Research Interests for Rachel Kranton

Rachel Kranton studies how institutions and the social setting affect economic outcomes. She develops theories of networks and has introduced identity into economic thinking. Her research contributes to many fields including microeconomics, economic development, and industrial organization. In Identity Economics, Rachel Kranton and collaborator George Akerlof, introduce a general framework to study social norms and identity in economics. In the economics of networks, Rachel Kranton develops formal models of strategic interaction in different economic settings. Her work draws on empirical findings and integrates new mathematical tools to uncover how network structures influence economic outcomes. Rachel Kranton has a long-standing interest in development economics and institutions. She focuses on the costs and benefits of networks and informal exchange, which is economic activity mediated by social relationships rather than markets.

Keywords:

behavioral economics, Brain, Cognition, Conflict (Psychology), Decision Making, development economics, economics of networks, Economics, Behavioral, Humans, identity economics, Interpersonal Relations, microeconomic theory, Microeconomics, Models, Economic, Motivation, Neurosciences, Psychology, Social, Reward, Socioeconomic Factors

Recent Publications

1. Lee, VK; Khaw, MW; Kranton, RE; Huettel, SA, Higher self-assessed subjective social status is associated with worse perception of others' emotions., Scientific reports, vol. 15 no. 1 (May, 2025), pp. 17188 [doi] [abs]
2. Bramoullé, Y; Kranton, RE, Altruism networks and economic relations, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 226 (October, 2024) [doi] [abs]
3. Bloch, F; Kranton, R, Cover-Ups, Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 67 no. 2 (May, 2024), pp. 337-369 [doi] [abs]
4. Lee, VK; Kranton, RE; Conzo, P; Huettel, SA, The hidden cost of humanization: Individuating information reduces prosocial behavior toward in-group members, Journal of Economic Psychology, vol. 86 (October, 2021) [doi] [abs]
5. Khaw, MW; Kranton, R; Huettel, S, Oversampling of minority categories drives misperceptions of group compositions., Cognition, vol. 214 (September, 2021), pp. 104756 [doi] [abs]