[AISWorld] Post-doc opportunities at MIT Sloan Initiative on the Digital Economy

[George Westerman]

Postdoctoral Associate Job Opportunity<http://www.researchgate.net/job/10039_Postdoctoral_Associate_Job-Laboratory_for_Manufacturing_and_Productivity>

MIT<http://www.researchgate.net/job/10039_Postdoctoral_Associate_Job-Laboratory_for_Manufacturing_and_Productivity> Sloan School of Management

Initiative on the Digital Economy



Position

Three Full-time Post-Doctoral Associate positions, available June 2019 for two years.



Employer

MIT Sloan School of Management’s Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE) http://ide.mit.edu



Location

Cambridge, MA



Job Description

The IDE seeks three Postdoctoral Associates:



The first two positions will have a priority project, led by Professor Brynjolfsson, as well as the opportunity to work with other MIT faculty and postdocs / PhD students on additional topics.



Position 1 will focus on measurement of consumer welfare using massive online choice experiments (www.measuringtheeconomy.org<https://www.measuringtheeconomy.org/>). The digital economy creates both challenges and opportunities for economic measurement. The key challenge associated with it is that many of the digital goods have zero price and are hence excluded from GDP and productivity measures. This project is directly measuring consumer welfare and the digital economy using massive online choice experiments.



Position 2 will focus on the capabilities of AI, machine learning, and other technologies in the context of occupations and the economy (https://tinyurl.com/y84h7cvc). Concern about automation’s impact on employment is growing as rapid advances in machine learning (ML), many based on deep neural networks, are poised to generate significant economic value and transform numerous occupations and industries. This project addresses the question of whether—or to what extent--machines will replace human labor.



Position 3 will focus on “Applications of Blockchain”.  We have recently launched a new area of research which will broadly explore the application of blockchain technologies.  Our intention is to build a portfolio or research projects which explore and test the implementation of blockchain technology.  Initial research is focusing on:



·        Developing innovative applications of blockchain and related technologies in supply chain traceability and auditing, with particular interest in Food Safety and similar applications in China

·        Developing innovative food safety databases and automated tools, applications of data models (regression, machine learning, neural net, etc.)

·        Exploring the potential applications of quantum computing and quantum information



In addition to these specific priority projects, each post-doctoral associate will have the opportunity to work with other researchers at MIT on topics of mutual interest, when not working on the priority projects. High-level topic areas in MIT IDE include: the effects of technology on skills and wages, mega-scale digital experimentation, platform business model economics and governance, behavioral economics, social prediction, and others.  Our research projects balance rigor and relevance, aiming to produce papers for top academic journals while also informing policy and practice through other contributions such as industry reports, practitioner journals, and conferences.



Requirements for Positions 1 and 2:

Highly motivated postdoctoral researcher(s) with extensive experience in (1) data processing, data analysis, and econometrics; and (2) familiarity with and interest in the literatures on economics of digitization, innovation, organizational economics, and/or business strategy.  Must be able to work well with academics and industry executives alike.  Econometrics skill and interest must be strong as demonstrated by prior research.  English language skills (verbal and written) must be strong.  PhD in a Management Science, Economics, or IS Economics field with the Doctorate conferred prior to start date.



Requirements for Position 3:

Highly motivated postdoctoral researcher(s) with interest and experience in (1) distributed data-bases, blockchain applications, and disruptive technologies; and (2) familiarity with and interest in the literatures on innovation, organizational economics, and/or business strategy.  Must be able to work well with academics and industry executives alike.  Fluent English and Chinese language skills (verbal and written) must be strong.  PhD in a related field must be conferred prior to start date.



Salary

Commensurate with experience, and competitive with similar positions.



To apply

Please send a CV, letter of intent, and research sample to IDE Executive Director David Verrill (dverrill at mit.edu<mailto:dverrill at mit.edu>) by December 15, 2018.  Select candidates will be interviewed at ICIS, WISE or AEA conferences in December and January.  For those not attending any of these conferences, phone interviews will be scheduled in January 2019.



About the MIT Sloan School of Management and Initiative on the Digital Economy

The MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE – ide.mit.edu<http://ide.mit.edu>) is a team of internationally recognized thought leaders and researchers examining how people and businesses work, interact, and prosper in a time of rapid digital transformation.  Key elements of our work include a robust research (35 projects across four “pillars” of research) and publication agenda; convenings for scholars, practitioners, funders, and policymakers focused on the future of work; an Inclusive Innovation Challenge that celebrates organizations doing exemplary work on how to make today's economic gains more "inclusive" and sustained; and public communications via leading national and international media outlets that help to amplify our findings to even broader, non-specialist audiences.  This interconnected agenda, which builds on more than a decade of related work at MIT, has enabled the IDE to become – in just three years – a prominent, trusted, and non-partisan source of fact-based research at the center of a large and growing network of experts.