Ben Thomas
Behavioral Mechanism Design & Market Complexity
Hi! This is my academic portfolio and I'm honored that you're here. Come take a peek at my research: I'm interested in engineering systems which work for humans, even in the age of AI. I bring unexpected insights from an eclectic background which I hold dear: behavioral economics, computational complexity, and archival research methods.
Highlighted Research
Behavioral Economics | Mechanism Design
"Bid Now, Worry Later: Average Price Auctions as a Strategy to Deter Time-Inconsistent Firms," supervised by Douglas Bernheim, Edward Ames Edmonds Professor of Economics, January 2025.
Machine Learning | High Dimensional Statistics
"AI Agents Gone Rogue? Predicting the Strategic & Social Behavior of AI Agents in Dungeons and Dragons," supervised by Joon Park, CS Lecturer @ Stanford, December 2024.
Computational Complexity | Market Design
"In Defense of Picky Eaters: Complexity Separation of Utility and Welfare Maximization Imply Non-Existence of Walrasian Equilibria," Inspired by Tim Roughgarden, June 2024.