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Katherine L. Milkman
Assistant Professor

Katherine Milkman is an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research documents various ways in which individuals systematically deviate from making optimal choices, and she is particularly interested in understanding what factors lead people to undersave for retirement, exercise too little, eat too much junk food, and watch too many lowbrow films. She has published articles in economics, management, and psychology journals such as Management Science, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Perspectives on Psychological Science. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and Harvard Business Review.

Katherine received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University (summa cum laude) in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and her Ph.D. from Harvard University in Information, Technology and Management.

Publications

Katherine L. Milkman, John Beshears (2009), Mental accounting and small windfalls: Evidence from an online grocer, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 71, No. 2, 384-394

Katherine L. Milkman, Dolly Chugh, Max H. Bazerman (2009), How can decision making be improved?, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Vol. 4, No. 4, 379-383

Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers, Max H. Bazerman (2009), Highbrow films gather dust: Time-inconsistent preferences and online DVD rentals, Management Science, Vol. 55, No. 6, 1047-1059

Jolie M. Martin, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Max H. Bazerman, Lisa Sutherland (2009), Modeling expert opinions on food healthiness: A nutrition metric, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Vol. 109, No. 6, 1088-1091

Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers, Max H. Bazerman (2008), Harnessing our inner angels and demons: What we have learned about want/should conflicts and how that knowledge can help us reduce short-sighted decision making, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Vol. 3, 324-338

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Current Research

Jonah Berger, Katherine L. Milkman 2009, Social Transmission and Viral Culture

John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, Katherine L. Milkman 2009, The effect of peer information on retirement savings decisions

Katherine L. Milkman, Mary Carol Mazza, Lisa L. Shu, Chia-Jung Tsay, Max H. Bazerman 2009, Policy bundling to overcome loss aversion: A method for improving legislative outcomes

Kathleen L. McGinn, Katherine L. Milkman 2009, Shall I stay or shall I go? Cooperative and competitive effects of relational demography on turnover

Katherine L. Milkman 2009, Unsure what the future will bring? You may overindulge: Uncertainty increases the appeal of wants over shoulds

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In The News

Fighting 'Loss Aversion': Obama's Health Care Dilemma, Baltimore Sun, 07/30/2009, Katherine L. Milkman

Why Customers Will Pay You to Restrain Them, Fast Company, 04/01/2009, Katherine L. Milkman

Odd Numbers: Harold & Kumar or Citizen Kane?, Conde Nast: Portfolio.com, 01/11/2008, Katherine L. Milkman

Understanding the 'Want' vs. 'Should' Decision, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, 07/16/2007, Katherine L. Milkman

New Yorker Fiction by the Numbers, The New York Times, 06/01/2004, Katherine L. Milkman

Honors And Awards

Whitebox Fellowship for Visiting Scholars at Yale School of Management, 2008

The Wyss Award from Harvard Business School for Excellence in Doctoral Research, 2007-2008

The Lore von Jaskowsky Memorial Prize in Engineering from Princeton University, 2004

The Willard Thorp Thesis Prize in American Studies from Princeton University, 2004

Katherine L. Milkman
3730 Walnut Street
561 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Philadelphia, PA19104
Phone: 215-573-9646
kmilkman@wharton.upenn.edu

Research Interests: Behavioral economics, behavioral decision making, experimental economics

Last Modified November 11, 2009