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Economics

Developing sophisticated approaches and systems to deliver the broadest selection of products and services at the lowest prices.

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  • The synthetic control method (SCM) has become a popular tool for estimating causal effects in policy evaluation, where a single treated unit is observed. However, SCM faces challenges in accurately predicting postintervention potential outcomes had, contrary to fact, the treatment been withheld, when the pre-intervention period is short or the post-intervention period is long. To address these issues, we
  • Francesco Furno, Domenico Giannone
    IAAE 2023, Research Methods and Applications on Macroeconomic Forecasting
    2024
    We propose a simple yet robust framework to nowcast recession risk at a monthly frequency in both the United States and the Euro Area. Our nowcast leverages both macroeconomic and financial conditions, and is available the first business day after the reference month closes. In particular, we argue that financial conditions are not only useful to predict future downturns–as emphasized by the existing literature–but
  • 2023 Conference on Digital Experimentation @ MIT (CODE@MIT)
    2023
    Online A/B tests have become an indispensable tool across all the technology industry: if performed correctly, “online” experiments can inform effective decision making and product development. It should therefore not be surprising that Gupta et al. [2019] estimates that online businesses alone collectively run hundreds of thousands of experiments annually. Modern online experiments are often run in marketplaces
  • 2023 Conference on Digital Experimentation @ MIT (CODE@MIT)
    2023
    Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) are widely used across Amazon to causally estimate impacts of proposed feature changes, in order to make data-driven launch decisions. A key element of experimental design is the level of randomization, and the choice often relies on the cross-unit interaction structure. For instance, in the context of advertiser experiments, a treatment may affect the outcome of control
  • 2023 Conference on Digital Experimentation @ MIT (CODE@MIT)
    2023
    There are many experimental settings that may suffer from cross-unit (customers, seller, advertiser, etc.) spillovers, for instance through network effects. Such effects introduce bias and prevent the experimenter from drawing trustworthy insights on the data. One approach to dealing with such spillovers is to group units into clusters and randomize treatment status at the cluster level. Examples of clusters

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US, NY, New York
We are looking for detail-oriented, organized, and responsible individuals who are eager to learn how to apply their structural econometrics skillsets to solve real world problems. The intern will work in the area of Amazon Private Brands and develop models to improve our product selection. Our PhD Economist Internship Program offers hands-on experience in applied economics, supported by mentorship, structured feedback, and professional development. Interns work on real business and research problems, building skills that prepare them for full-time economist roles at Amazon and beyond. You will learn how to build data sets and perform applied econometric analysis collaborating with economists, scientists, and product managers. These skills will translate well into writing applied chapters in your dissertation and provide you with work experience that may help you with placement. These are full-time positions at 40 hours per week, with compensation being awarded on an hourly basis. About the team The Amazon Private Brands science advance team applies Machine Learning, Statistics and Econometrics/economics to solve high-impact business problems, develop prototypes for Amazon-scale science solutions, and optimize key business functions of Amazon Private Brands and other Amazon orgs. We are an interdisciplinary team, using science and technology and leveraging the strengths of engineers and scientists to build solutions for some of the toughest business problems at Amazon, covering areas such as pricing, discovery, negotiation, forecasting, supply chain and product selection/development.
US, WA, Seattle
Amazon Prime is looking for an ambitious Economist Intern to help create econometric insights for world-wide Prime. Prime is Amazon's premiere membership program, with over 200M members world-wide. This role is at the center of many major company decisions that impact Amazon's customers. These decisions span a variety of industries, each reflecting the diversity of Prime benefits. These range from fast-free e-commerce shipping, digital content (e.g., exclusive streaming video, music, gaming, photos), reading, healthcare, and grocery offerings. Prime Science creates insights that power these decisions. As an economist intern in this role, you will create statistical tools that embed causal interpretations. You will utilize massive data, state-of-the-art scientific computing, econometrics (causal, counterfactual/structural, experimentation), and machine-learning, to do so. Some of the science you create will be publishable in internal or external scientific journals and conferences. You will work closely with a team of economists, applied scientists, data professionals (business analysts, business intelligence engineers), product managers, and software/data engineers. You will create insights from descriptive statistics, as well as from novel statistical and econometric models. You will create internal-to-Amazon-facing automated scientific data products to power company decisions. You will write strategic documents explaining how senior company leaders should utilize these insights to create sustainable value for customers. These leaders will often include the senior-most leaders at Amazon. The team is unique in its exposure to company-wide strategies as well as senior leadership. It operates at the research frontier of utilizing data, econometrics, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning to form business strategies. A successful candidate will have demonstrated a capacity for building, estimating, and defending statistical models (e.g., causal, counterfactual, machine-learning) using software such as R, Python, or STATA. They will have a willingness to learn and apply a broad set of statistical and computational techniques to supplement deep training in one area of econometrics. For example, many applications on the team motivate the use of structural econometrics and machine-learning. They rely on building scalable production software, which involves a broad set of world-class software-building skills often learned on-the-job. As a consequence, already-obtained knowledge of SQL, machine learning, and large-scale scientific computing using distributed computing infrastructures such as Spark-Scala or PySpark would be a plus. Additionally, this candidate will show a track-record of delivering projects well and on-time, preferably in collaboration with other team members (e.g. co-authors). Candidates must have very strong writing and emotional intelligence skills (for collaborative teamwork, often with colleagues in different functional roles), a growth mindset, and a capacity for dealing with a high-level of ambiguity. Endowed with these traits and on-the-job-growth, the role will provide the opportunity to have a large strategic, world-wide impact on the customer experiences of Prime members.
GB, London
We are looking for an Economist to work on exciting and challenging business problems related to Amazon Retail’s worldwide product assortment. You will build innovative solutions based on econometrics, machine learning, and experimentation. You will be part of a interdisciplinary team of economists, product managers, engineers, and scientists, and your work will influence finance and business decisions affecting Amazon’s vast product assortment globally. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you know how to deliver results fast, and you have a deeply quantitative, highly innovative approach to solving problems, and long for the opportunity to build pioneering solutions to challenging problems, we want to talk to you. Key job responsibilities * Work on a challenging problem that has the potential to significantly impact Amazon’s business position * Develop econometric models and experiments to measure the customer and financial impact of Amazon’s product assortment * Collaborate with other scientists at Amazon to deliver measurable progress and change * Influence business leaders based on empirical findings
US, VA, Arlington
The People eXperience and Technology Central Science (PXTCS) team uses economics, behavioral science, statistics, and machine learning to proactively identify mechanisms and process improvements which simultaneously improve Amazon and the lives, well-being, and the value of work to Amazonians. The Benefits Science team is looking for a senior economist to transform complex business challenges into actionable scientific insights. In this role, you will partner directly with business leaders to design and evaluate pilots, build models using large-scale data, and scale successful prototypes into company-wide policies and programs. We're looking for someone who can combine rigorous scientific thinking with practical business acumen and is passionate about using economics to improve employee experiences at scale. The ideal candidate will thrive in interdisciplinary environments, working alongside engineers, data scientists, and business leaders from diverse backgrounds. Key job responsibilities * Design and evaluate innovative research pilots that address critical business challenges * Develop sophisticated economic models using large-scale organizational data * Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, and business leaders to transform research insights into actionable strategies * Write and present comprehensive research findings to senior leadership * Scale successful prototypes into company-wide policies and programs A day in the life Work with teammates to apply economic methods to business problems. This might include identifying the appropriate research questions, writing code to implement a DID analysis or estimate a structural model, or writing and presenting a document with findings to business leaders. Our economists also collaborate with partner teams throughout the process, from understanding their challenges, to developing a research agenda that will address those challenges, to help them implement solutions. About the team Our Benefits Science team is a dynamic group of economists, data scientists, and business strategists committed to understanding human capital at scale. We use interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex workforce challenges, combining economics, behavioral science, and advanced analytics to create meaningful workplace improvements.
US, WA, Seattle
Amazon.com strives to be Earth's most customer-centric company where customers can shop in our stores to find and discover anything they want to buy. We hire the world's brightest minds, offering them a fast paced, technologically sophisticated and friendly work environment. Economists at Amazon partner closely with senior management, business stakeholders, scientist and engineers, and economist leadership to solve key business problems ranging from Amazon Web Services, Kindle, Prime, inventory planning, international retail, third party merchants, search, pricing, labor and employment planning, effective benefits (health, retirement, etc.) and beyond. Amazon Economists build econometric models using our world class data systems and apply approaches from a variety of skillsets – applied macro/time series, applied micro, econometric theory, empirical IO, empirical health, labor, public economics and related fields are all highly valued skillsets at Amazon. You will work in a fast moving environment to solve business problems as a member of either a cross-functional team embedded within a business unit or a central science and economics organization. You will be expected to develop techniques that apply econometrics to large data sets, address quantitative problems, and contribute to the design of automated systems around the company. About the team The International Seller Services (ISS) Economics team is a dynamic group at the forefront of shaping Amazon's global seller ecosystem. As part of ISS, we drive innovation and growth through sophisticated economic analysis and data-driven insights. Our mission is critical: we're transforming how Amazon empowers millions of international sellers to succeed in the WW digital marketplace. Our team stands at the intersection of innovative technology and practical business solutions. We're leading Amazon's transformation in seller services through work with Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI, while tackling fundamental questions about seller growth, marketplace dynamics, and operational efficiency. What sets us apart is our unique blend of rigorous economic methodology and practical business impact. We're not just analyzing data – we're building the frameworks and measurement systems that will define the future of Amazon's seller services. Whether we're optimizing the seller journey, evaluating new technologies, or designing innovative service models, our team transforms complex economic challenges into actionable insights that drive real-world results. Join us in shaping how millions of businesses worldwide succeed on Amazon's marketplace, while working on problems that combine economic theory, advanced analytics, and innovative technology.
JP, 13, Tokyo
Amazon.com strives to be Earth's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy. We hire the world's brightest minds and offer them a fast-paced, technologically sophisticated, and collaborative work environment. We are seeking a talented, customer-focused Economist to join our JCI Measurement and Optimization Science Team (JCI MOST). In this role, you will design experiments and build econometric models to measure intervention impacts and deliver data-driven insights that inform leadership decisions. Amazon Economists leverage our world-class data systems to build sophisticated econometric models, drawing from diverse methodological approaches including econometric theory, empirical IO, empirical health, labor, and public economics—all highly valued skillsets at Amazon. You will work in a fast-moving environment solving critical business problems as part of cross-functional teams embedded within business units or our central science and economics organization. This role requires exceptional Causal Inference expertise, strong cross-functional collaboration skills, business acumen, and an entrepreneurial spirit to drive measurable improvements in our pricing quality and business outcomes.
GB, London
Are you excited about applying economic models and methods using large data sets to solve real world business problems? Then join the Economic Decision Science (EDS) team. EDS is an economic science team based in the EU Stores business. The teams goal is to optimize and automate business decision making in the EU business and beyond. An internship at Amazon is an opportunity to work with leading economic researchers on influencing needle-moving business decisions using incomparable datasets and tools. It is an opportunity for PhD students in Economics or related fields. We are looking for detail-oriented, organized, and responsible individuals who are eager to learn how to work with large and complicated data sets. Knowledge of econometrics, as well as basic familiarity with Stata, R, or Python is necessary. Experience with SQL would be a plus. As an Economics Intern, you will be working in a fast-paced, cross-disciplinary team of researchers who are pioneers in the field. You will take on complex problems, and work on solutions that either leverage existing academic and industrial research, or utilize your own out-of-the-box pragmatic thinking. In addition to coming up with novel solutions and prototypes, you may even need to deliver these to production in customer facing products. Roughly 85% of previous intern cohorts have converted to full time scientist employment at Amazon.
US, WA, Seattle
The Stores Economics and Science (SEAS) team is an interdisciplinary science and economics team whose mission is to solve high-risk, high-return problems for the Stores organization. We leverage frontier science, partner with teams across Amazon, and learn from the tools, experience, and perspectives of others. Our work spans rapid responses to pressing leadership questions, collaborative partnerships to help other teams achieve their goals, and multi-year scientific bets with large upside potential. We are looking for an economist who can use data-driven modeling and analyses to make the right trade-offs and solve impactful business problems. We seek creative thinkers who can combine a strong economic toolbox with a desire to learn from others, and who know how to execute and deliver on big ideas. In this role, you will contribute to SEAS' mission in two key ways. First, you will leverage your economic expertise to help design and validate scientific solutions for pressing business challenges. This will involve applying advanced analytical techniques, conducting rigorous data analysis, and proactively proposing high-impact initiatives that can be rapidly prototyped and scaled. Secondly, you will play a crucial role in translating complex economic models and insights into actionable recommendations that directly inform leadership decisions across the organization. This will require strong communication skills to effectively collaborate with cross-functional partners and drive meaningful change. Key job responsibilities - Collaborate with cross-functional partner teams to understand their challenges and translate them into rigorous economic frameworks that can be addressed through data analysis, modeling, and experimentation. - Own the end-to-end development of economic models and analyses, including conducting necessary data gathering, analysis, and validation to drive actionable insights, and - Effectively communicate your economic findings, models, and proposed solutions to senior business stakeholders, incorporating their feedback to refine your work.
US, WA, Seattle
Employer: Amazon.com Services LLC Position: Economist III (multiple positions available) Location: Seattle, Washington Multiple Positions Available: 1. Partner closely with senior management, business stakeholders, scientist and engineers, and economist leadership to solve key business problems ranging from Amazon Web Services, Kindle, Prime, inventory planning, international retail, third party merchants, search, pricing, labor and employment planning, effective benefits (health, retirement, etc.) and beyond; 2. Build econometric models using our world class data systems and apply approaches from a variety of skillsets - applied macro/time series, applied micro, econometric theory, empirical IO, empirical health, labor, public economics and related fields are all highly valued skillsets at Amazon; 3. Work in a fast moving environment to solve business problems as a member of either a crossfunctional team embedded within a business unit or a central science and economics organization; 4. Develop techniques that apply econometrics to large data sets, address quantitative problems, and contribute to the design of automated systems around the company; and 5. Utilize deep knowledge in time series econometrics, asset pricing, empirical macroeconomics, or the use of micro and panel data to improve and validate traditional aggregative models. (40 hours / week, 8:00am-5:00pm, Salary Range $159,200.00/year to $215,300.00/year) Amazon.com is an Equal Opportunity – Affirmative Action Employer – Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation
US, CA, San Francisco
The People eXperience and Technology Central Science (PXTCS) team uses economics, behavioral science, statistics, and machine learning to proactively identify mechanisms and process improvements which simultaneously improve Amazon and the lives, wellbeing, and the value of work to Amazonians. PXTCS is an interdisciplinary team that combines the talents of science and engineering to develop and deliver solutions that measurably achieve this goal. PXTCS is looking for an economist who can apply economic methods to address business problems. The ideal candidate will work with engineers and computer scientists to estimate models and algorithms on large scale data, design pilots and measure impact, and transform successful prototypes into improved policies and programs at scale. PXTCS is looking for creative thinkers who can combine a strong technical economic toolbox with a desire to learn from other disciplines, and who know how to execute and deliver on big ideas as part of an interdisciplinary technical team. Ideal candidates will work in a team setting with individuals from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. They will work with teammates to develop scientific models and conduct the data analysis, modeling, and experimentation that is necessary for estimating and validating models. They will work closely with engineering teams to develop scalable data resources to support rapid insights, and take successful models and findings into production as new products and services. They will be customer-centric and will communicate scientific approaches and findings to business leaders, listening to and incorporate their feedback, and delivering successful scientific solutions. A day in the life The Economist will work with teammates to apply economic methods to business problems. This might include identifying the appropriate research questions, writing code to implement a DID analysis or estimate a structural model, or writing and presenting a document with findings to business leaders. Our economists also collaborate with partner teams throughout the process, from understanding their challenges, to developing a research agenda that will address those challenges, to help them implement solutions. About the team PXTCS is a multidisciplinary science team that develops innovative solutions to make Amazon Earth's Best Employer