Thomas A. Weber

 

Research

 

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         Interests

·         Economics of Information and Uncertainty

·         Optimal Control of Nonlinear Systems

·         Analysis of Complex Systems

·         Corporate Strategy and Public Policy (e.g., applied to Water, Banking, Carbon Markets)

Broadly speaking, I am interested in the economics of information and uncertainty, in particular the question of how social systems, which contain one or several agents, can be modeled, designed, and controlled in the presence of uncertainty, so as to attain a certain objective (e.g., social-welfare or profit maximization).  I am particularly interested in developing new theoretical models and methods that (a) have the potential to change the way in which we approach social systems and (b) integrate different levels of analysis, sometimes represented by different academic disciplines. Methodologically I am grounded in economic theory and often use mathematical tools from nonlinear variational and functional analysis, such as optimal control theory. Motivated by findings from my more applied research I have also been working on extending optimization theory, for instance by proposing a geometric approach to monotone comparative statics (‘beyond supermodularity’) and adapting the Pontryagin maximum principle.

 

          BOOKS

1.      Weber, T.A., Optimal Control Theory with Applications in Economics, Moscow State University Press, Moscow, 2009.

 

2.      Weber, T.A., Applied Information Economics (in preparation)

 

 

 

          PAPERS

 

A. Decision Making,  Information Systems, and the Value of Information

 

1.      Chehrazi, N., Weber, T.A., “Monotone Approximation of Decision Problems,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Current version: November 2009. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

2.      Weber, T.A., “Simple Methods for Evaluating and Comparing Binary Experiments,” Forthcoming, Theory and Decision [DOI 10.1007/s11238-009-9136-4]. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

3.      Weber, T.A., Zheng, Z., “A Model of Search Intermediaries and Paid Referrals,” Information Systems Research, Vol. 18, No. 4, December 2007, pp. 414—436. Original version: Working Paper 02-12-01, Department of Operations and Information Management, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Presented at the Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Barcelona, Spain (December 14-15, 2002). <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

4.      Weber, T.A., “Delayed Multiattribute Product Differentiation,” Decision Support Systems, Vol. 44, No. 2, January 2008, pp. 447—468.

 

5.      Weber, T.A., Croson, D.C., “Selling Less Information for More: Garbling with Benefits,” Economics Letters, Vol. 83, No. 2, May 2004, pp. 165—171. <Download paper in pdf>

 

6.      Weber, T.A., “The Value of Shared Information Services,” Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Information Systems, Barcelona, Spain, December 2002, pp. 209—224.

 

7.      Weber, T.A., “Mixed Versioning of Information Goods under Incomplete Information,” Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Information Systems, New Orleans, LA, December 2001, pp. 81—83. Nominated for the Best Completed Research Paper Award.

 

8.      Peña-Mora, F., Vadhavkar, S., Perkins, E., Weber, T.A., “Information Technology Planning Framework for Large-Scale Civil Infrastructure Projects,” ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Vol. 13, No. 4, October 1999, pp. 226—237.

 

 

B. Applied Economic Theory

 

1.      Weber, T.A., “Price Theory in Economics,” in: Özer, Ö., Phillips, R. (Eds.) Oxford Handbook on Pricing Management (to appear in 2010). <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

2.      Goel, A., Meyerson, A., Weber, T.A., “Fair Welfare Maximization,” Economic Theory, Vol. 41, No. 3, December 2009, pp. 465—494. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

3.      Weber, T.A., “On the Equivalence of Hicksian Welfare Measures,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Current Version: September 2009. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

4.      Bapna, A., Weber, T.A., “Efficient Allocation of Divisible Goods,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Current Version: June 2008.

 

5.      Weber, T.A., “Screening with Externalities”, Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Presented at the the 2004 Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE) at the University of Maryland, the 2005 Kiel-Munich Workshop on the Economics of Information Systems and Network Economics in Munich, Germany, and the 21st Annual Congress of the European Economic Association in Vienna, Austria (August 2006). Current Version: September 2006. Under Review. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

6.      Weber, T.A., Bapna, A., “Bayesian Incentive Compatible Parametrization of Mechanisms,” Journal of Mathematical Economics, Vol. 44, No. 3-4, February 2008, pp. 394—403. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

7.      Weber, T.A., Bapna, A., “Efficient Dynamic Allocation with Uncertain Valuations,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Presented at the 2005 INFORMS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (November 2005), the 2005 Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE), Irvine, CA (December 2005), the 2006 NSF/NBER Conference on Decentralization in Paris, France (April 2006), and the 61st European Meeting of the Econometric Society in Vienna, Austria (August 2006). Current Version: September 2006. Under Review. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

8.      Weber, T.A., Xiong, H., “Efficient Contract Design in Multi-Principal Multi-Agent Supply Chains,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Presented at the 2004 INFORMS Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (October, 2004). Current Version: November 2006. Under Review. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf> Proceedings of the of the 18th Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), Dallas, TX, May 2007.

 

9.      Strulovici, B.H., Weber, T.A., “Constructing Efficient Equilibria in Games Played Through Agents,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Current Version: November 2009.

 

10. Weber, T.A., “An Exact Relation Between Willingness To Pay and Willingness To Accept,” Economics Letters, Vol. 80, No. 3, September 2003, pp. 311—315. <Download paper in pdf>

 

11. Weber, T.A., “The Endogenous Value of Information,” Doctoral Thesis, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, April 2003. [Advisor: Prof. Paul R. Kleindorfer]

 

 

 

C. Optimization and Optimality Conditions

 

1.      Strulovici, B.H., Weber, T.A., “Monotone Comparative Statics: Geometric Approach,” Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 137, No. 3, June 2008, pp. 641—673.  <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

2.      Strulovici, B.H., Weber, T.A., “Generalized Monotonicity Analysis,” In Press, Economic Theory [DOI 10.1007/s00199-009-0450-4]. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

3.      Strulovici, B.H., Weber, T.A., “Additive Envelopes of Continuous Functions,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University. Current Version: December 2006. <View Abstract/Download paper in pdf>

 

4.      Weber, T.A., “Infinite-Horizon Optimal Advertising in a Market for Durable Goods,” Optimal Control Applications and Methods, Vol. 26, No. 6, November-December 2005, pp. 307—336.

 

5.      Weber, T.A., “Can Optimal Moving-Horizon Decision Making Become Unstable?” Working Paper 01-10-02, Department of Operations and Information Management, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Current Version: September 2001.

 

6.      Weber, T.A., “An Infinite-Horizon Maximum Principle with Bounds on the Adjoint Variable,” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Vol. 30, No. 2, February 2006, pp. 229—241. <Download paper in pdf>

 

7.      Weber, T.A., “Constrained Predictive Control for Corporate Policy,” Technical Report LIDS-TH 2398, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 1997. <Download paper in pdf> [MIT Master’s Thesis, Advisor: Prof. Alexandre Megretski]

 

8.      Weber, T.A., “New Model Predictive Control Techniques for Stabilizing Systems under Constraints,” Diploma Thesis, RWTH Aachen, Imperial College London, UK. [Advisor: Prof. Richard B. Vinter]

 

 

D. Corporate Strategy and Public Policy

 

1.      Weber, T.A., Neuhoff, K., “Carbon Markets and Technological Innovation,” Working Paper, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Current Version: June 2009. <Download paper in pdf>

 

2.      Tomkins, C.D., Weber, T.A., “Option Contracting in the California Water Market,” In Press, Journal of Regulatory Economics [DOI 10.1007/s11149-009-9107-2]. <Download paper in pdf>

 

3.      Tomkins, C.D., Weber, T.A., Freyberg, D.L., Sweeney, J.L., Thompson, B.H., “Managing Water Supply Uncertainty: Option Contracts and Short-Term Water Transfers in California,” Policy Brief, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University. September 2008. <Download paper in pdf>

 

4.      Tomkins, C.D., Weber, T.A., Freyberg, D.L., Sweeney, J.L., Thompson, B.H., “Option Contracts in Practice: A Look at Contractual and Institutional Design in the Context of California Water Transfers,” Policy Brief, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University. October 2008. <Download paper in pdf>