Short bio
Juan D. Carrillo is a Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California and a Research Fellow in the Industrial Organization and Public Policy programs of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Before coming to USC, he was an Assistant Professor at the Free University of Brussels and an Associate Professor at Columbia Business School. Professor Carrillo has worked in Mechanism Design, Theory of Organizations, Political Economics and Behavioral Economics. He has published his research in leading journals such as the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics Studies and the Journal of Economic Theory and edited two books in Psychology and Economics. His current research interests include Neuroeconomic Theory and Experimental Economics.
Neuroeconomic Theory
This interdisciplinary line of investigation combines research from subfields in neuroscience
and economics. Experimental neuroscience and neurobiology provide detailed evidence of the
functionality, interconnectivity and physiological limitations of the brain systems
involved in the process of decision-making. Microeconomic theory supplies the toolkit to build
simple economic models that incorporate these system interactions and well-defined constraints
in the mechanisms of choice.
Neuroeconomic theory (representative publications)
"Value computation and modulation: a neuroeconomic theory of self-control as constrained optimization"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Journal of Economic Theory (2021)"Resource Allocation in the Brain"
R. Alonso, I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Review of Economic Studies (2014)."From Perception to Action: an Economic Model of Brain Processes"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Games and Economic Behavior (2012)."The Brain as a Hierarchical Organization"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, American Economic Review (2008).
More information can be found in the website of our neuroeconomic laboratory:
Theoretical REsearch in Neuroeconomic
Decision-making (TREND)
Experimental Economics
Our laboratory departs from most traditional experimental economics labs in two respects.
First, we put a special emphasis on the collection and analysis of "non choice" data. These include
reaction times, attentional data (mouse-tracking and eye-tracking), electrodermal responses, brain
activity and other physiological measures. Second, we study populations that have been traditionally
neglected in most economic experiments. These include children, older adults and subjects with
diseases.
Experiments with children (representative publications)
We have been recently interested in studying decision making from a developmental perspective
"Steps of reasoning in children and adolescents"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Journal of Political Economy (2021)"The development of randomization and deceptive behavior in mixed strategy games"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Quantitative Economics (2021)"Young children use commodities as an indirect medium of exchange"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Games and Economic Behavior (2021)"The Evolution of Choice and Learning in the Two-Person Beauty Contest Game from Kindergarten to Adulthood"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Games and Economic Behavior (2020)"Iterative Dominance in Young Children: Experimental Evidence in Simple Two-Person Games"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2020)."The development of consistent decision-making across economic domains"
I. Brocas, J.D. Carrillo, D. Combs and N. Kodaverdian, Games and Economic Behavior (2019).
Experiments using mousetracking (representative publications)
"The Path to Equilibrium in Sequential and Simultaneous Games: a Mousetracking Study"
I. Brocas, J.D. Carrillo and A. Sachdeva, Journal of Economic Theory (2018).
"Imperfect Choice or Imperfect Attention? Understanding Strategic Thinking in Private Information Games"
I. Brocas, J.D. Carrillo, S. Wang and C. Camerer, Review of Economic Studies (2014).
Experiments in time perception (representative publications)
"How Long is a Minute?"
I. Brocas, J.D. Carrillo and J. Tarraso, Games and Economic Behavior (2018)."Self Awareness of Biases in Time Perception"
I. Brocas, J.D. Carrillo and J. Tarraso, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2018).
More information can be found in the website of our experimental laboratory:
Los Angeles Behavioral Economics Laboratory (LABEL)
"Older" research
Trained as a Microeconomic theorist, I have worked in the past on a variety of topics on Mechanism Design, Theory of Organizations, Political Economics and Behavioral Economics (and some hobby interest in Sports Economics).
In an often neglected precursor to the so-called "Bayesian persuasion" literature, my co-author and I proposed a two-state, two-signal, sequential sampling model of public information acquisition. The paper shows that a sender can affect the action of a receiver by controlling the flow of information. This result has become the central idea of the subsequent literature.
"Influence through Ignorance"
I. Brocas and J.D. Carrillo, RAND Journal of Economics (2007).
Prior to Neuroeconomic theory, I was interested in using insights from Psychology to understand economic behavior. Using the (at the time unpopular) quasi-hyperbolic time preferences, my co-author and I proposed a theory to explain why an individual would remain strategically ignorant of his own utility of consumption as a commitment device against temptation.
"Strategic Ignorance as a Self-Disciplining Device"
J.D. Carrillo and T. Mariotti, Review of Economic Studies (2000).