Research Expertise and Interest

behavior economics, economic analysis, Online Markets, economics, strategy

Research Description

Ned Augenblick is a professor in the Economic Analysis and Policy Group at Berkeley Haas. His focus is behavioral economics, which is the incorporation of psychological insights into economics. Broadly, economics is built on a very useful framework of rational decision-making to make predictions about human behavior. However, in reality, people systematically deviate from this rationality benchmark. By understanding and integrating these deviations into economic models, it is possible to create more accurate predictions and policy recommendations about the world. Augenblick has explored these deviations from rational thinking using theoretical models, experimental data, and empirical environments in settings ranging from online markets to the voting booth to the stock market. This research has published in top journals in economics as well as being discussed in outlets such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Atlantic. For the last eight years, Augenblick has taught the core strategy class to full-time Berkeley MBA students. The class combines the framework of game theory with behavioral economics to understand how executives can make thoughtful decisions that drive sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Prior to teaching strategy, Augenblick taught game theory and statistics. Augenblick studied economics and psychology at Georgetown and mathematics at the University College Dublin, and received his PhD in Economics from Stanford.