Publications

We propose a general framework, dubbed stochastic processing under imperfect information, to study the impact of information constraints and memories on dynamic resource allocation. The framework involves a stochastic processing network (SPN…

We study how ex ante information asymmetries affect revenue in common-value second-price auctions, motivated by online advertising auctions where “cookies” inform individual advertisers about advertising opportunities. We distinguish information…

We construct a measure of consumption-equivalent welfare for Black and White Americans. Our statistic incorporates life expectancy, consumption, leisure, and inequality. Based on this incomplete list of factors, welfare for Black Americans was 43…

We study the design of monitoring in dynamic settings with moral hazard. An agent (e.g. a firm) benefits from reputation for quality, and a principal (e.g. a regulator) can learn the agent’s quality via costly inspections. Monitoring plays…

We study the effect of imperfect memory on decision making in the context of a stochastic sequential action-reward problem. An agent chooses a sequence of actions, which generate discrete rewards at different rates. She is allowed to make new…

Cognitive reappraisal can benefit employees, in terms of their emotional health. However, we propose that reappraisal can also entail hidden costs. Drawing on social-functionalist emotions theory, we posit that the use of reappraisal to…

Under what conditions and how can a buying firm, by committing to publish a list of its suppliers and/or the identities and violations of terminated suppliers, increase its expected profit and supplier responsibility? This paper contributes to a…

How do protest actions impact public support for social movements? Here we test the claim that extreme protest actions — protest behaviors perceived to be harmful to others, highly disruptive, or both — typically reduce support for social…

The 2020 COVID-19 crisis can spur research on firms’ corporate finance decisions and their macroeconomic implications, similar to the wave of important research on banking and household finance triggered by the 2008 financial crisis. What are the…

Trade tensions, natural disasters, and the current global pandemic bring with them many challenges. Yet a variety of strategies, technologies, and digital innovations can help companies reduce risk and enhance supply chain resilience and agility…

While widely acknowledged in the cultural evolution literature, ecological factors — aspects of the physical environment that affect the way in which cultural productions evolve — have not been investigated experimentally. Here, we present an…

Tractable contextual bandit algorithms often rely on the realizability assumption — i.e., that the true expected reward model belongs to a known class, such as linear functions. We investigate issues that arise in the absence of realizability and…

Are ordinary citizens or political party leaders better positioned to select candidates?  While the direct vote primary system in the United States lets citizens choose, it is exceptional, as the vast majority of democracies rely instead on…

Alongside the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, an “infodemic” of myths and hoax cures is spreading over online media outlets and social media platforms. Building on the literature on combating fake news, we evaluate experimental interventions…

Safe assets are integral to the functioning of banks, financial markets, and the international financial system. Financial market participants use safe assets to meet liquidity and transaction needs, as high-quality collateral for loans and…

Consumers regularly encounter cues of contagious disease in daily life — a commuter sneezes on the train, a colleague blows their nose in a meeting, or they read recent headlines about the dangerous spread of a disease. Research has…

We establish a link between firms managing investors’ performance expectations, earnings announcement premia, and cyclical patterns (i.e., seasonalities) in returns. Firms that are more likely to manage expectations toward beatable levels…

Combining a unique survey of Japanese firms’ GDP forecasts with accounting data for 25 years, we find three main results.

1. Firms’ GDP forecasts are associated with their employment, investment, and output growth in the subsequent year…

This paper provides a nonparametric identification result for procurement models with asymmetric bidders, dependent private information, and interdependent costs. For risk-neutral bidders, the model’s payoff-relevant primitives are the joint…