Brigitte Madrian

Brigitte Madrian is the Aetna Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before coming to Harvard in 2006, she was on the Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School (2003-2006), the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (1995-2003) and the Harvard University Economics Department (1993-1995). She is also a research associate and co-director of the Household Finance working group at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dr. Madrian’s current research focuses on behavioral economics and household finance, with a particular focus on household saving and investment behavior. Her work in this area has impacted the design of employer-sponsored savings plans in the U.S. and has influenced pension reform legislation both in the U.S. and abroad. She is also engaged in research on health, using the lens of behavioral economics to understand health behaviors and improve health outcomes; in the past she has also examined the impact of health insurance on the job choice and retirement decisions of employees and the hiring decisions of firms.

Dr. Madrian received her Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studied economics as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University. She is the recipient of the National Academy of Social Insurance Dissertation Prize (first place, 1994) and a two-time recipient of the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Scholarly Research on Lifelong Financial Security (2002 and 2011).

Selected Publications

Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles

• Madrian, Brigitte. "Applying Insights from Behavioral Economics to Policy Design." Annual Review of Economics 6 (August 2014): 663-688.
• Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Simplification and Saving." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 95 (November 2013): 130-145.
• Choi, James J., David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian. "$100 Bills on the Sidewalk: Violations of No-Arbitrage in 401(k) Accounts." The Review of Economics and Statistics 93.3 (August 2011): 748-763.
• Choi, James J., David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Why Does the Law of One Price Fail? An Experiment on Index Mutual Funds." Review of Financial Studies 23.4 (2010): 1405-1432.
• Choi, James J., David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "Mental Accounting in Portfolio Choice: Evidence from a Flypaper Effect." American Economic Review 99.5 (December 2009): 2085-2095.
• Choi, James J., David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick. "Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior." Journal of Finance 64.6 (November 25, 2009): 2515-2534.
• Carroll, Gabriel D., James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Andrew Metrick. "Optimal Defaults and Active Decisions." Quarterly Journal of Economics 124.4 (November 2009): 1639-1674.

Book Chapters

Choi, James J., David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick. "Saving for Retirement on the Path of Least Resistance." Behavioral Public Finance. Ed. Edward J. McCaffery and Joel Slemrod. Russell Sage Foundation, 2006, 304-351.

Outside Professional Activities

Transparent Engagement

Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School.

Outside Professional Activities For Brigitte Madrian

In addition to my position as a faculty member at Harvard, I am occasionally compensated for my participation in outside activities, such a speaking, reviewing, writing/editing articles or reports, consulting, and serving on panels/advisory boards.

I have received compensation or other payments in excess of $500 from the following organizations:

2017

National Bureau of Economic Research (non-profit economic research organization)

• Research activities
• Co-Director of the Household Finance working group

FINRA

• Board of Governors

Connect Financial, LLC (financial technology company)

• Consulting services

National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators

• Invited speaker on behvaioral economics and financial education

Florida Atlantic University Center for Economic Education

• Invited speaker on behavioral economics and financial education

Cornell University

• Invited speaker on household finance

Summit Consulting

• Consulting services

2013

National Bureau of Economic Research (non-profit economic research organization)

• Research activities
• Co-Director of the Household Finance working group

TIAA-CREF (financial services firm)

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues

Brigham Young University (institute of higher education)

• Wheatley Institute fellow

State Street Global Advisors (financial services firm)

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues
• Consulting on pensions/saving/retirement issues

Government of Canada

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues

Council for Economic Education (non-profit financial and economic literacy organization)

• Member of review committee for updated K-12 financial literacy standards

Stanford University

Conference honorarium

2012

National Bureau of Economic Research (non-profit economic research organization)

• Research activities
• Co-Director of the Household Finance working group

State Street Global Advisors (financial services firm)

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues
• Consulting on pensions/saving/retirement issues

PIMCO (financial services firm)

• Invited speaker in pensions/saving/retirement issues

American Bankers Association (financial services industry association)

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues

The World Bank (NGO)

• Book chapter on defined contribution savings plans

Dartmouth College (institute of higher education)

• Chair of economics department visiting committee

University of Wisconsin (institute of higher education)

• Associate editor of the Journal of Human Resources

Council for Economic Education (non-profit financial and economic literacy organization)

Member of review committee for updated K-12 financial literacy standards

2011

National Bureau of Economic Research (non-profit economic research organization)

• Research activities
• Co-Director of the Household Finance working group

Social Security Advisory Board

• Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board Technical Panel

Brigham Young University (institute of higher education)

• Wheatley Institute fellow
• Consulting on financial education initiatives for students

The World Bank

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues

TIAA-CREF

• Winner Paul A. Samuelson Award

State Street Global Advisors (financial services firm)

• Invited speaker on pensions/saving/retirement issues
• Consulting on pensions/saving/retirement issues

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (central bank)

• Consulting on design of the Survey of Consumer Payment Choice

Community Development Research Advisory Council member

2010

National Bureau of Economic Research, Social Security Advisory Board, Mathematica Policy Research, Columbia University, American Economic Association, University of Washington, Brookings Institution Press, Harding House Publishers, University of Wisconsin, Diversified Investment Advisors, Brigham Young University, National Institutes of Health

2009

National Bureau of Economic Research, Fidelity Investments, Prudential, Wellesley College, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Georgia State University, Professional Insurance Marketing Association, National Institutes of Health

2008

National Bureau of Economic Research, Fidelity Investments, Alliance Bernstein, University of Wisconsin, Austrian National Bank, Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, Behavioral Finance Forum, Netspar

2007

National Bureau of Economic Research, Fidelity Investments, Callan Associates, TIAA-CREF, University of Wisconsin, Brigham Young University, University of Michigan, National Institutes of Health