Judd B. Kessler, PhD

Howard Marks Associate Professor, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Wharton School

Dr. Kessler is the Howard Marks Associate Professor, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School.

He received a BA in Economics from Harvard University in 2004, an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge in 2005, and a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University in 2011.

In his research, Judd uses a combination of laboratory and field experiments to answer questions in Public Economics, Behavioral Economics, and Market Design. He investigates the economic and psychological forces that motivate individuals to contribute to public goods, with applications including organ donation, worker effort, and charitable giving. He also investigates market design innovations, placing particular emphasis on bringing market design from theory to practice, with applications including course allocation and priority systems for organ allocation.

Judd is an NBER Research Associate and a JPAL Affiliate. His research has appeared in general interest journals including the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Management Science. In 2021, Judd was awarded the Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize.