Featured Researcher: David Laibson

David Laibson is a Research Associate in the NBER's Programs on Aging, Economic Fluctuations, and Asset Pricing. He was a Fellow of the NBER's Aging Program in the 1997-98 academic year.

Laibson is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, the Q.R. Journals of Macroeconomics, and the Journal of the European Economic Association. Laibson is a member of the Russell Sage Behavioral Economics Roundtable and the Health and Retirement Study Monitoring Committee.

Laibson received his Ph.D in Economics from MIT and his A.B. in Economics from Harvard. He also earned his M.Sc. in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1994.

Laibson's recent work focuses on understanding how consumers make decisions about allocating their resources over time, including decisions about contributing to 401(k)'s. He is particularly interested in developing new economic theories incorporating insights from psychology and experimental economics.

Laibson is married to Nina Zipser, Harvard's Director of Institutional Research. When they have a free moment they enjoy tennis, snorkeling, hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.