Paul Oyer

Professor, Economics

Contact Info

+1 (650) 736-1047

Personal Website

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PaulOyer

Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics

Academic Area:

Economics

Research Statement

Paul Oyer studies the economics of organizations and human resource practices. His work has looked at the use of broad-based stock option plans, how firms use non-cash benefits, how firms respond to limits on their ability to displace workers, and how labor market conditions affect their entire careers when MBAs and PhD economists leave school. Oyer’s current projects include studies of how firms identify and recruit workers in high-skill and competitive labor markets, with a focus on the markets for newly minted lawyers and MBAs.

Research Interests

Labor Economics
Personnel Economics
Incentives
Matching Firms and Workers

Bio

Paul Oyer is The Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economics and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Labor Economics.

Paul does research in the field of personnel economics. In addition, he is the author of two books published in 2014. “Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating” is an entertaining and non-technical explanation of numerous key ideas in microeconomics using examples from online dating, as well as labor markets and many product markets. “Roadside MBA” (with Michael Mazzeo and Scott Schaefer) is a non-technical Strategy guide for small businesses based on the authors’ extensive travel around the US interviewing small business owners.

Before moving to the GSB in 2000, Paul was on the faculty of the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. In his pre-academic life, he worked for the management consulting firm of Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, as well as for the high technology firms 3Com Corporation and ASK Computer Systems. He holds a BA in math and computer science from Middlebury College, an MBA from Yale University, and an MA and PhD in economics from Princeton University. When not teaching or doing research, Paul runs, swims, skis, hangs out with his two college-age children, and walks his flat-coated retriever.

Academic Degrees

PhD in Economics, Princeton University, 1996
MA in Economics, Princeton University, 1994
MBA, Yale University School of Management, 1989
BA, Middlebury College, Mathematics and Computer Science, 1985

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2002-2009.
Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2009-2011
Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2000-2002.
Assistant Professor of Management and Strategy, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1996-2000
Faculty Research Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 1998-2000
Affiliate, Center for the Study of Industrial Organization, Northwestern University, 2000

Professional Experience

Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003-present
Market Analyst, ASK Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA, 1991-1992
Product Manager, 3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, 1990-1991
Production Planner, 3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, 1989-1990
Research Associate, Booz Allen and Hamilton, Inc., New York, NY, 1985-1987

Awards and Honors

Lacob Family Faculty Fellow, Stanford GSB, 2013-2014
Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics, Stanford GSB, 2011-present
Louise and Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr. Faculty Scholar, 2008-2009
Morgridge Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 2000-2001

Publications

Journal Articles

Personnel Economics

Edward Lazear, Paul Oyer. The Handbook of Organizational Economics. Princeton University Press, 2013, Pages 479-519.

Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives

Paul Oyer, Scott Schaefer. Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 4B. Great Britain: North Holland, 2011, Pages 1769-1823.

A Theory of Sales Quotas with Limited Liability and Rent Sharing

Paul Oyer. Journal of Labor Economics. July 2000, Vol. 18, Issue 3, Pages 405-426.

The timeliness of performance information in determining executive compensation

Kevin F. Hallock, Paul Oyer. Journal of Corporate Finance. December 1999, Vol. 5, Issue 4, Pages 303-321.

Books

Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners

Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, Scott Schaefer Business Plus, June 10, 2014.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating

Paul Oyer Harvard Business Review Press, 2014.

Working Papers

Exploration for Human Capital: Evidence from the MBA Labor Market | PDF

Paul Oyer, Camelia Kuhnen, March 2014

Welcome to the Club: The Returns to an Elite Degree for American Lawyers | PDF

Paul Oyer, Scott Schaefer, December 2012

Firm/Employee Matching: An Industry Study of American Lawyers | PDF

Paul Oyer, Scott Schaefer, October 2012

Managerial Incentives and Value Creation: Evidence from Private Equity | PDF

Philip Leslie, Paul Oyer, September 2008

Courses Taught

Degree Courses

2015-16

MGTECON 527: Business and Public Policy Perspectives on U.S. Inequality

This class will analyze the growth in inequality in the US over the last several decades and how that trend is likely to continue or change in the future. We will ask if and how public policy can affect inequality. We will also focus on business'...

MGTECON 691: PhD Directed Reading (ACCT 691, FINANCE 691, GSBGEN 691, HRMGT 691, MKTG 691, OB 691, OIT 691, POLECON 691, STRAMGT 691)

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.

MGTECON 692: PhD Dissertation Research (ACCT 692, FINANCE 692, GSBGEN 692, HRMGT 692, MKTG 692, OB 692, OIT 692, POLECON 692, STRAMGT 692)

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the...

MGTECON 698: Doctoral Practicum in Teaching

Doctoral Practicum in Teaching

MGTECON 699: Doctoral Practicum in Research

Doctoral Practicum in Research

MGTECON 802: TGR Dissertation (ACCT 802, FINANCE 802, GSBGEN 802, HRMGT 802, MKTG 802, OB 802, OIT 802, POLECON 802, STRAMGT 802)

STRAMGT 546: Strategies for Growth

This course will develop Business Strategy frameworks, some of which will be familiar from the core Strategy class and others of which will be new, and apply them to growing businesses. We will look at companies attempting to grow, as well as...

2014-15

GSBGEN 526: Finding the Right Match: Jobs, School, and Love

We will analyze markets that match people to other parties. We will spend one day each on the job market, higher education, and life partners. We will investigate the following issues:n- Can we expect a competitive environment to lead to an...

MGTECON 209: MSx: Economics

This course is an introduction to Microeconomics, focusing on microeconomic concepts relevant to managerial decision making. Topics include demand and supply, cost structure, price discrimination, perfect competition, externalities, and the...

MGTECON 652: Personnel Economics

This seminar will examine applications of labor economics to business issues and firms' practices. Material will include both theoretical and empirical work, and the syllabus will range from classics in Personnel Economics to current (unpublished...

STRAMGT 546: Small Business Strategy

This course will develop Business Strategy frameworks, some of which will be familiar from the core Strategy class and others of which will be new, and apply them to small businesses. Some of the businesses we will look at will be established...

2013-14

MGTECON 209: MSx: Economics

OIT 265: Data and Decisions

This is the base version of D&D. This course introduces the fundamental concepts and techniques for analyzing risk and formulating sound decisions in uncertain environments. Approximately half of the course focuses on probability and its...

STRAMGT 279: MSx: Global Strategic Management

This course introduces the basic concepts of strategic management, focusing on their application in a semi-globalized world, where international borders are less significant than in the past but still very important. There are texts that will be...

STRAMGT 546: Small Business Strategy

We will visit and analyze four local small businesses. (I hope we will visit all four companies but, when it makes more sense logistically, we may meet the manager at the GSB). The companies will vary from very small companies with limited growth...

Conferences, Talks, and Speaking Engagements

Video: How Economics Can Help You Find Love Online
Paul Oyer explains how Nobel Prize-winning economic theories can help you find true love online in his book "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating."
Audio: The Economics of Online Dating
Paul Oyer, Stanford economist and the author of "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating," explains the marketplace of online love.