Working Paper: NBER ID: w25064
Authors: Susan Athey; Michael Luca
Abstract: As technology platforms have created new markets and new ways of acquiring information, economists have come to play an increasingly central role in tech companies – tackling problems such as platform design, strategy, pricing, and policy. Over the past five years, hundreds of PhD economists have accepted positions in the technology sector. In this paper, we explore the skills that PhD economists apply in tech companies, the companies that hire them, the types of problems that economists are currently working on, and the areas of academic research that have emerged in relation to these problems.
Keywords: economists; tech companies; platform design; pricing; policy
JEL Codes: A11; D4; L0; M2
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Hiring of PhD economists (A11) | Demand for economists (A11) |
| Growth of tech companies (O49) | Demand for economists (A11) |
| Economists' involvement (A11) | Financial performance (G32) |
| Economists' expertise in causal inference (A11) | Improved business outcomes (L25) |
| Changes in advertising strategies (M38) | Revenue (H29) |
| Interaction between academia and tech sector (O36) | Innovation in economic research (O39) |