Featured Researcher: Benjamin Handel

Benjamin Handel is a research associate in the NBER’s programs on the Economics of Health, Industrial Organization, and Public Economics, and codirects the NBER’s Insurance Working Group. He is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he codirects the Gilbert Center.

Handel’s research focuses on market structure and individual decision-making, especially in the context of health insurance. In recent work, he has explored the determinants of consumer choice quality in health insurance markets, including socioeconomic status, peer effects, and decision support technology. A current project uses high-frequency data from electronic health records to examine cognitive load in clinical decision-making in emergency departments, including for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Handel received the 2018 American Society of Health Economists Medal, which recognizes economists under the age of 40 who have made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics. He organized the NBER’s Healthcare Bootcamp for graduate students in 2018, 2019, and 2022. His research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Science Foundation, and several other foundations. He has served in multiple editorial roles, including as editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics.

Handel earned an AB from Princeton University and a PhD in economics from Northwestern University. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation postdoctoral fellow.

Away from work, Handel likes to spend time with his wife Colleen and his two kids Finn and Killian. He likes to travel to new places, hike, play games, run, ski, and read sci-fi.