Matthew Chao

Matthew Chao

Associate Professor of Economics

413-597-3339
Schapiro Hall Rm 306
At Williams since 2015

Education

B.A. Dartmouth College (2006)
Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Economics (2015)

Areas of Expertise

  • Behavioral economics
  • Applied microeconomics
  • Experimental economics
  • Judgment and decision-making

Current Committees

  • Faculty Interview Panel

Publications

1. Chao M, Larkin I. Regulating conflicts of interest through public disclosure and social image incentives: Evidence from a physician payments sunshine law. Management Science 2022; 68(2): 1078-1094.

2. Chao M, Fisher G. Self-interested giving: The relationship between conditional gifts, donor self-interestedness, and charitable donations. Management Science 2022; 68(6): 3975-4753.

3. Chao M, Chapman J. Saving face through preference signaling and obligation avoidance. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 2020; 176: 569-581.

4. Chao M. Intentions-based reciprocity to monetary and non-monetary gifts. Games 2018; 9, 74 (Special issue on dictator games).

5. Chao M. Demotivating incentives and motivation crowding out in charitable giving. PNAS 2017; 114(28):7301-7306.

6. Larkin I, Ang D, Steinhart J, Chao M, Patterson M, Sah S, Wu T, Schoenbaum M, Hutchins D, Brennan T, Loewenstein G. Association between academic medical center pharmaceutical detailing policies and physician prescribingJAMA 2017; 3017(17):1785-95.

Selected press coverage: NPR, Slate, Newsweek, USNews, Boston Globe, Williams Magazine

Experimental datasets for published papers.

Working Papers

1. Chao M, Fisher G. How decision conflict and attribute timing influence charitable giving.

2. Chao M, Shin E. Cooperation and coordination in cultures with age-based social hierarchies.

3. Chao M, Larkin I. Why do goal-based incentives cause cheating? Unpacking the confounding effects of goals, social comparisons, and pay.

On Campus Experiments

Williams students can click here to register as a participant in (paid) economics experiments held either on campus or online.