Mario Macis portrait

Mario Macis, PhD

Professor
Academic AreaEconomics
Academic AreaHealth
Academic AreaManagement & Organization
Areas of InterestProsocial behavior, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation, Morally Controversial Transactions, Health economics, Experimental Economics, Development Economics, Labor and Human Resources Economics

Mario Macis (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Economics at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. He is also Core Faculty at the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative (HBHI), Affiliate Faculty at the JHU Berman Institute of Bioethics, and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA, Bonn). Between 2016 and 2019, he served as Academic Program Director of Carey's MS in Health Care Management.

Prof. Macis is an applied economist with a broad range of interests at the intersection of markets, policy, and society, with a special emphasis on health-related issues. His main focus is on understanding the factors that influence people's support for markets and market-based solutions to social problems, attitudes toward regulation and technology, and the impact of these elements on economic and social outcomes. This includes a strong interest in exploring how incentives, social norms, and moral values shape individual choices and societal policies.  Prof. Macis’s work contributes to the fields of health, labor, development, market design, and managerial economics. 

Prior to joining Carey, he was a faculty member at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business. He received is PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, Department of Economics. Prof. Macis has been a consultant for the World Bank, the International Labor Organization, the National Marrow Donor Program, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization. He also served in a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine committee.

Education

  • PhD, Economics, University of Chicago
  • MA, Economics, University of Chicago
  • BA (laurea), Economics and Social Disciplines (DES), Bocconi University

Research

Selected publications

  • “Is the Price Right? The Role of Economic Tradeoffs in Explaining Reactions to Price Surges” (with Julio Elias and Nicola Lacetera). R&R, Management Science. 
  • “Privacy, Policy, and Profits: Survey of Patient Values and Preferences for Research on De-Identified Biosamples” (with Marielle Gross, Amelia Hood, Jeffrey Kahn). R&R, Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics.
  • “Trust and Health Care Seeking Behavior" (with Michael Darden). NBER Working Paper N 32028.
  • "Paying for Kidneys? A Randomized Survey and Choice Experiment", American Economic Review, 2019, 109(8) (with Julio Elias and Nicola Lacetera).
  • "Do Female Executives Make a Difference? The Impact of Female Leadership on Firm Performance and Gender Gaps". The Economic Journal, 2019, 129(622) (with Luca Flabbi, Andrea Moro, and Fabiano Schivardi).
  • "Exports and Wages: Rent Sharing, Workforce Composition or Returns to Skills?", Journal of Labor Economics, 2016, 3(4) (with Fabiano Schivardi)."Rewarding Volunteers: A Field Experiment", Management Science, 2014, 60(5) (with Nicola Lacetera and Robert Slonim).
  • "Removing Financial Barriers To Organ and Bone Marrow Donation: The Effect Of Leave And Tax Legislation In The US", Journal of Health Economics, 2014, 33 (with Nicola Lacetera and Sarah Stith).
  • "Economic Rewards to Motivate Blood Donations", Science, 24 May 2013, Vol. 340 (with Nicola Lacetera and Robert Slonim).
  • "Will There Be Blood? Incentives and Displacement Effects in Pro-Social Behavior", American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2012, 4(1) (with Nicola Lacetera and Robert Slonim).
  • "Do Unemployment Benefits Promote or Hinder Job Reallocation?", Journal of Development Economics 2010, 93: 109-125 (with Tito Boeri).

Working paper

  • Expectations, reference points, and compliance with COVID-19 social-distancing measures (with Guglielmo Briscese, Nicola Lacetera and Mirco Tonin). National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper N. 26916.
  • Management, supervision, and health care: a field experiment. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper N. 25279. Accepted, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy (with Felipe Dunsch, David Evans and Ezinne Eze-Ajoku).
  • Incentivized peer referrals for tuberculosis screening: evidence from India. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper N. 23749. Accepted, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (with Jessica Goldberg and Pradeep Chintagunta).

Teaching

Current

  • Business Microeconomics
  • Applied Behavioral Strategy for Organizational and Social Impact
  • Italy Global Immersion - Health Care in Europe: Models, Regulation and Business

Honors and distinctions

  • Dean’s Award for Faculty Excellence 2015-2018.
  • Johns Hopkins University Discovery Award, 2016.
  • Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award, 2015.
  • Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, 2013.

Impact and engagement

Policy

  • Committee member, National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine committee on “A Fairer and More Equitable, Cost-Effective, and Transparent System of Donor Organ Procurement, Allocation, and Distribution”, 2020-2022.
  • Expert panelist at Congressional staff briefing on “The kidney shortage: short-term salves and long-term solutions,” Rayburn House Office Building, October 4, 2019.
  • Co-author of "Socio-economic impact assessment of Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean". Report of the United Nations Development Programme, 2017
  • Expert panelist at Congressional staff briefing on the legal, ethical, and economic issues surrounding compensation for bone marrow, Russell Senate Office Building, November 15, 2016.

In the media

Jump to top of page