Daniel P. Kessler

Professor, Political Economy
+1 (650) 723-0596

Daniel P. Kessler

Professor of Political Economy

Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Professor of Law, School of Law
Professor of Political Economy
Professor of Health Research and Policy (by courtesy), School of Medicine
Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Academic Area:

Research Statement

Professor Kessler's research interests include empirical studies in antitrust law, law and economics, and the economics of health care. His recent work focuses on the consequences of hospital mergers and hospital ownership (nonprofit versus for-profit) for the cost and quality of medical care. His new book, "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System" (with John Cogan and R. Glenn Hubbard), outlines how market-based health care reform in the U.S. can help fix our system's current problems. Currently, he is investigating how to use medical claims data to identify the types of health care providers that are likely to commit Medicare fraud and abuse.

Bio

Daniel Kessler is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, a professor at Stanford Law School, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research interests include empirical studies in antitrust law, law and economics, and the economics of health care.

He holds a PhD in economics from M.I.T. and a law degree from Stanford. He has won awards for his advising and research from Stanford, the National Institute of Health Care Management Foundation, and the International Health Economics Association. He has received grants from the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the California Health Care Foundation. He has served as a consultant to corporations, foundations, and the governments of the United States and Canada. He has taught courses in health economics, public policy, and antitrust law at Stanford and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published numerous papers in economics journals and law reviews. He has also written extensively on health care reform for the Wall Street Journal and Health Affairs.

His new book, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System (with John Cogan and R. Glenn Hubbard), outlines how market-based health care reform in the U.S. can help fix our system’s current problems. Currently, he is investigating how to use medical claims data to identify the types of health care providers that are likely to commit Medicare fraud and abuse.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, MIT, 1994
  • JD, Stanford University, 1993
  • AB, Harvard University, 1988

Academic Appointments

  • At Stanford University since 1994
  • Professor of Economics, Law, and Policy, Stanford GSB
  • Professor of Law, School of Law, Stanford Law School

Publications

Journal Articles

M. Kate Bundorf, Daniel P. Kessler
National Tax Journal
October 2022
Laurence C. Baker, M. Kate Bundorf, Daniel P. Kessler
Journal of Health Economics
March 2020 Vol. 70
Laurence C. Baker, M. Kate Bundorf, Daniel P. Kessler
Journal of Health Economics
December 2016 Vol. 50 Pages 1-8
Laurence C. Baker, M. Kate Bundorf, Aileen M. Devlin, Daniel P. Kessler
Health Affairs
August 2016 Vol. 35 Issue 8 Pages 1444-1451
Laurence C. Baker, M. Kate Bundorf, Daniel P. Kessler
Health Affairs
May 2015 Vol. 34 Issue 5
Joseph Bankman, John F. Cogan, R. Glenn Hubbard, Daniel P. Kessler
Tax Policy and the Economy
2012 Vol. 26 Issue 1 Pages 43-58)
John F. Cogan, R. Glenn Hubbard, Daniel P. Kessler
National Tax Journal
September 2011 Vol. 64 Pages 795-816
Daniel P. Kessler, Mark B. McClellan
National Bureau of Economic Research
July 1999
Daniel P. Kessler, Anne Morrison Piehl
Journal of Law, Economics, and Organizations
1998 Vol. 14 Issue 2 Pages 256-276
Daniel P. Kessler, Mark McClellan
Quarterly Journal of Economics
1996 Vol. 111 Issue 2 Pages 353-390
Daniel P. Kessler
Journal of Law, Economics, and Organizations
1996 Vol. 12 Issue 2 Pages 432-460
Daniel P. Kessler
RAND Journal of Economics
1995 Vol. 26 Issue 2 Pages 296-313
William F. Baxter, Daniel P. Kessler
Stanford Law Review
1995 Vol. 47 Issue 4 Pages 615-631
Daniel P. Kessler
Journal of Labor Economics
1991 Vol. 9 Issue 4 Pages 413-426

Books

Daniel P. Kessler, R. Glenn Hubbard, John Cogan
American Enterprise Institute Press
2014

Working Papers

Laurence C. Baker, M. Kate Bundorf, Daniel P. Kessler October 2014

Academic Publications

Daniel P. Kessler
Hoover Daily Report
August 25, 2003

Stanford Case Studies

Daniel Kessler, Sara Leslie
2009
Daniel Kessler
1998
David Baron, Michael Ting, Keith Krehbiel, Erik Johnson, Daniel P. Kessler
1996

Service to the Profession

  • Member, American Economic Association
  • Member, American Law and Economics Association

In the Media

Insights by Stanford Business

April 20, 2023
A new study evaluates the impact and unexpected costs of bringing Medicaid coverage to millions of new recipients.
June 29, 2015
High fees for your own medical records can be a barrier to switching.
June 05, 2015
Stanford researchers find that vertically integrated healthcare systems charge higher prices.
January 07, 2013
A group of top health care economists propose a system that eliminates incentives to spend more at every turn.
April 09, 2011
Evidence from several studies suggests that wisely chosen malpractice reforms have the potential to reduce health care spending significantly with no adverse impact on patient health outcomes.
June 01, 2007
A scholar says the costs of caring for uninsured or indigent patients don't impose a heavy burden on private health care costs.
August 01, 2000
A study finds that competition was good for a group of acutely ill patients, in part because of managed care efficiencies.