Associate Professor of Finance

Professor Choi's research focuses on various aspects of household investment behavior and the effect those investments have on security prices. His work has led to changes in 401(k) plan design at many U.S. corporations and has influenced pension legislation both in the United States and abroad. His papers have been cited in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, BusinessWeek, Financial Times, Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today.

Selected Achievements and Awards
TIAA-CREF Institute grant, “Annuitization and Retirement Security” (with John Beshears, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Stephen P. Zeldes), 2011-2012

Social Security Administration grant, “Low Income Households and 401(k) Auto-Enrollment” (with John Beshears, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian), 2010-2011

National Institute on Aging R01 grant, “Determinants of Saving in 401(k) Plans—Continuation” (with John Beshears, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian), 2007-2011

Improving Disclosure to Investors Grant, FINRA Investor Education Foundation (with John Beshears, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian), 2007-2009

National Institute on Aging R01 grant, “Determinants of Saving in 401(k) Plans” (with David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Andrew Metrick), 2003-2007

NBER Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Aging and Health Economics, 2003-2005

Harvey Fellow, Mustard Seed Foundation, 2003-2005

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2000-2003

Hoopes Prize for excellence in Harvard undergraduate research, 1998

Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University, 1998

Articles
"What Does Stock Ownership Breadth Measure?" (with L. Jin and H. Yan), Review of Finance, forthcoming

"Simplification and Saving" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming

"$100 Bills on the Sidewalk: Suboptimal Investment in 401(k) Plans” (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian), Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 93, No. 3, 748-763, August, 2011

"Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates" (with K.L. Milkman, J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, No. 26,10415-10420, June, 28, 2011

"Behavioral Economics Perspectives on Public Sector Pension Plans" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Vol. 10, No. 2, 315-336, April, 2011

"Social Identity and Preferences" (with D.J. Benjamin and A. Joshua Strickland), American Economic Review, Vol. 100, No. 4, 1913-1928, September, 2010

"Why Does the Law of One Price Fail? An Experiment on Index Mutual Funds" (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian), Review of Financial Studies, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1405-1432, April, 2010 (Finalist, TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for outstanding scholarly writing on lifelong financial security.)

"Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian and A. Metrick), Journal of Finance, Vol. 64, No. 6, 2515-2534, December, 2009

"Mental Accounting in Portfolio Choice: Evidence from a Flypaper Effect" (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian), American Economic Review, Vol. 99, No. 5, 2085-2095, December, 2009

"Optimal Defaults and Active Decisions" (with G.D. Carroll, D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A.Metrick), Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 124, No, 4, 1639-1674, November, 2009 (Finalist, TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for outstanding scholarly writing on lifelong financial security.)

"How Are Preferences Revealed?" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 92, No. 8-9, 1787-1794, August, 2008

"Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework " (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), Swedish Economic Policy Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, 41-60, 2005

"Are Empowerment and Education Enough? Underdiversification in 401(k) Plans" (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian), Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol. 2, 151-198, 2005

"Plan Design and 401(k) Savings Outcomes" (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian), National Tax Journal, Vol. 57, 275-298, June, 2004

"Optimal Defaults" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 93,180-185, May, 2003

"How Does the Internet Affect Trading? Evidence from Investor Behavior in 401(k) Plans" (with D. Laibson and A. Metrick), Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 64, 397-421 June, 2002

"The Value Line Enigma: The Sum of Known Parts?" Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 35, 485-498, September, 2000

Book Chapters
"The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian). in D.A. Wise, ed., Investigations in the Economics of Aging, University of Chicago Press, forthcoming

"How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals’ Mutual Fund Choices?” (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), in D.A. Wise, ed., Explorations in the Economics of Aging, University of Chicago Press, forthcoming

"The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian), in D. A. Wise, ed., Research Findings in the Economics of Aging, University of Chicago Press, 2010

"Public Policy and Saving for Retirement: The ‘Autosave’ Features of the Pension Protection Act of 2006" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and B. Weller), in John J. Siegfried, ed., Better Living Through Economics: How Economic Research Improves Our Lives, Harvard University Press, 2010

"Reducing the Complexity Costs of 401(k) Participation Through Quick Enrollment™" (with D. Laibson and B.C. Madrian) in D. A. Wise, ed., Developments in the Economics of Aging, University of Chicago Press, 2009

"The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Savings Outcomes: Evidence from the United States" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian) in S.J. Kay and T. Sinha, eds., Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, Oxford University Press, 2008

"Saving for Retirement on the Path of Least Resistance" (with D. Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), in E.J. McCaffrey and J. Slemrod, eds., Behavioral Public Finance: Toward a New Agenda, 304-351, Russell Sage Foundation, 2006

"Passive Decisions and Potent Defaults" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), in D.A. Wise, ed., Analyses in the Economics of Aging, 59-78, University of Chicago Press, 2005

"Employees’ Investment Decisions About Company Stock" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), in O.S. Mitchell and S.P. Utkus, eds., Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance, 121-137, Oxford University Press, 2004.

"For Better or For Worse: Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), in D.A. Wise, ed., Perspectives on the Economics of Aging, 81-121, University of Chicago Press, 2004

"Defined Contribution Pensions: Plan Rules, Participant Decisions, and the Path of Least Resistance" (with D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and A. Metrick), in J. Poterba, ed., Tax Policy and the Economy, Vol. 16, 67-114, 2002

Working Papers
"Small Cues Change Savings Choices" (with E. Haisley, J. Kurkoski, and C. Massey)

"The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and K.L. Milkman)

"Self-Control and Liquidity: How to Design a Commitment Contract" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, B.C. Madrian, and J. Sakong)

"Can Psychological Aggregation Manipulations Affect Portfolio Risk-Taking? Evidence from a Framed Field Experiment" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian)

"Religious Identity and Economic Behavior" (with D.J. Benjamin and Geoffrey Fisher)

"The Limitations of Defaults" (with J. Beshears, D. Laibson, and B.C. Madrian)

"Extrapolative Expectations and the Equity Premium"

Education
PhD Harvard University, 2005
AB Harvard University, 1998

Related Links

James Choi's Website James Choi's CV