Amy Finkelstein

Amy Finkelstein is the John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She co-founded and co-scientific directs J-PAL North America, a research center promoting randomized evaluations of domestic policy. She also serves as founding Editor of the American Economic Review: Insights and co-Director of the NBER Health Economics Program. Her work bridges health economics, public finance, and insurance market analysis.

Dr. Finkelstein specializes in market failures and government intervention in insurance markets, particularly healthcare delivery and policy. Her research addresses asymmetric information, moral hazard, Medicaid impacts, and universal coverage challenges. She has led large-scale studies like the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment and Indonesia’s National Health Insurance evaluation, focusing on insurance accessibility, policy effectiveness, and health-labor market intersections.

Her publications span top journals in economics and health policy, with a focus on empirical models of insurance markets, risk adjustment, and healthcare spending. Recent work explores pandemic mortality, geographic healthcare disparities, and precision medicine. Awards include the MacArthur Fellowship (2018), John Bates Clark Medal (2012), NIH MERIT Award (2020), and the ASHEcon Medal (2014).

Key trends in her research include:

• Asymmetric information and welfare analysis in insurance markets
• Medicaid’s impact on health, crime, and labor force activity
• Universal health insurance design and implementation challenges
• Geographic and racial disparities in healthcare outcomes
• Payment reforms in Medicare and long-term care efficiency

Notable grants and advising achievements include the Presidential Early Career Award (2009), MIT teaching/mentoring accolades, and leadership in randomized policy evaluations through J-PAL North America.