Rachel E. E. Kranton

Rachel E. E. Kranton is an American economist and an expert in the fields of game theory, development economics, and behavioral economics. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Economics and the Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor at Duke University, where she has worked since 1994. Kranton’s research has focused on the analysis of individual decisions and their implications for economic behavior. She has written extensively on the implications of social preferences, identity, and behavior, and she is the author of Identity and the Economics of Organizations, an extensive research volume on these topics.

Rachel Kranton was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1949. She attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where in 1971 she earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics. From there, she earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics at Harvard University, and in 1978 she earned her PhD in economics at Harvard.

Kranton’s research focuses on game theory, decision making, and the implications of individual decisions and preferences on behavioral economics and organizations. In her book Identity and the Economics of Organizations, Kranton outlines her research on the impact of identity on decisions, and how modeling identity and identity structures can better explain observed behavior. Kranton argues that identities shape individuals’ behavior and beliefs, and that organizations can be understood through the individuals’ social preferences, who often base their decisions on their identities.

Kranton’s work has had an enormous impact on the field of economics, particularly in the areas of economic development, law and economics, and behavioral economics. Kranton has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited five books, and her other works have appeared in such journals as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Theory, the Journal of Political Economy, and the Journal of Public Economics.

Rachel Kranton is passionate about understanding and explaining individual decisions, preferences, and decisions, and her research has been extremely useful in helping economists better understand the implications of identity, social preferences, and behavior on economic outcomes. Kranton has received numerous honors, such as the Social Science Research Council Fellowship, the National Science Foundation fellowship, and the Sloan Foundation fellowship, and in 2011 she was awarded the Elaine Bennett Research Prize, which is given each year to a top researcher in her field. As a member of the board of the World Bank’s World Development Report, Kranton has a tremendous impact on the field of economics and her research is highly respected worldwide.

Rachel Kranton is a respected expert in the fields of game theory, decision making, and economics, and her research is well known for providing valuable insight into individual decision-making and its implications for economic outcomes. Kranton is a leader in economics and her research has had a major influence not only on economic theory but also on global economic policy. Her work provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding economic decision-making and the implications of individual choices on organizations and outcomes.