Mario Macis, PhD

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. He studies the role of incentives in shaping pro-social behavior, attitudes toward morally contentious exchanges and, more generally, the determinants of social support for market-based solutions to social problems. He is also interested in various topics in health, development, labor and organizational economics. These topics include the determinants of wage inequality (gender discrimination, international trade), the role of incentives, behavioral interventions and social networks in addressing the under-detection of infectious diseases, and the adoption of efficient management practices in health care organizations.

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, and the United Nations Development Programme. 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

• "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

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

• Biden bid for federal workers to get COVID-19 shots prompts debate, Roll Call, 28 July 2021.
• Incentives for COVID vaccination, NPR Marketplace Podcast, 12 May 2021.
• A quirk in the law means that America's kidney shortage costs taxpayers. The Economist. February 22, 2020.
• Should We Pay People to Donate Blood? BBC News (November 15, 2018)  
• When Women Run Companies, The Atlantic (December 27, 2016)
• How a Woman CEO Affects Sales and Salaries, Wall Street Journal (December 13, 2016)
• Without Matching Bone Marrow Donors, 3,000 Americans Die Each Year, Forbes (August 31, 2016)
• How To Convince People To Solve The Organ Shortage, Forbes, (January 12, 2015)
• The Economics Behind Baltimore's Drug Trade, Fox5 News (November 13, 2015)
• Is There a Moral Way to Fix America's Kidney Shortage?, The Atlantic (January 22, 2015).
• How much can you get for selling your body (parts)?, The Guardian (January 13, 2014).