Paul Oyer

Research Statement

Paul Oyer studies the economics of organizations and human resource practices. His work has looked at the use of broad-based stock option plans, how firms use non-cash benefits, how firms respond to limits on their ability to displace workers, and how labor market conditions affect their entire careers when MBAs and PhD economists leave school. Oyer’s current projects include studies of of the "Gig Economy" and a study of how people's backgrounds determine the decision to become an entrepreneur and the success of ventures that they start.

Research Interests

• Labor Economics
• Personnel Economics
• Incentives
• Matching Firms and Workers

Bio

In addition to his positions at Stanford, Paul Oyer is a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Labor Economics.

Paul does research in the field of personnel economics, focusing on firms’ incentive systems, as well as hiring and firing. More recently, Paul’s work has focused on the “Gig Economy” and the decision to become an entrepreneur. In addition, he is the author of Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating, an entertaining explanation of numerous key ideas in microeconomics using examples from online dating and labor markets, and Roadside MBA (with Michael Mazzeo and Scott Schaefer), a Strategy guide for small businesses.

Before moving to the GSB in 2000, Paul was on the faculty of the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. In his pre-academic life, he worked for the management consulting firm of Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, as well as for the high technology firms 3Com Corporation and ASK Computer Systems. He holds a BA in math and computer science from Middlebury College, an MBA from Yale University, and an MA and PhD in economics from Princeton University. Paul is married to Kathryn Stoner, a Stanford Political Scientist. He has two grown children, two step-children, and two ill-behaved but sweet Retrievers.

Academic Degrees

• PhD in Economics, Princeton University, 1996
• MA in Economics, Princeton University, 1994
• MBA, Yale University School of Management, 1989
• BA, Middlebury College, Mathematics and Computer Science, 1985

Academic Appointments

• Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2009-present
• Associate Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2002–09
• Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2000–02
• Assistant Professor of Management and Strategy, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1996–2000
• Faculty Research Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 1998–2000
• Affiliate, Center for the Study of Industrial Organization, Northwestern University, 2000

Professional Experience

• Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003–present
• Market Analyst, ASK Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA, 1991–92
• Product Manager, 3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, 1990–91
• Production Planner, 3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, 1989–1990
• Research Associate, Booz Allen and Hamilton, Inc., New York, NY, 1985–87

Awards and Honors

• Dhirubhai Ambani Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship for 2016–17
• Lacob Family Faculty Fellow, Stanford GSB, 2013–14
• Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2011–present
• Louise and Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr. Faculty Scholar, 2008–09
• Morgridge Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 2000–01

Books

• An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights from the Economics of Sports
  Paul Oyer Yale University Press July 12, 2022
• Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners
  Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, Scott Schaefer Business Plus June 10, 2014
• Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating
  Paul Oyer Harvard Business Review Press 2014