Assistant Professor of Business and Public Policy
Research Areas
Behavioral economics; development; finance; consumer credit
Current Projects
Causes and consequences of payday borrowing; overoptimism and choice over time; high-frequency consumer finance; introducing and evaluating approaches for mitigating agricultural risk in India.
Representative Publications
(with David Laibson and Andrea Repetto)
“Estimating Discount Functions with Consumption Choices over the Lifecycle.” conditionally accepted, American Economic Review.
(with David Laibson and Andrea Repetto)
“A Debt Puzzle.” In Knowledge, Information and Expectations in Modern Macroeconomics: In Honor of Edmund S. Phelps Philippe Aghion, Roman Frydman, Joseph Stiglitz, and Michael Woodford, eds, Princeton University Press, 2003.
(with George-Marios Angeletos, David Laibson, Andrea Repetto, and Stephen Weinberg)
“The Hyperbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 15:3, pp. 47-68 (Summer 2001).
(with David Laibson and Andrea Repetto)
“Self-Control and Saving for Retirement.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. 1, pp. 91-196 (1988).
Education
PhD, Harvard University, 2007; AB, Harvard University, 1999
Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
USAID BASIS Assets and Market Access Collaborative Research Support Program: “Weather Insurance, Price Information, and Hedging: Financial Initiatives in Gujarat to Help the Poor Manage Agricultural Risk” (with Shawn Cole, Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, Stefan Hunt, and Petia Topalova), 2007; National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2000-2003;
Michael C. Rockefeller Fellowship, 1999-2000;
TIAA-CREF Paul Samuelson Award Certificate of Excellence, 1998
Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 2008-present. Previous appointment: University of Oxford
