Christopher Neilson joined New York University Stern School of Business as a Research Scholar in July 2014. In June 2015 he will move to Princeton University, where he has a joint appointment at the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Professor Neilson is an applied microeconomist and his research focuses on the study of markets where private firms compete with public providers and there are substantial subsidies and regulation. He studies how these market features interact to affect the strategic behavior of firms, drawing on insights from the industrial organization literature. He uses this framework in the design and evaluation of public policies when the supply-side reaction is expected to be an important part of the story. In particular, his research in policy evaluation looks to quantify the impact of a policy while tracing out the demand and supply mechanisms behind said effect.

A second theme in Professor Neilson's research agenda is to focus on working with governments and administrative offices that are currently designing or implementing policies that are relevant to his areas of interest.

In his recent research, Professor Neilson has applied these ideas to the study of education markets in Chile. These markets have a significant private sector, and public-private interaction is a dominant feature of the market. In ongoing work he is exploring similar concepts in new projects working with the governments of Peru, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. His general fields of study include public economics, labor economics and industrial organization.

Prior to earning his Ph.D., Professor Neilson worked at the Central Bank of Chile as the personal aide to the governor, Jose De Gregorio, for three years. He also taught macroeconomics and applied numerical methods at the University of Chile as a lecturer for three years.

Professor Neilson earned a B.A. and Msc. in Economics from the University of Chile and an M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

Business Professor