Economists Do It With Models

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

I wrote another article! This one is about why organizational change is hard and how it can be made less bad for workers...and it's totally 100 percent not based off of personal experience I swear :)

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

I few weeks ago I was approached to write an article about "game theory and organizations"...I wasn't quite sure what to talk about at first, but then I realized that managers play "games" with their employees every time them implement any type of inventive system (or promotion system, for that matter!). So let's think about the different factors we should think about when structuring incentives in the workplace, both to maximize profitability but also to do right by workers...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

YOU GUYS CHECK OUT THE HOVERTEXT ON THE SITE...

Also, more commentary here.

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

So I saw the following tweet yesterday and thought it would be helpful to talk a little about textbooks…

An explainer, just in time for students who are pissed off about textbook prices...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Ok, I’m a little late with this, but, um, he might kind of have a point…

I'm definitely not screaming "YES YOU HAVE A POINT THAT'S WHY HILLARY BROUGHT IT UP YEARS AGO" into a pillow...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

The way 2018 is going, it should not shock you too much that we’ve gotten to the “a little insider trading never hurt anyone” phase of the…

It's official, we're in a place where I have to actively counter "actually insider trading is just a victimless crime" takes...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

My Interest In The New Goldman Sachs CEO Goes Pretty Much Exactly As You Would Expect…

In learning about the music industry, I often think about how what behavioral experiments I would want to run if I had the proper resources/infrastructure/etc. Along these lines, one thing I’…

you see a funny human-interest story, I see a scenario that is potentially helpful for research purposes...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

I think people might be starting to catch on to the perils of academic publishing...

So does this count as regulatory capture or a form of publication bias?

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

What The Brady Bunch Can Tell Us About Housing Market Dynamics

So I have a new dream purchase, since I learned this week that the Brady Bunch house is up for sale. I’m still kinda pissed that I missed…

These comparisons ended up being way more interesting than I had anticipated...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Causal Friday: The Dumbest Differences-in-Differences Ever, Viral Video Edition…

It’s causal Friday, so I’m poking around in some data trying to make a case for cause and effect. More specifically, I’m drowning in a differences-in-differences analysis trying t…

I have to admit, I kind of feel like my super nuanced efforts to tease out non-obvious cause and effect were a little wasted...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Experimental Pitfalls Are Generally Dumber Than We Imagine, Now With More Dogs

Ok, story time, so go grab your blankie and a beverage… A number of years ago, I taught an econ tutorial entitled “Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll”…it was a neat class- as t…

hopefully the story is interesting in itself, but honestly it's mainly an excuse for the dog video at the end.

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

How Monopsonies Work, Now With More Numbers…

You guys, I love monopsonies…for starters, it’s a fun word to say, and it makes people do a double take when they initially think you said “monopoly.” Definitionally, a mono…

Apparently a graph is worth...*checks post stats* 1176 words, but I'm guessing this makes more sense to most normal people.

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Economist Beverages Just Got A Major Upgrade…

Every Friday at about 5pm or so, Justin Wolfers declares it beer o’clock on Twitter: By the power vested in me by Scott Pruitt, I suggest you enjoy an EPA by ordering from a secret email addr…

Happy Friday! You will probably not find it surprising that I am into basically anything that combines economics, bad puns, and booze.

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

July 4th May Be Over, But The Fireworks Discussions Continue…

Okay I know we just talked about fireworks, at least indirectly, but I think we need to have another conversation since i’m not convinced that we’re doing them right: PRIVATE FIREWORKS …

you: yay a day off let's do some fireworks

me, economist: OMG YOU'RE DOING FIREWORKS TOTALLY INEFFICIENTLY LET ME EXPLAIN

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court released a number of decisions, including one that can basically be summarized as follows:

I guess it's not teribly often that behavioral economics can be comforting rather than infuriating, so here you go...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

I Told You My TV Watching Habits Extend Past Law And Order…

Ok, something you should know about my family…they *love* Jeopardy! No seriously, my parents have basically watched it every day for…well, ever. And they’re pretty good at it- I t…

I'm just waiting for a time where there's an economics category when I'm visiting my parents because IT IS ON...

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

Ok, we need to talk about the trade balance…not so much whether trade deficits are bad, since I fear that we’re not even ready for that…

Hey look, a 5-minute solution to sounding like a complete moron, you should check it out. (not callig you a moron, I'm sure you're lovely, I...just read it ok)