Richard Zeckhauser

Richard Jay Zeckhauser (born 1940) is an American economist and the Frank P. Ramsey Professor of Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.[2]

Richard J. Zeckhauser
Zeckhauser in 2014
Born1940
NationalityAmerican
SpouseSally H. Zeckhauser[1]
Academic career
InstitutionHarvard University
FieldDecision theory, game theory, behavioral economics
School or
tradition		Decision theory, behavioral economics
Alma materHarvard University
Doctoral
students		Nat Keohane, Gernot Wagner
InfluencesThomas Schelling
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

He holds a BA (summa cum laude) and a PhD in economics from Harvard University. Early in his career, he was one of the "whiz kids" assembled by Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara to apply cutting-edge analysis to Cold War military strategy. He is married to Sally H. Zeckhauser.[1]

He is the author or co-author of many books and over 300 peer-reviewed articles. His most significant works focus on risk management, decision sciences, investment, and policy-making under uncertainty. Zeckhauser introduced the term "ignorance" into decision-making under uncertainty, as in: there's "risk", "uncertainty", and outright "ignorance".[3]

His most recent book, with Peter Schuck, is Targeting in Social Programs. The book examines how and why to deploy scarce public resources to solve public problems. While he holds no formal office, he has long been an informal leader at Harvard Kennedy School and at Harvard.[4] He is also a consultant with Analysis Group.[5] In 1994, he was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board.

Richwine controversy

Zeckhauser was on the dissertation committee at Harvard Kennedy School that awarded former member of The Heritage Foundation Jason Richwine with a Ph.D. for his thesis, "IQ and Immigration Policy". Criticized for the way it linked race to I.Q. levels, the thesis lost Richwine his job at the Foundation.

Bridge career

Zeckhauser is a champion bridge player.[6]

Wins

Runners-up

Significant works
  • Summers, Lawrence, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Policymaking for posterity." Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 37.2-3 (2008): 115–140.
  • Zeckhauser, Richard. "Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable." (2010): 77–117.
  • Samuelson, William, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Status quo bias in decision making." Journal of risk and uncertainty 1, no. 1 (1988): 7–59.
  • Zeckhauser, Richard (2006) "Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable", Capitalism and Society: Vol. 1 : Iss. 2, Article 5. doi:10.2202/1932-0213.1009
  • Schuck, Peter H. & Zeckhauser, Richard J. Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples, Brookings Institution Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8157-0428-7
  • Zeckhauser, Richard, Strategy and choice, MIT Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-262-24033-8
  • Zeckhauser, Richard, Keeney, Ralph L., Sebenius, James K. Wise choices: decisions, games, and negotiations, Harvard Business Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-87584-677-4
  • Zeckhauser, Richard (2008). "Insurance". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty. ISBN 978-0865976658. OCLC 237794267.

Trivia

Zeckhauser is connected to the so-called Yhprum's law, the opposite of Murphy's law, saying: "Sometimes systems that should not work, work nevertheless."[7]

References
  1. "'Quiet' Harvard Leader To Retire | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
  2. "Richard Zeckhauser". 2009-10-12.
  3. Zeckhauser, Richard (11 January 2011). "Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable". Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. doi:10.2470/rf.v2010.n2.7 (inactive 1 August 2023).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 (link)
  4. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Professor Richard Zeckhauser: 50 Years of Teaching at Harvard. YouTube.
  5. "Analysis Group | Richard J. Zeckhauser". www.analysisgroup.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-17.
  6. Alexander, Sophie. "KSG Prof Plays His Cards Right". www.thecrimson.com.
  7. Resnick, Paul; Zeckhauser, Richard; Swanson, John; Lockwood, Kate (June 2006). "The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment" (PDF). Experimental Economics. 9 (2): 79–101. doi:10.1007/s10683-006-4309-2. S2CID 195331813.
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