M. Keith Chen
Professor of Economics
About
Keith Chen teaches MBA core strategy and Ph.D. behavioral economics. His research blurs traditional disciplinary boundaries in both subject and methodology, bringing unorthodox tools to bear on problems at the intersection of economics, psychology and biology. Chen’s most recent work focuses on how people’s economic choices are influenced by the structure of their language. His work has shown that how a person’s language encodes future events influences future-oriented behaviors as diverse as saving, smoking and safe sex.
Topics
![Photo of M. Keith Chen](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/m-keith-chen.jpg)
9 Articles
![Police cars and officers on highway at night.](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AR-thumb-police-presence.png)
Smartphone Records Reveal Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Policing
Police patrol Black areas more frequently than others with similar homicide rates and income levels
![](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-logo-news-coverage-wsj.png)
Why Remote Work Could Lead to Less Innovation
A new study suggests that when employees from one company run into employees from another company, creative sparks fly
![Two men sit on a bench in a scene from the TV show "Silicon Valley."](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AR-thumb-chance-encounters.jpg)
The Role of Chance Encounters in Silicon Valley Innovation
Cellphone signals and patent citations approximate a theory’s long-sought paper trail
![An overhead photo of two gentlemen on love seat one of whom is shaking hands with a man in an orange chair](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AR-thumb-facetime-acquisitions.jpg)
Face-to-Face Meetings, Before an Acquisition, Improve Outcomes for Buyers
Acquiring companies appear to get a better deal following frequent in-person meetings
![View of a hurricane from space](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AR-hurricane-hero-760x570.jpg)
Amid Unfounded ‘Hurricane Skepticism,’ Trump Voters Were Less Likely to Evacuate
Only after a Rush Limbaugh broadcast did evacuation rates diverge politically
![Nurses washing their hands outdoors while wearing face masks](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AR-nursing-networks-hero-760x570.jpg)
Employees Work at Multiple Nursing Homes and Spread COVID-19
Smartphone GPS tracks staffers between facilities
![People standing in line with face masks](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AR-race-voting-hero-760x570.jpg)
A Tool for Uncovering Voter Suppression
Smartphone data reveals that wait times at the polls are much longer for black people
![Empty Times Square in New York in blue (left side); "Quarantine Overkill" sign held by a woman at a rally in red (right)](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AR-covid-politics-hero-760x570.jpg)
How Clinton and Trump Voters Behave in — and Spread — a Pandemic
Estimates are based on smartphone data and precinct-level 2016 vote results
![A family eating at the dinner table](https://anderson-review.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AR-holiday-politics-hero-760x570.jpg)
Holiday Meals Shortened by Political Divide
Cell phone location data and local voting records measure discord