About

Robert Miller is the Richard M. Cyert and Morris DeGroot Professor of Economics and Statistics at the Tepper School of Business. His academic role encompasses teaching and research in the fields of economics and strategy. As a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University, he contributes to the school's focus on integrating business, technology, and analytics, aligning with the institution's strategic vision to lead in these areas.

Research topics

• Finance
• Economics
• Business
• Computer Science
• Econometrics
• Microeconomics
• Industrial organization
• Marketing
• Public economics
• Accounting

Selected publications

• Abstract 302: Incidence of moyamoya angiopathy in the United States from 2011‐2020

  Stroke Vascular and Interventional Neurology · 2024-11-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Introduction Moyamoya angiopathy (MMA) is a rare cerebrovascular condition characterized by progressive steno‐occlusion of the terminal segments of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and its branches. Contemporary population‐based studies evaluating the incidence of MMA in the United States (US) are lacking. Materials/Methods We utilized the State Ambulatory Surgery, Emergency and Inpatient Databases of Florida (2005‐2020), Georgia (2010‐2020), Maryland (2012‐2020) and New York (2005‐2020) to conduct a retrospective study. We validated International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Tenth revision codes for MMA in a single academic center in the US and utilized primary and secondary ICD‐Ninth/Tenth revision discharge codes to identify all new cases of MMA in these four states from 2011‐2020. Results From 24,614 MMA hospitalizations over the study period, 4,192 incident cases were identified from 2011‐2020. 67.9% of these admissions were in women. The overall crude incidence of MMA was 0.76 (95%CI 0.74‐0.78) cases/100,000/year. Incidence was higher in Asian (aIRR 2.46, 95%CI 1.88‐3.23)) and Black individuals (aIRR 2.58, 95%CI 2.17‐3.07) compared with Non‐Hispanic White individuals. Incidence increased by 8% annually over time (aIRR 1.08, 95%CI 1.03‐1.02) with most of this increase occurring in individuals 45‐64 years and ≥65 years. Conclusion The incidence of MMA in the US over the period 2011‐2020 was 0.76/100,000/year but incidence of detected cases increased over time. Overall incidence in Black individuals is just as high as that of Asian individuals, and both are higher than that of Non‐Hispanic White individuals.

  PublisherDOI

• Was Sarbanes–Oxley Costly? Evidence from Optimal Contracting on CEO Compensation

  Journal of Accounting Research · 2022 · 29 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Business
  • Accounting
  • Finance

  ABSTRACT This paper investigates the effects of regulatory interventions on contracting relationships within firms by examining the impacts of the Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) Act on CEO compensation. Using panel data of the S&P 1500 firms, it quantifies welfare gains from a principal–agent model with hidden information and hidden actions. It finds that SOX: (1) reduced the conflict of interest between shareholders and their CEOs, mainly by reducing shareholder loss from CEOs deviating from their goal of expected value maximization; (2) increased the cost of agency, or the risk premium CEOs are paid to align their interests with those of shareholders; (3) increased administrative costs in the primary sector (which includes utilities and energy) but the effect in the other two broadly defined sectors, services and consumer goods, was more nuanced; and (4) had no effect on the attitude of CEOs toward risk.

  PublisherDOI

• 2021 KLEIN LECTURE: AMERICAN DREAM DELAYED: SHIFTING DETERMINANTS OF HOMEOWNERSHIP

  International Economic Review · 2021-12-03 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract We develop and estimate a dynamic model of female labor supply, fertility, and transition from renting to first homeownership with panel data, to investigate declining U.S. homeownership over the past decades. Higher house prices and increased female wage rates (that is the opportunity cost of leisure) cause households to postpone their first‐home purchase, because leisure and fertility are complementary to homeownership. Education and female workforce participation are reinforcing factors that raise the value of owning a home. Our estimates show the effects of rising house prices and wage rates more than offset the effects of greater education and workforce participation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2021-07-15

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  The package contains all the data and code necessary to reproduce the figures and tables in Kang and Miller (forthcoming). ``Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?" <em>The Review of Economic Studies</em>.

  PublisherDOI

• Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2021-06-27

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  The package contains all the data and code necessary to reproduce the figures and tables in Kang and Miller (forthcoming). ``Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?" <em>The Review of Economic Studies</em>.

  PublisherDOI

• The Curious Case of a HIV Patient

  2021-05-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?

  The Review of Economic Studies · 2021 · 87 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Microeconomics
  • Economics

  Abstract Government procurement contracts rarely have many bids, often only one. Motivated by the institutional features of federal procurement, this article develops a principal-agent model where a buyer seeks sellers at a cost and negotiates contract terms with them. The model is identified and estimated with data on IT and telecommunications contracts. We find the benefits of drawing additional sellers are significantly reduced because the procurement agency can extract informational rents from sellers. Another factor explaining the small number of bids is that sellers are relatively homogeneous, conditional on observed project attributes. Administrative hurdles and corruption appear to play very limited roles.

  PublisherDOI

• INNOVATION AND DIFFUSION OF MEDICAL TREATMENT

  International Economic Review · 2021-02-07 · 5 citations

  article

  Abstract We develop and estimate a dynamic structural model of demand in a setting where product characteristics endogenously evolve in response to aggregate consumer choices. The direction and speed of innovation are inefficient because individuals do not account for their influence on innovation, creating an externality. Our application focuses on drugs invented to combat human immunodeficiency virus; they differ in their efficacy and propensity to cause side effects. We find that the externality is quantitatively important; temporarily subsidizing the experimental treatment would have increased average social welfare by improving average health and would have reduced inequality in lifetime utility across health groups.

  PublisherDOI

• Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2021-07-15

  datasetOpen accessSenior author

  The package contains all the data and code necessary to reproduce the figures and tables in Kang and Miller (forthcoming). ``Winning by Default: Why is There So Little Competition in Government Procurement?" <em>The Review of Economic Studies</em>.

  PublisherDOI

• Complicated Parapneumonic Effusion Due to Esophagopulmonary Fistula

  2021-05-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTIONEsophagopulmonary fistula (EPF) is an improper communication between the esophagus and lung parenchyma. The the etiology of EPFs including esophageal malignancy with direct tumor invasion or post-radiation therapy (accounts for 50%), prolonged mechanical ventilation, infectious/inflammatory disease, caustic ingestion, trauma, or indwelling esophageal stent. Here we present a case of EPF complicated by parapneumonic effusion initially thought to be an empyema. CASE REPORTA 53-year-old male with past medical history of polysubstance abuse, HIV, perforated peptic ulcer s/p partial gastrectomy, and hypertension presented with productive cough, fever, unintentional weight loss, and non-bloody watery diarrhea for two days. He also reported difficulty swallowing liquids and occasionally solid foods for several months associated with cough during ingestion. Vital signs showed BP 116/74, HR 135, RR 29, temperature 102.1F, and oxygen saturation 93% on room air. Physical exam revealed rales with decreased air entry of the right lung fields. Labs were significant for WBC 20,300, Hgb 7.9, Platelets 467,000, and procalcitonin 0.68. Urine drug screen and SARS-COV2 PCR were negative. ABG on room air with pH 7.369, pCO2 40.6, and pO2 65.1. Pleural fluid showed a WBC count 8375 and pH 7.0. CXR showed opacity in the right middle and lower lung. CT chest showed complex right pleural effusion with multiple areas of gas and atelectasis of right lower lobe with possible superimposed consolidation or areas of necrosis. Chest tube was placed with 600cc cloudy serous fluid determined to be exudative. Due to the clinical presentation, and signs of sepsis along with nature of pleural fluid, empyema was suspected. Pleural fluid culture was positive for gram negative rods, corynebacterium, and candida albicans. AFB culture and cytology were negative. However, due to nature of debris in esophagus and GI history, esophagram was performed which confirmed the presence of an EPF between the right distal esophagus and right lower lobe. The patient was initially treated with empiric antibiotics with de-escalation based on cultures. Unfortunately, after brief recovery, patient left the hospital against medical advice. DISCUSSIONThere are few cases reported involving a benign etiology being a cause of EPF as reported in this case. The patient had history of perforated peptic ulcer which is likely the underlying etiology. Due to this being a chronic issue, patient likely developed an infectious process which responded well to therapy. The relative uncertainty to the initial diagnosis and the underlying etiology behind this finding makes our case unique.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Design, Data and Biostatistics Core

  NIH · $5.4M · 2004–2030

• Collaborative Research: Applications of CCP estimation to dynamic discrete choice models with unobserved heterogenity

  NSF · $154k · 2007–2010

• NIH Grant R01AG011687

  NIH · $6.0M · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Maurice Lev

  Hadassah Medical Center

  364 shared

• Constantine J. Tatooles

  Mount Sinai Hospital

  257 shared

• Saroja Bharati

  Rush University Medical Center

  246 shared

• Hugh A. McAllister

  University of Liverpool

  244 shared

• Milton H. Paul

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

  150 shared

• Glenn C. Rosenquist

  Children's National

  144 shared

• Milton Weinberg

  101 shared

• H. Gunther Bucheleres

  Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center

  100 shared