Economics
Using economic theory and data-driven research to design better technologies, markets, and public policies.
Mathematical Foundations for Social Computing
Project Natick
Project Natick explores the feasibility of subsea datacenters powered by offshore renewable energy.
A Fast Polynomial Space Algorithm for Subset Sum
I will describe an algorithm for the subset sum problem that runs in 2^{0.86n} time and uses polynomial pace. Previously, all algorithms with running time less than 2^n used exponential space, and obtaining such a…
SoCal NEGT Symposium 2016
Microsoft was a sponsor and proud to have R. Preston McAfee deliver one of the keynotes at the 2016 SoCal NEGT in Los Angeles, California. Our presenters chatted with attendees about both the application of…
A Neurally-Inspired Model of Habit and its Empirical Implications
The busy human brain creates fast, low-cost habits when choices are frequent and are providing stable rewards. Using evidence from animal learning and cognitive neuroscience, we model a two-controller system in which habit and model-based…
The Illusion of Wealth and Its Reversal
Melons as Lemons: Asymmetric Information, Consumer Learning and Seller Reputation
There is often a lack of reliable high quality provision in many markets in developing countries. I designed an experiment to understand this phenomenon in a setting that features typical market conditions in a developing…
If technology has arrived everywhere, why has income diverged?
We study the cross-country evolution of technology diffusion over the last two centuries. We document that adoption lags between rich and poor countries have converged while penetration rates, once technologies are adopted, have diverged. The…
