We’d like to congratulate Assistant Professor Jay Lu for being awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for his research on the economic theory of human decision-making. The first part of this project will address common everyday situations where individuals make choices repeatedly over time. In many of these cases, people’s preferences over various goods may change from day to day. In other words, their preferences are stochastic. This research will propose a new theoretical model to help us understand how these stochastic preferences affect choice behavior. People’s preferences to consume earlier or later would be an important factor. The second part of this project will study the welfare implications of stochastic preferences. When preferences change over time, it is unclear whether policy interventions would be beneficial and help improve individual well-being. This research will provide new tools and methodologies that will inform public policy for stochastic preferences. In general, results from this project will ultimately aid researchers in developing new insights for businesses, government agencies and other institutions that will benefit the U.S. public.

Award Details

 

The NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering.  It does this through grants, and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000 colleges, universities, k-12 school systems, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations throughout the United States. The Foundation accounts for about one-fourth of federal support to academic institutions for basic research. NSF receives approximately 40,000 proposals each year for research, education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 are funded. Source