Michaela Pagel

Michaela Pagel is an Associate Professor at Washington University Olin Business School and holds affiliations as a NBER Faculty Research Fellow and CEPR Research Affiliate (Household Finance Network Member). Her research bridges behavioral economics, finance, and consumer decision-making, focusing on how psychological biases shape financial behaviors across life cycles.

• Research Themes: Selective attention to finances, mental accounting of savings and debt, loss aversion in consumption, and environmental impacts on financial productivity
• Key Findings: Demonstrated ostrich effects in financial monitoring, quantified liquidity-driven spending heuristics, and uncovered pollution-induced productivity losses in investment activities

Her work analyzing stimulus payment responses revealed liquidity constraints as critical determinants of spending behavior during crises, while her research on air quality's impact on trading challenges economic productivity assumptions. Awards include NBER Faculty Research Fellow designation and recognition through the Distinguished CESifo Affiliate Award nomination. Collaborative work spans institutions like Columbia, Harvard, and University of Chicago.

• Media Coverage: VoxEU, The Street, and MarketWatch
• Keynote Engagements: Barcelona School of Economics Summer Forum, Society of Experimental Finance Conference, EMERGE 22