Daniel J. Benjamin

Assistant Professor, Cornell University, 2007-present
Research Fellow, Institute for Social Research, 2006-present


CV

Cornell University
Economics Department
Uris Hall 484
Phone: (607) 255-2355
Email: db468@cornell.edu
Ph.D., Economics, Harvard University

M.Sc., Mathematical Economics, London School of Economics

A.M., Statistics, Harvard University

A.B., Economics, Harvard University
.
Dr. Benjamin does research in "psychological economics," incorporating ideas and methods from psychology into economic analysis. Current work includes an empirical analysis of the importance of politicians' "charisma" (as measured by laboratory subjects) in determining election outcomes, and a theoretical analysis of how individuals' concern for fairness affects the efficiency of economic exchange. Ongoing work addresses how economic preferences are influenced by psychological/biological factors such as cognitive ability, social identity (ethnicity, race, and gender), and specific genes.j

Publications


Benjamin, Daniel J., Christopher F. Chabris, Edward L. Glaeser, Vilmundur Gudnason, Tamara B. Harris, David I. Laibson, Lenore Launer, and Shaun Purcell (2007). “Genoeconomics,” forthcoming as a report of the National Research Council of the National Academies.

Benjamin, Daniel J. (2003). “Do 401(k)s Increase Saving? Evidence From Propensity Score Subclassification,” Journal of Public Economics 87(5-6), 1259-90.

Rind, B., and Benjamin, D. (1994). “Effects of Public Image Concerns and Self-Image on Compliance,” Journal of Social Psychology 134(1), 19-25.

Conference Papers

Benjamin, Daniel J., and Laibson, David I. (2003). “Good Policies for Bad Governments: Behavioral Political Economy.” Presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Conference on How Humans Behave: Implications for Economics and Economic Policy, Cape Cod, 10 June 2003.

Chabris, C., Benjamin, D., and Simons, D. (1998). “How well do chess masters remember famous chess positions? Implications for theories of spatial expertise.” Presented at the Workshop on Object Perception and Memory, Dallas, 19 November 1998.

Research Papers in Progress


Benjamin, Daniel J. (2008). "Social Preferences and the Efficiency of Bilateral Exchange." Cornell University and Institute for Social Research mimeo, September.

Benjamin, Daniel J., and Jesse M. Shapiro (2008). “Thin-slice forecasts of gubernatorial elections.”, November. Forthcoming, Review of Economics and Statistics.

Benjamin, Daniel J., James J. Choi, and A. Joshua Strickland (2008). “Social identity and preferences.”, April. Revise and resubmit, American Economic Review.

Benjamin, Daniel J., Sebastian A. Brown, and Jesse M. Shapiro (2006). “Who is ‘Behavioral’? Cognitive ability and anomalous preferences.” Harvard University mimeo, May.