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Presidential Address: The Economist as Designer in the Innovation Process for Socially Impactful Digital Products

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  • Susan Athey

Abstract

This paper provides an economic perspective on data-driven innovation in digital products, focusing on the role of complex experiments in measuring and improving social impact. The discussion highlights how tools and insights from economics contribute to each stage of the innovation process. Key contributions include identifying problems, developing theoretical frameworks, translating goals into measurable outcomes, analyzing historical data, and estimating counterfactual outcomes. The paper also surveys recently developed tools designed to address challenges in designing and analyzing data from complex experiments.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Athey, 2025. "Presidential Address: The Economist as Designer in the Innovation Process for Socially Impactful Digital Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(4), pages 1059-1099, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:115:y:2025:i:4:p:1059-99
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.115.4.1059
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas Chupein & Rachel Glennerster, 2018. "Evidence-Informed Policy from an International Perspective," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 678(1), pages 62-70, July.
    2. John A. List, 2024. "Optimally generate policy-based evidence before scaling," Nature, Nature, vol. 626(7999), pages 491-499, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Herbert Dawid & Philipp Harting & Hankui Wang & Zhongli Wang & Jiachen Yi, 2025. "Agentic Workflows for Economic Research: Design and Implementation," Papers 2504.09736, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services

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