Robert S. Pindyck

About

Robert S. Pindyck is the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Professor of Economics and Finance at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He teaches courses in microeconomics and industrial organization, including a second-year MBA elective titled 'Economics for Strategic Decisions.' He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Much of his consulting work is conducted through Analysis Group, Inc., where he is an academic affiliate. For more details on his research, consulting, and other professional activities, as well as a list of his publications, one can refer to his CV. Additionally, a shorter biography is available for less detailed information.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Computer Security
• Economics
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Market economy
• Mathematical economics
• Mathematics
• Business
• Law

Selected publications

• COVID-19 and the Welfare Effects of Reducing Contagion

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2020-05-01 · 64 citations

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  I use a simple SIR model, augmented to include deaths, to elucidate how pandemic progression is affected by the control of contagion, and examine the key trade-offs that underlie policy design. I illustrate how the cost of reducing the "reproduction number" R0 depends on how it changes the infection rate, the total and incremental number of deaths, the duration of the pandemic, and the possibility and impact of a second wave. Reducing R0 reduces the number of deaths, but extends the duration (an…

  PublisherDOI

• A Simple Rule for Pricing with Limited Knowledge of Demand

  Management Science · 2020 · 42 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  How should a firm price a new product for which little is known about demand? We propose a simple and practical pricing rule for new products where demand information is limited. The rule is simple: Set price as though the demand curve were linear. Our pricing rule can be used if three conditions hold: the firm can estimate the maximum price it can charge and still expect to sell some units, the firm need not plan in advance the quantity it will sell, and marginal cost is known and constant. We…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• What We Know and Don’t Know about Climate Change, and Implications for Policy

  Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy · 2021-01-01 · 23 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  There is a lot we know about climate change, but there is also a lot we don’t know. Even if we knew how much CO2 will be emitted over the coming decades, we wouldn’t know how much temperatures will rise as a result. And even if we could predict the extent of warming that will occur, we can say very little about its impact. I explain that we face considerable uncertainty over climate change and its impact, why there is so much uncertainty, and why we will continue to face uncertainty in the near…

  PublisherDOI

• What We Know and Don't Know About Climate Change, and Implications for Policy

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2020 · 22 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Welfare Costs of Catastrophes: Lost Consumption and Lost Lives

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2020 · 19 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel L. Rubinfeld

  University of California, Berkeley

  39 shared

• Daniel L. Rubinfeld

  National Bureau of Economic Research

  24 shared

• Julio J. Rotemberg

  National Bureau of Economic Research

  18 shared

• Avinash Dixit

  Princeton University

  17 shared

• Maxime C. Cohen

  15 shared

• Ian Martin

  15 shared

• Georgia Perakis

  15 shared

• Richard G. Newell

  14 shared

Awards & honors

• Galbraith Award from the Agricultural & Applied Economics As…
• Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2018)

Similar researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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• Christopher Knittelh-54
• Robert Gibbonsh-47