Staff profile

Cole Williams is an economist working in the fields of Industrial Organization and Political Economy.

His work studies the digital economy, with a focus on the welfare implications of steering and tracking consumers. Additionally, he explores issues surrounding social cohesion, particularly in relation to identity and belief formation via social learning.

He previously held a postdoctoral research position at the University of Vienna and received his PhD in Economics at the University of California, Irvine.

Research Interests

Industrial Organization, Political Economy

Journal Article

• Influencing Search
  
  Janssen, M. C. W., & Williams, C. (2024). Influencing Search. The RAND Journal of Economics, 55(3), 442-462. https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-2171.12475
• Intersectionality: Affirmative Action with Multidimensional Identities
  
  Carvalho, J.-P., Pradelski, B. R. S., & Williams, C. (2024). Intersectionality: Affirmative Action with Multidimensional Identities. Management Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.03839
• Consumer Search and Product Returns in E-Commerce
  
  Janssen, M., & Williams, C. (2024). Consumer Search and Product Returns in E-Commerce. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 16(2), 387-419. https://doi.org/10.1257/mic.20230040
• Resisting Education
  
  Carvalho, J.-P., Koyama, M., & Williams, C. (2024). Resisting Education. Journal of the European Economic Association. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvae008
• Echo Chambers: Social Learning under Unobserved Heterogeneity
  
  Williams, C. (2024). Echo Chambers: Social Learning under Unobserved Heterogeneity. The Economic Journal, 134(658), 837–855. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead081