Nicholas Bloom

Research Statement

Nick Bloom's research interests focus on measuring and explaining management practices across firms and countries. He has been collecting data from thousands of manufacturing firms, retailers, schools and hospitals across countries, to develop a quantitative basis for management research. Recently he has also been running management field experiments in India to identify clearly causal links between management and performance. A second area of research is on the causes and consequences of uncertainty, arising from events such as the credit crunch, the 9/11 terrorist attack and the Cuban Missile crisis. He also works on innovation and IT, examining factors that effect this such as tax, trade and regulation.

Bio

Nick Bloom is a Professor in the department of economics and Professor, by courtesy, at the Graduate School of Business. He is also the Co-Director of the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and a fellow of the Centre for Economic Performance, and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Nick was an undergraduate in Cambridge, a masters student at Oxford, and a PhD student at University College London. While completing his PhD he worked part-time at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a London based tax think-tank. After completing his PhD Nick worked as a business tax policy advisor to the UK Treasury, and then joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. In 2003 he moved to the London School of Economics to focus on research, before joining Stanford University in 2005.

Professor Bloom’s research focuses on measuring and explaining management practices. He has been working with McKinsey & Company as part of a long-run effort to collect management data from over 10,000 firms across industries and countries. The aim is to build an empirical basis for understanding what factors drive differences in management practices across regions, industries and countries, and how this determines firm and national performance. More recently he has also been working with Accenture on running management experiments. He also works on understanding the impacts of large uncertainty shocks–such as the credit crunch, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Cuban Missile crisis–on the US economy, for which he won the Frisch Medal in 2010.

Nick lives on Stanford campus with his wife and three children. As a born and bred Londoner, married to a Scottish wife, with kids attending US schools, he lives in a multi-lingual English household.

Academic Degrees

• PhD, University College London, 2001
• Masters of Philosophy, Oxford University, St. Peters College, 1996
• BA, Cambridge University, Fitzwilliam College, 1994

Academic Appointments

• At Stanford since 2005.

Teaching

Degree Courses

2018-19

MGTECON 591: Global Management Research

This course will overview a rapidly growing body of research into management practices. A large management practice project involving Accenture, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, the London School of Economics, McKinsey, Stanford and the World Bank has...

Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs

• Supply Chain Management: Strategies and Innovations Develop strategic supply chain frameworks and discover how to leverage innovation to compete and succeed in a rapidly evolving global economy.

In the Media

When gridlock and political uncertainty rise, US economy takes a hit

Christian Science Monitor, June 21, 2016

Tallying the Economic Toll of Political Upheaval

The Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2016

Different this time? Trump candidacy could weigh on Fed thinking

Reuters, May 12, 2016

Corporate Inequality Is the Defining Fact of Business Today

HBR, May 11, 2016

Research Confirm It: Good Managers Make a Difference

Government Executive, May 4, 2016

The Death of the 9-to-5: Will We All Work Flex Schedules Soon?

Working Mother , March 24, 2015

Insights by Stanford Business

writtenWhy “Uncertainty Shocks” Are Part of the Trump-Era Economy

September 6, 2018

A Stanford economist says that populist politicians have become a major source of economic uncertainty.

written10 Most-Read Stories of 2017

December 4, 2017

Readers keyed into humor’s workplace value, the secret to improving communication skills, and advice from Sheryl Sandberg and Marc Andreessen.

writtenBig Ideas Are Getting Harder to Find

September 25, 2017

Stanford economists show productivity has not matched increases in research and development.

writtenWhy Working From Home Is a “Future-looking Technology”

June 22, 2017

A Stanford GSB expert shows how companies and employees benefit from workplace flexibility.

writtenStephan Seiler: Can Hospital Competition Save Lives?

June 9, 2015

Why market forces in healthcare are good for patient care.

writtenRisk: The Recommended List

December 15, 2014

Learn more about risk and other related topics.

writtenNicholas Bloom: What Leads to Economic Uncertainty?

October 10, 2014

An economist explains how political polarization and government growth have increased uncertainty.

writtenNicholas Bloom: Decentralized Firms are More Recession-Proof

October 6, 2014

Research shows that flexibility wins in bad economic times.

writtenNicholas Bloom: Innovation Requires Delegating Authority

August 18, 2014

An economics scholar examines ways firms create flexible structures and why some do not.

writtenResearchers: Flexibility May Be the Key to Increased Productivity

October 9, 2012

A study reveals that working from home boosts employee happiness and productivity.

writtenCan Research and Teaching Help Alleviate Poverty?

May 9, 2012

A group of scholars, students, and business and nonprofit leaders say yes, but it requires "a thoughtful, systemic approach."

writtenResearch: Economics Lessons From Indian Textile Firms

December 1, 2010

New studies show that firms implementing systematic management practices improved their productivity by 10 percent reduced defects by 60 percent.