Title: Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Behavioral-Economic Theory
School: Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Position Description: Professor Matthew Rabin at Harvard University seeks full-time, pre-doctoral research fellows. The position is ideal for candidates interested in pursuing PhD studies in Economics, particularly those with an interest in psychologically-grounded economic theory.
Fellows will aid Professor Rabin and others in drawing out the theoretical implications of recent models that attempt to improve the psychological realism of economic models. Such models attempt to rigorously capture improvements to the psychological realism of our models of individual behavior, to include, e.g., errors in statistical reasoning, errors in interpreting others' behavior, self-control problems, and the effects of expectations, self-image, and other beliefs on our utility. (The agenda motivating this research is outlined in Rabin 2013, AER and JEL .) The goal is to develop and evaluate models that can broadly improve economics, rather than over-stating the successes or failures of theories by cherry picking examples, or ignoring the cases where classical economics gets things right. The research assistance needed will reflect this goal: participants will be asked to work out the implications of new models, realistic and unrealistic, interesting and boring, to better understand the capacity of these models to help explain economic behavior.
Key Responsibilities:
• Analyses drawing out the implications of newer psychological models in concert with Professor Rabin and other research assistants, students, and collaborators. • Conduct literature reviews on theory and evidence broadly related to Behavioral Economics. • Analyze and evaluate empirical and experimental evidence on different behavioral theories. • Develop tools to streamline the application of these models. • Contribute to the development of publicly available pedagogical materials for teaching, and to help others incorporate the models and evidence into their own research. • Assist with specific research papers on psychologically grounded economic theory. • Depending on needs and interest, possibly help with experimental and survey research.
Professional Development: The research fellow will have ample opportunities to immerse themselves in the Harvard academic community, and to work with other pre-doctoral RA's, students, and faculty also working with Professor Rabin. The position is unlikely to be as effective in improving skills in empirical work and data analysis as most pre-doc positions in Economics. But it should help hone skills in the type of economic models that comprise much of the material in PhD programs and (more importantly) future research in economic theory and theory-guided empirical analysis.
Hours and Compensation: This is a full-time position, with compensation and health benefits based on experience and Harvard guidelines. The fellow is expected to work on-site in Cambridge, MA. Visa sponsorship is available
Basic Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree by start date. • Strong background in microeconomic theory, mathematics, probability, and statistics. • Familiarity with LATEX /Overleaf, and programming languages such as R, Python, or Stata. • Background in experimental design, behavioral economics, or psychology are all pluses. • An interest in pursuing a PhD in Economics or related fields is a must. The position is relatively new, but of the four "graduates" so far, one each has enrolled in PhD programs at Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Stanford.
Special Instructions: Interested candidates should submit the following materials to rabin.predoc@gmail.com: 1. Resume/CV 2. Cover letter detailing research interests and career goals, relevant experience as a research assistant and with independent research, and relevant coursework 3. Start-date preferences and whether you require visa sponsorship 4. Unofficial transcript 5. Names and email addresses for two academic references.
When submitting your application, please follow these conventions: • All materials should be combined in a single PDF file. • The PDF should follow the naming convention LastName_FirstName_PredocApp2025.pdf (for example, Bayes_Thomas_PredocApp2025.pdf). • The email should have the subject line "Pre-Doctoral Fellow Application 2025 - {First Name} {Last Name}" (for example, "Pre-Doctoral Fellow Application 2025 - Thomas Bayes").
Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.
Contact Information: Shree M
Contact Email:
econacademicappointments@fas.harvard.edu
Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.
Supplemental Questions: Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
