SUSAN CARLETON ATHEY

Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 496-1939
Fax: (617) 495-8570
athey@fas.harvard.edu
http://kuznets.fas.harvard.edu/~athey/index.html

 

PERSONAL

        Born November, 1970.
        U.S. Citizen.

 

EDUCATION

Duke University 

Bachelor of Arts, 1991.

Majors in economics, mathematics, and computer science.
Magna Cum Laude. Phi Beta Kappa.

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Ph.D., 1995

Dissertation: "Comparative Statics in Stochastic Problems with Applications."

Advisors: Paul Milgrom and John Roberts (co-chairs), Edward Lazear.

CURRENT POSITIONS

 

Harvard University

        2006-present    Professor of Economics

      

National Bureau of Economic Research

        2001-present     Research Associate

 

PAST POSITIONS

        1999-2001     Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics

        1997-1999     Castle Krob Career Development Assistant Professor of Economics

        1995-1997     Assistant Professor of Economics

 

Cowles Foundation for Economic Research, Yale University

        1997-1998     Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics

 

Hoover Institution, Stanford University

        2000-2001     National Fellow

 

National Bureau of Economic Research

        1997-2001     Faculty Research Fellow

 

OTHER POSITIONS

 

2008-present        Visiting/Consulting Researcher, Microsoft Research, New England

2007-present      Consultant to Microsoft Corporation as Chief Economist

        2008-present       Academic Affiliate, Analysis Group Economics

        2001-present       Principal, Market Design, Inc.

        April,1999; October, 2000; February, 2001        Consultant, Research Department, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank       

        May, 1998           Visiting Professor, I.D.E.I. Toulouse. 

 

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Cambridge Economics Economics and Computational Day, co-founder, 2011-present.
• Member, Nominating Committee for American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2011-present
• Member, President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science
• Co-organizer, NBER Information Technology/Productivity Summer Workshop, 2009-present
• Co-director, NBER Working Group on Market Design, 2009-present.
• Council, Game Theory Society, 2009-. (elected position).
• Associate Editor, Theoretical Economics, 2005-.
• Associate Editor, B.E. Journals in Theoretical Economics, 2000-.

PAST PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Council, Econometric Society, 2007-2010. (elected position)
• Executive Committee, American Economic Association, 2008-2010. (elected position)
• Co-Editor, American Economic Journals: Microeconomics, 2007-2008.
• Associate Editor, Econometrica, 2006-2007.
• Associate Editor, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2001-2007.
• Editorial Board, Not a Journal Economics, 2001-2008. 

• Fellows Nominating Committee, Econometric Society, 2006.
• Elaine Bennett Research Prize Committee (AEA/CSWEP), 2002, 2004, 2006 (Chair).
• Chair, Program Committee, Winter Meetings of the Econometric Society, 2006.
• National Science Foundation Economics Panel, 2004-2006.
• Co-director, Market Design Program, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, 2004-2006.
• Mentor, CeMent Mentoring Workshop, AEA/CSWEP, 2006.
• Young Faculty Nominating Committee, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
• Associate Editor, American Economic Review, 2002-2005.
• Associate Editor, RAND Journal of Economics, 2002-2004.
• Foreign Editor, Review of Economic Studies, 2001-2004.
• American Economic Association Nominating Committee, 2003.
• Stanford University Fellow, 2002-2004.
• Co-editor, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 1997-2001.
• Program Committee, Summer Meetings of the Econometric Society, 1997 and 1998; 8th World Congress of the Econometric Society, 2000; Winter Meetings of the Econometric Society, 2001 and 2005.

 

HONORS

• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2008.
• World Economic Forum, Young Global Leaders, 2008.
• John Bates Clark Medal, 2007.
• Fellow, Econometric Society.
• Guggenhime Faculty Scholar, Stanford University, 2004-2006.
• Elaine Bennett Research Award, 2001.
• Sloan Foundation Research Fellow, 2000.
• Kilby Awards Foundation Young Innovator Award, 1998.
• Undergraduate Economics Association Teaching Award, 1995-1996.
• Review of Economic Studies Tour, 1995.
• Stanford University Lieberman Fellow, 1994-1995.
• State Farm Dissertation Award in Business, 1994.
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1991-1994.
• Jaedicke Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1992-1993.
• Mary Love Collins Scholarship, Chi Omega Foundation, 1991-1992.
• Duke University Alice Baldwin Memorial Scholarship, 1990-1991.

 

DISTINGUISHED LECTURES

• Sir Richard Stone Annual Lecture, Cambridge University, 2012.
• Dunaway Lecture, Michigan State University, 2012.
• Keynote address, 2011 Southern California Symposium on Network Economics and Game Theory.
• Keynote address, International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence, Barcelona, July 2011.
• Fisher Schultz Lecture, Econometric Society, 2011.
• Plenary Lecture for Society of Economic Dynamics, 2010.
• Plenary Lecture for joint meeting of Electronic Commerce and Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge, 2009.
• Society of Economic Design Plenary Lecture, 2008.
• Frank Hahn Lecture, Royal Economic Society Conference, 2008.
• John F. Nash, Jr., Lecture, Carroll Round, Georgetown, 2008.
• Schultz Lecture, University of Chicago, 2007.
• Toulouse Lectures in Economics, 2007.
• Invited Speaker, 9th World Congress of the Econometric Society.
• Johnson Distinguished Lecturer in Economics, Duke University, 2004.

 

GRANTS AND RESEARCH AWARDS

• "Private Information and Dynamic Games," NSF Grant No. SES-0351500.
• "Private Information in Auctions, Pricing Games, and Ongoing  Relationships," NSF CAREER Award No. SES-9983820.
• "Bidding Behavior in U.S. Forest Service Timber Auctions," MIT Provost's Fund for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Research Award, 1997.
• "Empirical Tests for Complementarities: A Structural  Approach," MIT Sloan School of Management, Creative Research Award, 1996 (with Scott Stern).
• "Comparative Statics: Theory and an Empirical Framework for Testing Predictions," NSF Grant No. SBR-9631760.
• "Product and Process Innovation," William Miller Fund, Stanford GSB.

 

PUBLICATIONS

1. "Position Auctions with Consumer Search," (with Glenn Ellison). Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011, 126(3), 123-1270.
2. "Comparing Open and Sealed Bid Auctions: Theory and Evidence from Timber Auctions," (with Jonathan Levin and Enrique Seira). Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011, 126(1), 207-257.
3. "The Impact of Targeting Technology on Advertising Markets and Media Competition,” with Joshua Gans, American Economic Review, May 2010.
4. "Skewed Bidding in Pay Per Action Models of Online Advertising," with Nikhil Agarwal and David Yang.� American Economic Review, May 2009.
5. "Collusion with Persistent Cost Shocks," (with Kyle Bagwell). Econometrica, May 2008, 76 (3), 493-540.
6. "Designing Efficient Mechanisms for Dynamic Bilateral Trading Games," (with Ilya Segal), American Economic Review, May 2008.
7. "Efficiency in Repeated Trade with Hidden Valuations," (with David Miller). Theoretical Economics, 2007, 2 (3), 299-354.
8. "Discrete Choice Models with Multiple Unobserved Choice Characteristics," (with Guido Imbens). International Economic Review, 2007, 48 (4), 1159-1192.
9. "What Does Performance in Graduate School Predict? Graduate Economics Education and Student Outcomes" (with Larry Katz, Alan Krueger, James Poterba, and Steve Levitt), American Economic Review, May 2007.
10. "Identification and Inference in Nonlinear Difference-In-Difference Models," (with Guido Imbens). Econometrica 74 (2), March, 2006, 431-498.
11. "The Optimal Degree of Monetary Policy Discretion," (with Andrew Atkeson and Patrick Kehoe), Econometrica 73 (5), September, 2005, 1431-1476.
12. "Collusion and Price Rigidity," (with Kyle Bagwell and Chris Sanchirico). Review of Economic Studies 71 (2), April 2004, 317-349.
13. "Identification in Standard Auction Models," (with Philip Haile),  Econometrica, 70 (6), November 2002, pp. 2107-2140.
14. "The Impact of Information Technology on Emergency Health Care Outcomes," (with Scott Stern), RAND Journal of Economics, 33 (3), Autumn 2002, pp. 399-432.
15. "Monotone Comparative Statics Under Uncertainty,"  Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 2002, CXVII (1): 187-223.
16. "Optimal Collusion with Private Information," (with Kyle Bagwell), RAND Journal of Economics, Autumn 2001, 32 (3): 428-465.
17. "Single Crossing Properties and the Existence of Pure Strategy Equilibria in Games of Incomplete Information," Econometrica 69 (4), July, 2001: 861-890.
18. "Organizational Design: Decision Rights and Incentive Contracts," (with John Roberts), American Economic Review, May 2001.
19. "Information and Competition in U.S. Forest Service Timber Auctions," (with Jonathan Levin), Journal of Political Economy, 109 (2), April 2001.  Reprinted in: Empirical Industrial Organization, Paul Joskow and Michael Waterson, ed., Critical Ideas in Economics, Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2004.
20. "Investment and Market Dominance," (with Armin Schmutzler), RAND Journal of Economics 32 (1), Spring 2001: 1-26.
21. "Mentoring and Diversity," (with Chris Avery and Peter Zemsky), American Economic Review 90 (4) September 2000: 765-786.
22. "Information Technology and Training in Emergency Call  Centers."  (with Scott Stern). Proceedings of the Fifty-First Annual Meetings (New York, Jan 3-5, 1999). Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Association, pp. 53-60.
23. "Product and Process Flexibility in an Innovative Environment, "(with Armin Schmutzler), RAND Journal of Economics, 26 (4) Winter1995: 557-574.

 

BOOKS/SURVEYS/CONFERENCE VOLUMES

1. Dynamic Games and Contracts with Hidden Information, In Progress.  Toulouse Lectures in Economics 2007, Princeton University Press.
2. "Empirical Models of Auctions," in Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Theory and Applications, Ninth World Congress, Volume II. Richard Blundell, Whitney K. Newey, Torsten Persson, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2007.
3. "Nonparametric Approaches to Auctions," forthcoming, Handbook of Econometrics, Volume 6.
4. Robust Comparative Statics (with Paul Milgrom and John Roberts), research monograph (draft form).
5. "Adoption and Impact of Advanced Technologies in Emergency Response Systems," (with Scott Stern), in The Changing Hospital Industry: Comparing Not-for-Profit and For-Profit Institutions, David Cutler, ed.  University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 113-155.

 

WORKING PAPERS/UNDER REVIEW

1. “The Impact of the Internet on Advertising Markets for News Media” (with Emilio Calvano and Joshua Gans).  Working paper.
2. “The Impact of News Aggregators on Internet News Consumption: The Case of Localization” (with Markus Mobius).  Working paper.
3. “Peaches, Lemons, and Cookies: Designing Auction Markets with Dispersed Information.”  With Moshe Babaioff, Michael Grubb and Ittai Abraham.  Working paper.
4. "Subsidies and Set-Asides in Auctions," (with Jonathan Levin and Dominic Coey).  Under review.
5. "A Structural Model of Sponsored Search Advertising Markets" (with Denis Nekipelov).  Under review.
6. "A Theory of Group Formation and Social Hierarchy," (with Saumitra Jha and Emilio Calvano). Under review.
7. "Dynamics of Open Source Movements," (with Glenn Ellison). Under review.
8. "An Efficient Dynamic Mechanism," (with Ilya Segal). Under review.
9. "Characterizing Properties of Stochastic Objective Functions,"  MIT Working Paper 96-1R. Revise & Resubmit, B.E. Journals in Theoretical Economics.
10. "Investment and Information Value for a Risk-Averse Firm," MIT Working Paper No. 00-30.  Revise & Resubmit, B.E. Journals in Theoretical Economics.
11. "The Value of Information in Monotone Decision Problems" (with Jonathan Levin), MIT Working Paper No. 98-24, November 1998.
12. "An Empirical Framework for Testing Theories about Complementarities in Organizational Design," (with Scott Stern).  NBER Working Paper 6600, February 1998. Revise & Resubmit, Management Science.
13. "The Allocation of Decisions in Organizations," (with Joshua Gans and Scott Stern), Mimeo, MIT, 1996.

 

WORK IN PROGRESS

1. “Social Media and Internet News Consumption” (with Markus Mobius).  In progress.
2. "Dynamic Auctions with Persistent Private Information," (with Kyle Bagwell). In progress.
3. "Authority and Incentives," (with John Roberts), In progress.

 

TEACHING

• Graduate: Advanced Topics in Game Theory, Industrial Organization, Contract Theory, Microeconomic Theory.
• Undergraduate: Industrial Organization, Intermediate Applied Microeconomics.

 

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Member: Econometric Society, American Economic Association, Committee for the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.
• Referee for: American Economic Review, Econometrica, Economic Journal, Games and Economic Behavior, Industrial Relations, International Economic Review, International Review of Finance and Economics, Journal of Econometrics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Management Science, National Science Foundation, RAND Journal of Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, Southern Economic Journal.