Publications:
1. "Optimal Contest Design: Tuning the Heat," with Igor Letina and Nick Netzer, Journal of Economic Theory, forthcoming.
2. "When Does Centralization Undermine Adaptation?," with Dimitri Migrow, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 205, 105533, 2022.
3. "Preferences, Confusion and Competition," with Andreas Hefti and Armin Schmutzler, Economic Journal, vol. 132, pp. 1852-81, 2022.
4. "Monotone Equilibria in Signalling Games," with Harry Pei, European Economic Review, vol. 124, 103408, 2020.
5. "Delegating Performance Evaluation," with Igor Letina and Nick Netzer, Theoretical Economics, vol. 15, pp. 477-509, 2020.
6. "Targeted Information and Limited Attention," with Andreas Hefti, RAND Journal of Economics, vol. 51, pp. 402-420, 2020.
7. "On Linear Transformations of Intersections," with Alexey Kushnir, Set-Valued and Variational Analysis, vol. 28, pp. 475-489, 2020.
8. "Voting with Public Information," Games and Economic Behavior, vol 113, pp. 694-719, 2019.
9. "On the Equivalence of Bayesian and Dominant Strategy Implementation for Environments with Non-Linear Utilities,"
with Alexey Kushnir, Economic Theory, vol. 67, pp. 617-644, 2019.
Working Papers:
1. "Happy Times: Measuring Happiness Using Response Times," with Nick Netzer, July 2023.
- Conditionally accepted by the American Economic Review.
Abstract: Surveys that measure subjective states like happiness or preferences often generate discrete ordinal data. Ordered response models, which are commonly used to analyze such data, suffer from an identification problem. Their conclusions depend strongly on assumptions about the distribution of a latent variable. In this paper, we propose using survey response times to solve that problem. Response times contain information about the distribution of the latent variable even among subjects who give the same survey response, through a chronometric effect. Using an online survey, we test and verify the existence of the chronometric effect. We then provide theoretical conditions that allow us to test conventional distributional assumptions. While these assumptions are rejected in some cases, overall our evidence seems to be consistent with the qualitative validity of the coefficients estimated using the conventional model.
2. "Talent Poaching and Job Rotation," with Diego Battiston and Miguel Espinosa, August 2023.
- Revise & Resubmit at the Management Science.
Abstract: The value of a firm's service lies both in its workers and its relationship with clients. In this paper, we study the interaction between client-specific experience accumulated by workers, poaching behaviour from clients and strategic rotation of workers by firms. Using detailed personnel data from a security-service firm, we show that an increase in client-specific experience increases both the productivity of workers and their probability of being poached. The firm reacts to this risk by rotating workers across multiple clients, and more frequently so to those workers more likely to be poached. We show that after a policy change that prohibited talent poaching, the firm sharply decreased the frequency of rotation which in turn increased workers' productivity. We propose a theoretical model that guides the empirical patterns and allows us to argue their external validity beyond our specific empirical setting.
3. "Startup Acquisitions: Acquihires and Talent Hoarding," with Jean-Michel Benkert and Igor Letina, August 2023.
Abstract: We present a model of startup acquisitions, which may give rise to inefficient "talent hoarding." We develop a model with two competing firms that can acquihire and integrate (or "acquihire") a startup operating in an orthogonal market. Such an acquihire improves the competitiveness of the acquiring firm. We show that even absent the classical competition effects, acquihires need not be benign but can be the result of oligopolistic behavior, leading to an inefficient allocation of talent. Further, we show that such talent hoarding may reduce consumer surplus and lead to more job volatility for acquihired employees.
中文期刊发表 (Publication in Chinese):
1. "有限理性下的集体合作：理论与应用," 与胡涛合作, 《经济学》（季刊），录用待刊。
1. "Optimal Contest Design: Tuning the Heat," with Igor Letina and Nick Netzer, Journal of Economic Theory, forthcoming.
2. "When Does Centralization Undermine Adaptation?," with Dimitri Migrow, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 205, 105533, 2022.
3. "Preferences, Confusion and Competition," with Andreas Hefti and Armin Schmutzler, Economic Journal, vol. 132, pp. 1852-81, 2022.
4. "Monotone Equilibria in Signalling Games," with Harry Pei, European Economic Review, vol. 124, 103408, 2020.
5. "Delegating Performance Evaluation," with Igor Letina and Nick Netzer, Theoretical Economics, vol. 15, pp. 477-509, 2020.
6. "Targeted Information and Limited Attention," with Andreas Hefti, RAND Journal of Economics, vol. 51, pp. 402-420, 2020.
7. "On Linear Transformations of Intersections," with Alexey Kushnir, Set-Valued and Variational Analysis, vol. 28, pp. 475-489, 2020.
8. "Voting with Public Information," Games and Economic Behavior, vol 113, pp. 694-719, 2019.
9. "On the Equivalence of Bayesian and Dominant Strategy Implementation for Environments with Non-Linear Utilities,"
with Alexey Kushnir, Economic Theory, vol. 67, pp. 617-644, 2019.
Working Papers:
1. "Happy Times: Measuring Happiness Using Response Times," with Nick Netzer, July 2023.
- Conditionally accepted by the American Economic Review.
Abstract: Surveys that measure subjective states like happiness or preferences often generate discrete ordinal data. Ordered response models, which are commonly used to analyze such data, suffer from an identification problem. Their conclusions depend strongly on assumptions about the distribution of a latent variable. In this paper, we propose using survey response times to solve that problem. Response times contain information about the distribution of the latent variable even among subjects who give the same survey response, through a chronometric effect. Using an online survey, we test and verify the existence of the chronometric effect. We then provide theoretical conditions that allow us to test conventional distributional assumptions. While these assumptions are rejected in some cases, overall our evidence seems to be consistent with the qualitative validity of the coefficients estimated using the conventional model.
2. "Talent Poaching and Job Rotation," with Diego Battiston and Miguel Espinosa, August 2023.
- Revise & Resubmit at the Management Science.
Abstract: The value of a firm's service lies both in its workers and its relationship with clients. In this paper, we study the interaction between client-specific experience accumulated by workers, poaching behaviour from clients and strategic rotation of workers by firms. Using detailed personnel data from a security-service firm, we show that an increase in client-specific experience increases both the productivity of workers and their probability of being poached. The firm reacts to this risk by rotating workers across multiple clients, and more frequently so to those workers more likely to be poached. We show that after a policy change that prohibited talent poaching, the firm sharply decreased the frequency of rotation which in turn increased workers' productivity. We propose a theoretical model that guides the empirical patterns and allows us to argue their external validity beyond our specific empirical setting.
3. "Startup Acquisitions: Acquihires and Talent Hoarding," with Jean-Michel Benkert and Igor Letina, August 2023.
Abstract: We present a model of startup acquisitions, which may give rise to inefficient "talent hoarding." We develop a model with two competing firms that can acquihire and integrate (or "acquihire") a startup operating in an orthogonal market. Such an acquihire improves the competitiveness of the acquiring firm. We show that even absent the classical competition effects, acquihires need not be benign but can be the result of oligopolistic behavior, leading to an inefficient allocation of talent. Further, we show that such talent hoarding may reduce consumer surplus and lead to more job volatility for acquihired employees.
中文期刊发表 (Publication in Chinese):
1. "有限理性下的集体合作：理论与应用," 与胡涛合作, 《经济学》（季刊），录用待刊。
