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Sally Sadoff

Professor of Economics and Strategy

Sadoff's research in applied microeconomics is focused on behavioral economics, experimental economics, labor and human capital. Prior to coming to the Rady School, Sadoff was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago.

Sadoff earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago. She earned her B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.

Papers

"Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives through Loss Aversion: A Field Experiment," with Roland Fryer, Steven Levitt and John List. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2022, 14(4): 269-99.

"Sustained Decline in Tobacco Purchasing in Denmark during the COVID-19 Pandemic," with Toke Fosgaard and Alice Pizzo. Communications Medicine, 2022, 2(1): 1-8.

"Online Tutoring by College Volunteers: Experimental Evidence from a Pilot Program," with Matthew A, Kraft, John A. List, and Jeffrey D. Livingston. American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, 2022, 112: 614-18.

"The Risk of Caution: Evidence from an R&D Experiment," with Richard T. Carson, Joshua Graff Zivin, Jordan J. Louviere, and Jeffrey G Shrader. Management Science, 2022.

"Lifestyle and Mental Health 1 Year into COVID-19," with Paolo Nicola Barbieri, Osea Giuntella, and Silvia Saccardo, Scientific Reports, 2021, 11(1): 1-6.

"Understanding the Response to Financial and Non-Financial Incentives in Education: Field Experimental Evidence Using High-Stakes Assessments," with Simon Burgess and Robert Metcalfe. Economics of Education Review, 2021, 85.

"Lifestyle and Mental Health Disruptions during COVID-19," with Osea Giuntella, Kelly Hyde and Silvia Saccardo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, 118(9).

"Improving College Instruction through Incentives," with Andy Brownback. Journal of Political Economy 2020, 128(8): 2925 – 2972.

"Dynamic Inconsistency in Food Choice: Experimental Evidence from Two Food Deserts," with Anya Samek and Charles Sprenger. Review of Economic Studies, 2020, 87: 1954-1988.

"Measuring Student Success: The Role of Effort on the Test Itself," with Uri Gneezy, John List, Jeffrey Livingston, Xiangdong Qin and Yang Xu. American Economic Review: Insights, 2019, 1(3): 291-308.

"The Effect of Recipient Contribution Requirements on Support for Social Programs," with Anya Samek.  Journal of Public Economics, 2019, 169: 1-16.

"Can Interventions Affect Commitment Demand? A Field Experiment on Food Choice," with Anya Samek.  Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2019, 158: 90-109.

 "Do People Anticipate Loss Aversion?" with Alex Imas and Anya Samek. Management Science, 2016, 63(5): 1271-1284.

"The Behavioralist Goes to School: Leveraging Behavioral Economics to Improve Educational Performance," with Steven Levitt, John List and Susanne Neckermann. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2016, 8(4): 183-219.

"The Role of Experimentation in Education Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2014, 30(4): 597-620.

“What Can Be Done to Improve Struggling High Schools?”  with Julie Cullen, Steven Levitt and Erin Robertson. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2013, 27(2): 133-152.

"Checkmate: Exploring Backward Induction Among Chess Players," with Steven Levitt and John List. American Economic Review, 2011, 101(2): 975-90.

"So You Want to Run an Experiment, Now What? An Introduction to Optimal Sample Arrangements," with John List and Mathis Wagner. Experimental Economics, 2011, 14(4): 439-57.

"Statistical Inference when Classroom Quality is Measured with Error," with Stephen Raudenbush. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2008, 1(2): 138-154.

Working Papers

"College Summer School: Educational Benefits and Enrollment Preferences," with Andy Brownback.

"The Effect of Performance-Based Incentives on Educational Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," with Steven Levitt and John List. NBER Working Paper No. 22107.

Research Areas

  • Applied Microeconomics
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Field Experiments
  • Education and Health

Industry Areas

  • Design of Experiments and Statistical Power
  • Incentive Design