foundations of Operations Management II: Operations Strategy and Supply Chain Management
• NCCW 5080 - Managing Operations
• NCCE 5080 - Managing Operations
• HADM 7030 - Operations Management

Academic Degrees

• PhD INSEAD, 2012
• MS Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 2007
• BS Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 2007