Matthew Gentzkow

Landau Professor in Technology and the Economy

Academic Council Faculty

Department Vice-Chair

Matthew Gentzkow is Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He studies applied microeconomics with a focus on media industries. He received the 2014 John Bates Clark Medal, given by the American Economic Association to the American economist under the age of forty who has made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a former co-editor of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. Other awards include the 2016 Calvó-Armengol International Prize, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes for Health, and Sloan Foundation, and a Faculty Excellence Award for teaching. He studied at Harvard University where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1997, a master's degree in 2002, and a PhD in 2004.

Newly Elected Members of the National Academy of Sciences

Guido Imbens and Matthew Gentzkow, both Professors of Economics are new members of the National Academy of Sciences – one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Digital Addiction is Real

A new working paper, "Digital Addiction" by Matthew Gentzkow and his colleagues suggest that "self-control problems magnified by habit formation are responsible for 31% of social media use."

Lives Saved: An Examination of Lockdown Policies

SIEPR Senior Fellow Matthew Gentzkow finds that social distancing clearly saves lives. And most social distancing early in the pandemic happened whether or not areas had mandated lockdowns.

Political Polarization Did Not Increase With COVID-19, Stanford Research Finds

"Matthew Gentzkow and his colleagues: Stanford PhD students Levi Boxell and Jacob Conway, and Professor James Druckman of Northwestern University find that negative sentiment between Republicans and Democrats decreased after the onset of the pandemic.

How segregated are we? Stanford researchers examine exposure to racial diversity

Stanford economists, Matthew Gentzkow and Susan Athey, using GPS data to analyze people’s movements, found that in most U.S. metropolitan areas, people’s day-to-day experiences are less segregated than traditional measures would suggest.