Susan Athey

Research Statement

Susan Athey’s research is in the areas of industrial organization, microeconomic theory, and applied econometrics. Her current research focuses on the design of auction-based marketplaces and the economics of the internet, primarily on online advertising and the economics of the news media. She has also studied dynamic mechanisms and games with incomplete information, comparative statics under uncertainty, and econometric methods for analyzing auction models.

Research Interests

• Economics of the internet
• Economics of the news media
• Platform markets
• Online advertising
• Internet search
• Econometrics and machine learning
• Big data
• Math-based currency
• Industrial organization

Teaching Statement

Professor Athey teaches classes about the economics of the internet and digital markets, platform markets, and internet search.

Bio

Susan Athey is the Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business.  She received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her PhD from Stanford, and she holds an honorary doctorate from Duke University. She previously taught at the economics departments at MIT, Stanford and Harvard. Her current research focuses on the economics of digitization, marketplace design, and the intersection of econometrics and machine learning.  She has worked on several application areas, including timber auctions, internet search, online advertising, the news media, and virtual currency. As one of the first “tech economists,” she served as consulting chief economist for Microsoft Corporation for six years, and now serves on the boards of Expedia, Rover, and Ripple.  She also serves as a long-term advisor to the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, helping architect and implement their auction-based pricing system.

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1995
• BA, Economics, Computer Science, and Mathematics, Duke University, 1991

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Stanford University Graduate School of Business , 2013-present
• Professor of Economics, Harvard, 2006-2012
• Holbrook Working Professor of Economics, Stanford, 2004-2006
• Associate Professor of Economics, Stanford, 2001-2003
• Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics, MIT, 1998-2001
• Assistant Professor of Economics, MIT, 1995-1997

Awards and Honors

• Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize, 2016
• Codirector, Digital Business: Data, Decisions & Platform Strategy Initiative, Stanford GSB, 2015
• Spence Faculty Fellow, Stanford GSB, 2013-2014
• Fellow, Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory, 2013
• Member, National Academy of Science, elected 2012
• Honorary degree, Duke University, 2009
• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected 2008
• John Bates Clark Medal, 2007
• Fellow, Econometric Society, elected 2004
• Guggenheim Faculty Scholar, Stanford University, 2004-2006
• Elaine Bennett Research Award, 2001
• Sloan Foundation Research Fellow, 2000
• Undergraduate Economics Association Teaching Award, 1995-1996
• Review of Economic Studies Tour, 1995
• Stanford University Lieberman Fellow, 1994-1995
• State Farm Dissertation Award in Business, 1994
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1991-1994
• Jaedicke Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1992-1993
• Mary Love Collins Scholarship, Chi Omega Foundation, 1991-1992
• Duke University Alice Baldwin Memorial Scholarship, 1990-1991