Economics

“State and local governments can serve as laboratories of innovation and test out new approaches to tackling challenging social problems,” says Mary Ann Bates, deputy director of J-PAL North America.

State and local governments invited to apply for funding, support on pressing policy challenges

Selected governments will partner with MIT's J-PAL North America to test which programs work, which work best, and why.

November 15, 2016

Top row: Sana Aiyar, Catherine Clark, Sasha Costanza-Chock. Middle row, Amy Finkelstein, Deborah Fitzgerald, Daniel Hidalgo. Bottom row: Justin Khoo, Bradford Skow, Craig Wilder

Nine SHASS faculty members awarded named professorships

Honored positions afford faculty additional support for research.

November 10, 2016

A new study by researchers at MIT and elsewhere has found that, rather than adopting a standard for automotive gas-mileage ratings, the EU could achieve the same results at far lower cost to the economy by simply extending their existing emissions-trading system to encompass transportation rather than just electricity generation and energy intensive industry.

What’s the best way for Europe to curb greenhouse emissions from cars?

Emissions trading would be more effective than mileage standards, new study shows.

November 8, 2016

(Left to right): Heidi Williams, the Class of 1957 Career Development Associate Professor in MIT’s Department of Economics; and Amy Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT. By scrutinizing millions of Medicare patients who have moved from one place to another, the researchers have found that patients and providers account for virtually equal shares of the diff...

Decoding the medical cost mystery

Providers and patients drive health care spending in roughly equal amounts, study shows.

November 3, 2016

Real estate innovation by the numbers

Real Estate Innovation Lab to promote the future of urban development by showing investors how it can work.

November 3, 2016

First Row: (left to right) Alberto Abadie, Isaiah Andrews, Dwaipayan Banerjee, Claire Conceison. Second Row: (left to right) Drew Fudenberg, Paul Roquet, Tamar Schapiro, Ariel White.

New faculty in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

SHASS welcomes eight new faculty members for 2016.

November 2, 2016

“Contrary to the conjecture that Medicaid would get people to [move] out of the emergency room and to the primary care physician, we’re seeing a persistent increase in emergency room use,” says Amy Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT.

Study: With Medicaid, ER visits remain high for two years

Acquiring health insurance does not lead to drop in emergency room usage.

October 19, 2016

“MIT is wonderful because in addition to [finding] an amazing home in economics, I can talk with and learn from a lot of people on the science side,” says Heidi Williams, the Class of 1957 Career Development Associate Professor in MIT’s Department of Economics.
MIT professor Heidi Williams

Making a splash in health care economics

Heidi Williams builds all-new data sets to answer questions about innovation and biomedical research.

October 18, 2016

MIT's newest Nobel laureate, Bengt Holmström

Economist Bengt Holmström’s Nobel Prize win delights MIT colleagues

Faculty members in SHASS and Sloan cite his transformative work on contract theory.

October 14, 2016

President Barack Obama speaks with the Office of Science and Technology Policy Social and Behavioral Sciences team in the Oval Office.

White House releases report on applying behavioral science to government policy

October 13, 2016

MIT Professor Bengt Holmström speaks with reporters after a press conference describing his newly-minted status as a Nobel laureate.

Scene at MIT: New Nobel laureate

October 12, 2016

Rendering of United States filled up as thousands of people

Analyzing the 2016 election: Insights from 12 MIT scholars

Experts from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences weigh in on topics from polling to rhetoric to individual campaign issues.

October 12, 2016

MIT economist Bengt Holmström wins Nobel Prize

Holmström shares award with Oliver Hart for work on contract theory.

October 10, 2016

A new study of rural India shows that modest levels of medical training can improve the quality of health care furnished by informal health care providers. The study was co-authored by Abhijit Banerjee, the Ford International Professor of Economics at MIT and a co-author of the study, pictured here on the right during a visit to India.

Provider, improve thyself

Study shows unlicensed health care practitioners in India improve with modest training.

October 6, 2016

While climate change may boost crop yields in some “breadbasket” regions, extreme heat and drought linked to a changing climate are likely to increase the frequency of major crop failures. Water stress is expected to increase in most regions due to pressures from population and economic growth as well as from climate change.

Even if the Paris Agreement is implemented, food and water supplies remain at risk

Report projects impacts of 2015 Paris climate agreement, identifies emissions paths/technology advances needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

October 4, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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