M. Keith Chen

Keith Chen is Professor of Behavioral Economics and Strategy at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and holds the Bing (’86) and Alice Liu Yang Endowed Term Chair in Management and Innovation. His research integrates economics, psychology, and biology using big data to explore fundamental drivers of human behavior.

• Ph.D. in Economics (2003) from Harvard University
• B.S. in Mathematics (1998) from Stanford University

His research spans behavioral economics, decision theory, intertemporal choice, and competitive strategy. Recent work analyzes smartphone location data to study societal issues including racial disparities in voting wait times, pandemic response patterns, and political effects on family ties.

His 15 most recent publications focus on ecology, biodiversity, and environmental economics - topics that surprisingly contrast with his primary behavioral economics expertise. These works examine urban nature benefits, tropical bird ecology, coral restoration economics, and sustainable land use practices across multiple continents.

• Nature Editor’s Choice (2018)
• Science Editor’s Choice (2013)
• Yale SOM Teaching Award (2011)
• National Science Foundation Grants (2006-2011)