Stephen P. Zeldes
Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Economics
Co-director
Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University
BS, Brown, 1978; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984
Joined CBS in 1996
Office:
548
Kravis
Phone:
212-854-2492
E-mail:
[email protected]
Fax:
212-208-4699
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Stephen P. Zeldes is the Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He serves as co-director of the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. He served as chair of the school’s Finance and Economics division from 2014-17.
In his research, Professor Zeldes has examined a wide range of applied issues in both macroeconomics and household finance, including consumer borrowing and saving, social security, retirement account portfolio choices, public and private pensions, and annuitization. His research has been published in the leading academic journals. Professor Zeldes’ teaching includes courses in macroeconomics, an interdisciplinary course titled “The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance,” and a class titled “FinTech: Consumer Financial Services.” In 2012, he was a recipient of the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in a Core Course, and in 2013 he received the Dean’s Award for Innovation in the Curriculum.
Professor Zeldes is a Research Associate and director of the Working Group on Household Finance at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Pension Research Council, and a fellow at the TIAA-CREF Institute. Prior to joining the Columbia faculty in 1996, Zeldes was a Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1984 and his bachelor’s degree in economics and applied mathematics from Brown University in 1978.
Memberships & Affiliations
Research Associate and Director of Household Finance Working Group
Member of the Advisory Board
TIAA-CREF Institute
Teaching
Spring 2022
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(MBA)
The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(EMBA)
Spring 2021
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(MBA)
The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(EMBA)
Spring 2020
The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(EMBA)
Spring 2019
The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(EMBA)
Spring 2018
The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(MBA)
FinTech: Consumer Financial Services
(EMBA)
Columbia Caseworks cases
Innovate or Fail: Western Union versus Digital Competitors in Global Remittances
(2022)
Coauthor(s): R. A. Farrokhnia, Stephen P. Zeldes
CommonBond and Student Loan Refinancing
(2021)
Coauthor(s): Eric J. Johnson, Stephen P. Zeldes
Note on the Prepaid Card Industry
(2013)
Coauthor(s): R.A. Farrokhnia, Stephen P. Zeldes
Keep the Change: Bank of America’s Savings Program
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Eric J. Johnson, Stephen P. Zeldes
Betterment
(2017)
Coauthor(s): Eric J. Johnson, Stephen P. Zeldes
Spend! Save! Consumer Life-Cycle Planning
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Nicholas S. Souleles, Stephen P. Zeldes
Should the U.S. Privatize Social Security?
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Stephen P. Zeldes
Reducing Inflation in Argentina: Mission Impossible?
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Fernando Alvarez, Stephen P. Zeldes
The Big News
(2008)
Coauthor(s): Anil Kashyap, Stephen P. Zeldes
Research
Journal articles
Cost Saving and the Freezing of Corporate Pension Plans
In Journal of Public Economics
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Stephen Zeldes, Joshua Rauh, Irina Stefanescu
What Makes Annuitization More Appealing?
In Journal of Public Economics
(2014)
Coauthor(s): James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, John Beshears, Stephen Zeldes
How Should Public Pension Plans Invest?
In American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Deborah Lucas, Stephen Zeldes
Do the Rich Save More?
In Journal of Political Economy
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Stephen Zeldes, Karen Dynan, Jonathan Skinner
Commentary
In Economic Policy Review
(2002)
Coauthor(s): Stephen Zeldes
The Importance of Bequest and Life-Cycle Saving in Capital Accumulation: A New Answer
In American Economic Review
(2002)
Coauthor(s): Karen Dynan, Jonathan Skinner, Stephen Zeldes
Social Security Privatization: A Structure for Analysis
In American Economic Review
(1996)
Coauthor(s): Olivia Mitchell, Stephen Zeldes
Precautionary Saving and Social Insurance
In Journal of Political Economy
(1995)
Coauthor(s): R. Glenn Hubbard, Jonathan Skinner, Stephen Zeldes
The Importance of Precautionary Motives for Explaining Individual and Aggregate Saving
In Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy
(1994)
Coauthor(s): R. Glenn Hubbard, Jonathan Skinner, Stephen Zeldes
Expanding the Life-Cycle Model: Precautionary Saving and Public Policy
In American Economic Review
(1994)
Coauthor(s): R. Glenn Hubbard, Jonathan Skinner, Stephen Zeldes
Dynamic Efficiency in the Gifts Economy
In Journal of Monetary Economics
(1993)
Coauthor(s): Stephen O'Connell, Stephen Zeldes
The Consumption of Stockholders and Nonstockholders
In Journal of Financial Economics
(1991)
Coauthor(s): N. Mankiw, Stephen Zeldes
Production, Sales, and the Change in Inventories: An Identity That Doesn't Add Up
In Journal of Monetary Economics
(1989)
Coauthor(s): Jeffrey Miron, Stephen Zeldes
Optimal Consumption with Stochastic Income: Deviations from Certainty Equivalence
In Quarterly Journal of Economics
(1989)
Coauthor(s): Stephen Zeldes
Consumption and Liquidity Constraints: An Empirical Investigation
In Journal of Political Economy
(1989)
Coauthor(s): Stephen Zeldes
Rational Ponzi Games
In International Economic Review
(1988)
Coauthor(s): Stephen O'Connell, Stephen Zeldes
Seasonality, Cost Shocks, and the Production Smoothing Model of Inventories
In Econometrica
(1988)
Coauthor(s): Jeffrey Miron, Stephen Zeldes
Ricardian Consumers with Keynesian Propensities
In American Economic Review
(1986)
Coauthor(s): Robert Barsky, N. Mankiw, Stephen Zeldes
Books
Innovations in Retirement Financing
(2002)
Coauthor(s): Olivia Mitchell, Zvi Bodie, P. Hammond, Stephen Zeldes
Chapters
Market Valuation of Accrued Social Security Benefits
In Measuring and Managing Federal Financial Risk
(2010)
Coauthor(s): John Geanakoplos, Stephen Zeldes
Reforming Social Security with Progressive Personal Accounts
In Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment
(2009)
Coauthor(s): John Geanakoplos, Stephen Zeldes
Social Security Money's Worth
In Prospects for Social Security Reform
(1999)
Coauthor(s): John Geanakoplos, Olivia Mitchell, Stephen Zeldes
Would a Privatized Social Security System Really Pay a Higher Rate of Return?
In Framing the Social Security Debate: Values, Politics, and Economics
(1998)
Coauthor(s): John Geanakoplos, Olivia Mitchell, Stephen Zeldes
Ponzi Games
In New Palgrave Dictionary of Money and Finance
(1992)
Coauthor(s): Stephen O'Connell, Stephen Zeldes
Working papers
Should the Government Be Paying Investment Fees on $3 Trillion of Tax-Deferred Retirement Assets?
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Mattia Landoni, Stephen Zeldes
Education, Cognitive Performance, and Investment Fees
(2019)
Coauthor(s): John Beshears, James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, William Skimmyhorn, Stephen Zeldes
The Market Value of Social Security
(2011)
Coauthor(s): John Geanakoplos, Stephen Zeldes
Valuing and Hedging Defined Benefit Pension Obligations: The Role of Stocks Revisited
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Deborah Lucas, Stephen Zeldes
How Do Household Portfolio Shares Vary with Age?
(2004)
Coauthor(s): John Ameriks, Stephen Zeldes
Awards And Honors
For the course developed and taught with Eric Johnson, "The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance."
Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence in a Core Course, Columbia Business School, 2012
Awarded May 1997, for innovation in delivering international business knowledge in the classroom.
Winner for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security, with John Geanakoplos and Olivia Mitchell, for "Social Security Money's Worth"