George Loewenstein

I am a co-director of the Center for Behavioral Decision Research at CMU, and the Director of Behavioral Economics at the Center for Health Incentives at the Leonard Davis Institute of the University of Pennsylvania. I received my PhD from Yale University in 1985 and since then have held academic positions at The University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University, and fellowships at Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, The Russell Sage Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg) in Berlin and the London School of Economics. I am past president of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. My research focuses on applications of psychology to economics, and specific interests include decision making over time, bargaining and negotiations, psychology and health, law and economics, the psychology of adaptation, the role of emotion in decision making, the psychology of curiosity, conflict of interest, various aspects of sex, unethical behavior, and issues involving research ethics. Links that will enable you to download my papers dealing with all of these topics are in my CV, which is organized by topic area.

I helped to found the field of behavioral economics, the field of neuroeconomics, and was one of the early proponents of a new approach to public policy called, variously, ‘asymmetric’ or ‘libertarian’ paternalism. I have published over 200 journal articles in journals in economics, psychology, law, medicine and other fields, numerous book chapters, have written or edited 6 books on topics ranging from intertemporal choice to behavioral economics and emotions, and have served on the editorial boards of numerous journals in different fields. I have served on multiple National Academy of Science and Institute of Medicine Panels, and have advised numerous corporations and governmental organizations, including the NIH, USDA, U.K. Behavioural Insights Team, CVS Caremark, Ascension Health, McKinsey, NPD, Aramark and many others. I have served on and chaired numerous doctoral committees and taught intensive courses in behavioral economics at universities around the world. I have received numerous grants and awards, from government agencies such as the NIH, NSF, USDA, and from foundations, such as the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and many others.