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David M. Kreps

David M. Kreps
Professor, Economics
Contact Info
DavidM.Kreps
Adams Distinguished Professor of Management
Professor of Economics (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Spence Faculty Fellow for 2015-2016
Academic Area: 
Economics

Research Statement

David Kreps is an economic theorist of international reputation whose path-breaking work concerns dynamic choice behavior and economic contexts in which dynamic choices are key. He has contributed to the literatures of axiomatic choice theory, financial markets, dynamic games, bounded rationality, and human resource management.

Research Interests

  • Dynamic choice
  • Human resource management
  • Behavioral economics

Bio

David Kreps joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Business in 1975, after completing a PhD in Operations Research in the Stanford School of Engineering. He has been a full professor since 1980, and today is the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Economics. From 2000 to 2009, he served as Senior Associate Dean.

Professor Kreps has been recognized for his research as a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and with an honorary doctorate from Universite Paris IX. In 1989, he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal by the American Economic Association. In 2007, he received the CME Group/MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications. In 2010 he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association. His 1989 Clarendon Lectures, Game Theory and Economic Modelling, have been translated into at least eight languages.

Professor Kreps has taught MBA and doctoral level courses in decision theory, microeconomics, statistics, operations, competitive strategy, game theory, and human resource management. He is the author or coauthor of four textbooks. In 1991, he was awarded the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2010 he was awarded the Robert T. Davis Faculty Award for his service to the GSB.

Away from work, Professor Kreps enjoys cooking and coaching youth sports. His three children think he has a lame sense of humor, of which this sentence is probably a good example.

Academic Degrees

  • MA and PhD, Stanford University, 1975
  • AB, Dartmouth College, 1972

Academic Appointments

  • Stanford GSB: Professor, 1980-present; Senior Associate Dean, 2000-09; Associate Professor, 1978-80; Assistant Professor, 1975-78
  • Tel-Aviv University, Berglas School of Economics, Sackler Fellow, 1991-2006
  • Visitor: Bocconi University 1992; St. Catherine's College Oxford 1990; CORE 1990; Tel-Aviv University 1989-90; Universite Paris IX 1986; Hebrew University 1985; Harvard University 1983; Cowles Foundation 1982; Churchill College Cambridge 1978-79

Awards and Honors

  • Coulter Family Faculty Fellow, Stanford GSB, 2013-2014
  • Robert T. Davis Faculty Award, Stanford GSB, 2010
  • Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association, 2010
  • MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications, CME Group, 2007
  • Doctorate Honoris Causa, Université Paris IX, 2001
  • John Bates Clark Medal, American Economic Association, 1989
  • Distinguished Teaching Award, MBA, Stanford GSB, 1991
  • Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, 1989-90
  • Sloan Foundation Fellow, 1983-85

Publications

Journal Articles

Renee Bowen, David M. Kreps, Andrzej Skrzypacz. Quarterly Journal of Economics. January 2013, Vol. 128, Issue 3, Pages 1273-1320.
David M. Kreps, James N. Baron. California Management Review. 1999, Vol. 41, Issue 3, Pages 29-53.
David M. Kreps. Daedalus. 1997, Vol. 126, Issue 1, Pages 59-85.
David M. Kreps. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings. 1997, Vol. 87, Issue 2, Pages 359-64.
David M. Kreps. Industrial and Corporate Change. 1996, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Pages 561-96.
David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg. Games and Economic Behavior. 1995, Vol. 8, Pages 20-55.
David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg. Games and Economic Behavior. 1993, Vol. 5, Pages 320-67.
David M. Kreps, Ayman Hindy, Chi-fu Huang. Journal of Mathematical Economics. 1992, Vol. 21, Pages 401-40.
David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg, Eric Maskin. Review of Economic Studies. 1990, Vol. 57, Pages 555-73.
David M. Kreps. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 1988, Vol. 2, Pages 111-35.
David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg, David Levine. Journal of Economic Theory. 1988, Vol. 44, Pages 354-80.
David M. Kreps, Garey Ranet. Econometrica. 1987, Vol. 55, Pages 1331-49.
David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg. Review of Economic Studies. 1987, Vol. 54, Pages 541-568.
David M. Kreps, In-koo Cho. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 1987, Vol. 102, Pages 179-221.
David M. Kreps. La Revista Espanola de Economia. 1987, Vol. 4, Pages 111-145.
David M. Kreps, Oliver D. Hart. Journal of Political Economy. 1986, Vol. 94, Pages 927-52.
David M. Kreps, Jose Scheinkman. Bell Journal of Economics. 1983, Vol. 14, Pages 326-337.
David M. Kreps, Joel S. Demski. Journal of Accounting Research. 1982, Vol. 20, Pages 117-48.
David M. Kreps, Paul R. Milgrom, John Roberts, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Theory. 1982, Vol. 27, Pages 245-252.
David M. Kreps, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Theory. 1982, Vol. 27, Pages 253-279.
David M. Kreps, Robert Wilson. Econometrica. 1982, Vol. 50, Pages 863-894.
David M. Kreps. Journal of Mathematical Economics. 1981, Vol. 8, Pages 381-408.
David M. Kreps. Econometrica. 1979, Vol. 47, Pages 91-100.
David M. Kreps, Evan L. Porteus. Econometrica. 1979, Vol. 47, Pages 91-100.
J. Michael Harrison, David M. Kreps. Journal of Economic Theory. 1979, Vol. 20, Issue 3, Pages 381–408.
David M. Kreps, Evan L. Porteus. Journal of Economic Theory. 1979, Vol. 20, Pages 81-109.
David M. Kreps. SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization. 1978, Vol. 16, Pages 420--28.
David M. Kreps, J. Michael Harrison. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 1978, Vol. 92, Pages 323-336.
David M. Kreps, Evan L. Porteus. Econometrica. 1978, Vol. 46, Issue 1, Pages 185-200.
David M. Kreps. Journal of Economic Theory. 1977, Vol. 14, Pages 32-43.
David M. Kreps. Mathematics of Operations Research. 1977, Vol. 2, Pages 45-53.
David M. Kreps. Mathematics of Operations Research. 1977, Vol. 2, Pages 266-74.
David M. Kreps, Evan L. Porteus. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics. 1977, Vol. 32, Pages 420--28.

Books

David M. Kreps Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
David M. Kreps Norton, 2004.
James N. Baron, David M. Kreps Wiley, April 1999.
David M. Kreps Oxford University Press, December 6, 1990.
David M. Kreps Princeton University Press, February 20, 1990.
David M. Kreps Westview Press, May 12, 1988.

Book Chapters

David M. Kreps, James N. Baron. The Handbook of Organizational Economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, Pages 315-41.
David M. Kreps. Research Universities and the Future of the Academic Disciplines. Chicago: Association of American Universities, 2003, Pages 49-72.
David M. Kreps. Frontiers of Research in Economic Theory: The Nancy L. Schwartz Memorial Lectures. Evanston: Northwestern University, 1998, Pages 242074.
David M. Kreps. New Palgrave Dictionary of Law and Economics. London: Macmillan, 1998.
David M. Kreps, Joel Sobel. The Handbook of Game Theory, Volume II. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994, Pages 849-67.
David M. Kreps. Economic Analysis of Markets and Games. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992.
David M. Kreps. Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
David M. Kreps. The Economics of Information, Missing Markets, and Games. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
David M. Kreps. The New Palgrave. London: Macmillan, 1987.
David M. Kreps, Margaret Bray. Kenneth Arrow and the Ascent of Economic Theory. London: Macmillan, 1987.
David M. Kreps, A. Michael Spence. Issues in Contemporary Microeconomics and Welfare. London: Macmillan and Company, 1985, Pages 340-78.
David M. Kreps. The Economics of Information and Uncertainty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
David M. Kreps, A. Michael Spence. Technological Innovation and Business Strategy. Tokyo: Nippon Keizai Shimbunsha Press, 1896.

Other Publications

David M. Kreps, Drew Fudenberg. CORE Lecture Series. Louvain-la-neuve: CORE Foundation, 1990.

Working Papers

Choosing a Good Toolkit: An Essay in Behavioral Economics
David M. Kreps, Alejandro Francetich, May 2014
Bayesian Inference Does Not Lead You Astray...On Average
David M. Kreps, Alejandro Francetich, April 2014
Motivating Consummate Effort
David M. Kreps, February 2014

Courses Taught

Degree Courses

2015-16

MGTECON 200 is one of two base-level courses in microeconomics. It covers microeconomic concepts relevant to management, including the economics of relationships, pricing decisions, perfect competition and the "invisible hand," risk aversion and...

2014-15

An organization's human resources are very often a key, even the key, to the organization's success. Human resource management (HRM) is therefore of strategic importance. We begin by surveying the fundamentals of human resource management from...

This course covers microeconomic concepts relevant to managerial decision making. Topics include: demand and supply analysis; consumer demand theory; production theory; price discrimination; perfect competition; partial equilibrium welfare...

This course provides an introduction to the foundations of modern microeconomic theory. Topics include choice theory, with and without uncertainty, consumer and producer theory, dynamic choice and dynamic programming, social choice and efficiency...

2013-14

An organization's human resources are very often a key, even the key, to the organization's success. Human resource management (HRM) is therefore of strategic importance. We begin by surveying the fundamentals of human resource management from...

This course provides an introduction to the foundations of modern microeconomic theory. Topics include choice theory, with and without uncertainty, consumer and producer theory, dynamic choice and dynamic programming, social choice and efficiency...

Service to the Profession

Member

  • U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 1997-present

Fellow

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1993-present
  • Econometric Society, 1983-present

Co-Editor

  • Econometrica, 1984-88

Program Co-Chair

  • Seventh World Congress of the Econometric Society, 1995

In the Media

The Economist, August 5, 2002

Insights by Stanford Business

March 27, 2015
An economist explains why “rational choice” is sometimes irrational.
November 1, 2000
In the last 25 years, many if not most significant innovations in economics have been driven by this methodological innovation.

School News

May 15, 2011
Seenu Srinivasan, Larry Wein, and David Kreps are appointed to new chairs.
June 14, 2008
At commencement, Dean Joss expressed appreciation for the “record-smashing” MBA class gift of more than $1.2 million, pledged by 96% of the class.