Economics
R&D Investment Can Have Multiplier Effects—If It’s Made in the Right Industries
A new study co-authored by Prof. Song Ma finds that allocating research funding to certain scientific fields can have long-term ripple effects across sectors and countries.

Contrary to Conventional Wisdom, Margins Don’t Rise as a Company Grows
Nearly every business plan contains the assumption that as the company grows, its average costs will fall and profit margins will rise. But that isn’t borne out by the numbers.
Faculty Viewpoints: The Economic Policy Response
In an online conversation, Yale faculty members discussed the steps already taken to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from turning into economic catastrophe, and the need for more effective healthcare policies.
Faculty Viewpoints: A Global View
In an online conversation, Yale SOM faculty members discussed diverging responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for global cooperation.
Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral
Nobel Prize-winning Yale economist Robert Shiller examines how the stories we tell about our lives and our society can spread from person to person, changing shared perceptions of events and shaping economic behavior.
How Should Companies Fuel Word of Mouth?
New research finds that offering a free tier or giving existing customers bonuses for making referrals—or a combination—can be effective, depending on the size of the audience and whether the project has a social aspect.
Faculty Viewpoints: The Macroeconomic Outlook
In an online event hosted by Yale SOM’s Economic Development Club, Peter Schott and Lorenzo Caliendo, both professors of economics at Yale SOM, walked through some of the macroeconomic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Time to Put on a Mask
A team of Yale researchers says we should all be wearing cloth masks, but give the surgical masks to healthcare workers.
When Corporate Acquisitions Affect Healthcare
Companies often purchase competitors, not to acquire their ideas and products, but to shut them down. A recent report raised questions about whether such an acquisition may be partially responsible for a shortage of ventilators in the United States.
Making Sense of A Record-Breaking Wave of Unemployment Claims
A greater share of Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the week ending March 21 than in any prior week in American history. We asked Yale SOM's Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham for his perspective on this alarming statistic.
Economic Competition in a Time of Crisis
What will the sudden economic shock mean for competition and antitrust policy? We asked Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, an economist who served in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, for her perspective.