Ryan Cooper, Scholar in Strategy, Economics, and Healthcare Management

Analyzing the human capital and decisions of individuals within firms using a sophisticated econometric toolkit.

Organizational Economics and Strategy

I focus my research on the economic and organizational factors that influence individual decision-making in markets and firms. These include both input-related factors - such as knowledge sharing, problem-solving routines, and human capital - and output-related factors such as incentives. Firms who understand how their managers and workers make the decisions that determine profitability are able to influence those individuals to make decisions that lead to the best possible outcomes for the organization.

Healthcare Management

One of my primary industries of interest is the healthcare industry. This is partly due to my background, having worked for a major medical software company before returning to school to pursue an MBA. It is also an extremely important industry to the economy, both in terms of spending and in terms of its effects on the everyday lives of the people who contribute to the economy. It is an industry in a period of great change, which makes it a fertile setting for economic and strategic research. Furthermore, when it comes to my own research agenda, the importance of decision-making and problem-solving by healthcare practitioners to the performance of healthcare organizations makes it a natural fit for the questions I am interested in answering.