Economist as Engineer: Profile of Stanford’s Susan Athey
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: BOB SIMISON
- Published: June 1, 2019
Profile summary
- Susan Athey is the economics of technology professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- At age 48 she has won numerous awards and is noted for pioneering “tech economics.”
- The profile was written by Bob Simison for F&D Magazine, June 2019.
Career and major contributions
- Early academic positions: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- Key domains of work:
- Market design and auction theory.
- Econometrics and solving complex statistical problems.
- Economics of the internet and online marketplaces.
- Applying machine learning to causal inference and social problems.
- Notable recognition:
- Won the John Bates Clark Medal in 2007, the first female recipient.
- Practical implementations:
- Designed the timber auction system now used by the government of British Columbia.
- Worked on mapping economic objectives into operational measurements for search advertising businesses.
Research themes and findings
- Market design as a cross-cutting theme: “We want to think of the economist as engineer.”
- Auctions and advertising:
- Research showed auction design affects advertisement quality and consumer attention.
- Joint work with Glenn Ellison introduced the consumer into auction models for search advertising.
- Machine learning and causal inference:
- Identified a gap in tools for finding cause-and-effect links using machine learning/AI and set out to develop them.
- Impact on policy:
- Some early findings supported the Federal Reserve’s adoption of inflation targeting for monetary policy.
Engagement with industry and technology
- Microsoft relationship:
- Recruited by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in 2007 as a consultant; consulting lasted until 2014.
- Contributions informed search-advertising auction design and measurement practices.
- Broader influence:
- Credited with helping to pioneer a world where economists use statistical/machine-learning tools alongside computer science.
Teaching, mentorship, and influence
- Advised 45 PhD holders; “more than a third” of them have been women.
- Colleagues describe her as combining cutting-edge research with engagement beyond academia.
- Predicted long-term multiplier effect through her students’ careers.
Women in economics and advocacy
- Role model and mentor for women in a male-dominated profession.
- Personal experience:
- Faced stereotypes and the need to “look serious” early in her career.
- Balancing family and career: advised students on practical productivity and parenting matters.
- Confronting profession’s issues:
- Participated in an American Economics Association panel addressing sexual harassment and discrimination.
- Cited AEA survey: more than 9,000 economists surveyed; 70 percent of female respondents said their work was taken less seriously than that of men.
- AEA announced measures to fight discrimination and harassment.
Initiative for Shared Prosperity and Innovation (ISPI)
- Athey is faculty director of Stanford business school’s Initiative for Shared Prosperity and Innovation (ISPI), a year-old project.
- Goals and activities:
- Use technology to address social problems, including poverty and inequality.
- Apply machine learning in educational-technology companies and improve impact measurement.
- Explore ways to encourage innovation: income sharing for training and prizes for innovation.
- Emphasize delivering services digitally or through digital platforms and combining market shaping, incentive design, and machine learning for social impact.
- Motivation:
- Technology companies iterate using data from many experiments; ISPI aims to bring rigorous measurement to social-impact projects to demonstrate effectiveness and support funding models like pay-for-outcomes.
Personal anecdotes and character
- Known as a hard worker who has helped colleagues at demanding moments (example: working the day after Christmas 2004).
- Demonstrated methodical, Auctions 101 approach in a four-way house bidding war.
- Personal story: rescued a pet chicken, Viola, from a coyote; cared for it at home during a month-long convalescence.
- Background:
- Daughter of a physicist and an English teacher.
- Enrolled at Duke University at age 16; later earned a Stanford PhD at age 24 in 1995.
- Married to Guido Imbens since 2002.
International Monetary Fund. Publication: F&D Magazine, “Economist as Engineer: Profile of Stanford’s Susan Athey,” Bob Simison, June 2019.
Content in this bundle
- خبيرة الاقتصاد بوصفها مهندسة
- Ingeniera de la economía: Semblanza de Susan Athey, economista de Standford – F&D del FMI
- L’économiste se fait ingénieure : portrait de Susan Athey, de l’université Stanford – F&D FMI
- Economist as Engineer - June 2019 | FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT | International Monetary Fund
- Люди в экономике. Инженер-экономист – Финансы и развитие – июнь 2019 года
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