M. Keith Chen
- Behavioral Decision Theory
- Behavioral Economics
- Competitive Strategy
- Intertemporal Choice
Biography
Keith Chen is a professor of behavioral economics at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and the Bing (β86) and Alice Liu Yang Endowed Term Chair in Management and Innovation. His research blurs traditional disciplinary boundaries, bringing big data tools to bear on problems at the intersection of economics, psychology and biology.
Chenβs early work tackled topics that fall outside of traditional economics, such as primate decision making and the link between language and economic behavior. More recently, his work has studied a unique digital trace data set with precise smartphone location information for millions of anonymous individuals over time. He has produced a stream of work that uses these data to study a variety of issues from the spread of COVID-19 to racial disparities in voting wait times and in police exposure.
Chen also advises numerous companies on topics at the intersection of behavioral economics, business strategy and dynamic pricing. Most recently, he was the head of economic research for Uber, where, among other projects, he redesigned Uberβs dynamic βsurgeβ pricing model.
At Anderson, Chen teaches the MSBA core course in competitive analytics and Ph.D. behavioral economics.
Education
Ph.D. Economics, 2003, Harvard University
B.S. Mathematics, 1998, Stanford University
Grants and Awards
2021: Bing (β86) and Alice Liu Yang Endowed Term Chair in Management and Innovation
2021: UCLA Anderson MSBA Teaching Award
2018: Nature, Editor's Choice for βThe Effect of Partisanship on Close Family Tiesβ
2017-2018 UCLA Anderson Teaching Innovation Award
2013: Science, Editorsβ Choice for βThe Effect of Language on Economic Behaviorβ
2011: Yale SOM Alumni Association, Annual Teaching Award
2008: Roger F. Murray Prize, The Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance
2008: American Law and Economics Review, Distinguished Article Prize
2006β2011: National Science Foundation Research Grant
Select Published Papers
Racial Disparities in Voting Wait Times: Evidence from Smartphone Data
Joint with Kareem Haggag, Devin G. Pope, & Ryne Rohla, The Review of Economics and Statistics, November 2022
Nursing Home Staff Networks and COVID-19
Joint with Judith Chevalier & Elisa Long, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2021
The Value of Flexible Work: Evidence from Uber Drivers
Joint with Judith Chevalier, Peter Rossi, & Emily Oehlsen, Journal of Political Economy, December 2019
Politics Gets Personal: Effects of Political Partisanship and Advertising on Family Ties
Joint with Ryne Rhola, Science, June 2018
The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rates, Health Behaviors, and Retirement Assets
The American Economic Review, April 2013
How Choice Affects and Reflects Preferences: Revisiting the Free-Choice Paradigm
Joint with Jane Risen, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, October 2010
Modeling a Presidential Prediction Market
Joint with Jonathan E. Ingersoll & Edward H. Kaplan, Management Science, August 2008
Do Harsher Prison Conditions Reduce Recidivism? A Discontinuity-Based Approach
Joint with Jesse Shapiro, American Law and Economic Review, June 2007
How Basic are Behavioral Biases? Evidence from Capuchin-Monkey Trading Behavior
Joint with Venkat Lakshminarayanan & Laurie Santos, Journal of Political Economy, June 2006
In the News
Politics really is ruining Thanksgiving, according to data from 10 million cellphones β Washington Post 11/15/17
How Donald Trump Ruined Thanksgiving β Politico 11/23/17
If you think politics makes Thanksgiving dinner unbearable, you're correct β CNN 11/23/17
How Your Language Affects Your Wealth and Health β Scientific American 3/19/13
Can Your Language Influence Your Spending, Eating, and Smoking Habits? β The Atlantic 9/10/13
Marshmallows and RΓΆsti(graben) β Science Magazine 1/4/13
Is Medical School a Worthwhile Investment for Women? β The Atlantic 7/23/12
Economists Show Primary Care Especially Unrewarding for Women Doctors β Forbes 7/16/12
And Behind Door No. 1, a Fatal Flaw β New York Times 4/8/08
Prison conditions: Gently does it β The Economist 7/26/07
Monkey Business β New York Times Magazine 6/5/05