Professor
Economic Analysis & Policy
About
Ryan Oprea is a professor in the Economic Analysis & Policy group at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. His research is in behavioral economics, a multidisciplinary field that aims to use insights from psychology to make economic theory more realistic and predictive. His research primarily uses tools from experimental economics to compare how people make decisions in simulated economic environments to the predictions of economic and psychological theories. His current research is focused on understanding how complexity and cognitive limitations influence human behavior and shape institutions like markets and organizations. He teaches the core Economics for Business Decision Making MBA course at Haas and a PhD level course on experimental economics.
Expertise and Research Interests
- Complexity
- Behavioral economics
- Experimental economics
- Bounded rationality
- Economic theory
Complexity/Cognitive
- Oprea, R. “Decisions Under Risk are Decisions Under Complexity,” American Economic Review, 2024, 114: 12, 3789-3811. Lead article. [pdf] (previously circulated as “Simplicity Equivalents”)
- Initial Reply to Banki et. al. (2025)’s comment [pdf]
- Kendall, C. and Oprea, R. “On the Complexity of Forming Mental Models,” Quantitative Economics, 2024, 15: 175-211. [pdf]
- Esponda, I., Oprea, R. and Yuksel, S. “Seeing What is Representative,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2023 [pdf] (previously circulated as “Contrast-Biased Evaluation” and “Discrimination Without Reason: Biases in Statistical Discrimination“)
- Enke, B., Graeber, T. and Oprea, R. “Confidence, Self-selection and Bias in the Aggregate.,” American Economic Review, 2023, 113:7, 1933-1966. [pdf]
- Banovetz, J. and Oprea, R. “Complexity and Procedural Choice,“ American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2023, 15:2, 384-413. [pdf]
- Oprea, R. What Makes a Rule Complex?” American Economic Review, 2020, 110:12, 3913-3951. 2021 Exeter Prize for the best paper published in Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics and Decision Theory. [pdf]
- continuous time behavior
- Calford, E. and Oprea, R. “Continuity, Inertia and Strategic Uncertainty: A Test of the Theory of Continuous Time Games,” Econometrica, 2017, 85(3): 915-935. [pdf]
- Oprea, R. Survival Versus Profit Maximization in a Dynamic Stochastic Experiment,” Econometrica, 2014, 82(6): 2225-2255. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Charness, G. and Friedman, D. “Continuous Time and Communication in a Public-goods Experiment,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2014, 108: 212-223. [pdf]
- Magnani, J., Gorry, A. and Oprea, R. “Time and State Dependence in an Ss Decision Experiment,,” American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2016, 8(1): 285-310. [pdf]
- Friedman, D. and Oprea, R. “A Continuous Dilemma,” American Economic Review, 2012, 102:1, 337-363. 2013 Exeter Prize for the best paper published in Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics and Decision Theory. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Henwood, K. and Friedman, D. “Separating the Hawks from the Doves: Evidence from Continuous Time Laboratory Games,” with Keith Henwood and Daniel Friedman. Journal of Economic Theory , 2011, 146:6, 2206-2225. [pdf]
- Anderson, S., Friedman, D. and Oprea, R. “Preemption Games: Theory and Experiment,” American Economic Review, 2010, 100:4, 1778-1803. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Friedman, D., Anderson, S. “Learning to Wait: A Laboratory Investigation,” Review of Economic Studies, 2009,76:3, 1103-1124.[pdf]
Market Behavior
- Crockett, S., Friedman, D. and Oprea R. “Naturally Occurring Preferences and General Equilibrium: A Laboratory Experiment.” International Economic Review, 2021 62(2): 831-859 [pdf]
- Crockett, S., Oprea, R., Plott, C. “Extreme Walrasian Dynamics: The Gale Example in the Lab,” American Economic Review, 2011, 101:7, 3196-3220. [pdf]
- Kendall, C. and Oprea, R. “Are Biased Beliefs Fit to Survive? An Experimental Test of the Market Selection Hypothesis,” Journal of Economic Theory, 2018, 176: 342-371. [pdf]
- Hanson, R. and Oprea, R. “A Manipulator Can Aid Prediction Market Accuracy,” Economica, 2009, 76, 304-314. [pdf]
- Hanson, R., Oprea, R. and Porter, D. “Information Aggregation and Manipulation in an Experimental Market,” with Robin Hanson and David Porter. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2006, 60:1, 449-459. [pdf]
Other Research
- Backhaus, T., Huck, S., Leutgeb, J. and Oprea, R. “Learning through Period and Physical Time,”Games and Economic Behavior , 2023, 141: 21-29. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Yuksel, S. “Social Exchange of Motivated Beliefs,“ Journal of the European Economic Association, 2021, 20(2): 667-699. [pdf]
- Charness, G., Oprea, R., Yuksel, S. “How Do People Choose Between Biased Information Sources? Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment,” Journal of the European Economic Association, 2021, 19(3). [pdf]
- Huck, S., Leutgeb, J. and Oprea, R. “Payoff Information Hampers the Evolution of Cooperation,” Nature Communications, May 2017 [pdf]
- Friedman, D., Huck, S., Oprea, R. and Weidenholzer, S. “From Imitation to Collusion: Long-run Learning in a Low-Information Environment,” Journal of Economic Theory, 2015, 155: 185-205. [pdf]
- Pettit, J., Kephart, C., Friedman, D. and Oprea, R.“Software for Continuous Game Experiments,” Experimental Economics, 2014, 17:631-648. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Wilson, B. and Zillante, A. “War of Attrition: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment on Market Exit,” Economic Inquiry, 2013, 41:4 2018-2027. [pdf]
- Oprea, R. “Free Cash Flow and Takeover Threats: An Experimental Study,” Southern Economic Journal , 2008, 75:2, 351-366. [pdf]
- Amaldoss, W., Ho, Teck-Hua, Krishna, A., Chen, K.Y., Desai, P., Iyer, G., Jain, S., Lim, N., Morgan, J., Srivasatava, J. “Experiments on Strategic Choices and Markets,” Marketing Letters, 2008, 19:13, 417-429. [pdf]
- Oprea, R., Smith, V.L., Winn, A. “A Compensation Election for Binary Social Choice,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007, 104:3, 1093-1096. [pdf]
- Oprea, R. “Complexity and Its Measurement,” prepared for the Handbook of Experimental Methods in the Social Sciences [pdf]
- Enke, B., Graeber, T. and Oprea, R. “Complexity and Time,” forthcoming at the Journal of the European Economic Association [pdf]
- Guan, M. and Oprea, R. “Three Faces of Complexity in Strategic Choice,” revising for Econometrica [pdf]
- deClippel, G., Oprea, R. and Rozen, K. “As If,” [pdf]
- Oprea, R. and Vieider, F., Minding the Gap: On the Origins of Probability Weighting and the Description-Experience Gap,” [pdf]
- Bouchouicha, R., Oprea, R., Vieider, F. and Wu, J. “Is Prospect Theory Really a Theory of Choice?” [revising]
- Oprea, R. and Robalino, N. “Are Humans More Averse to Aggregate Risk? Testing an Evolutionary Economic Theory,” [pdf]
- Enke, B., Graeber, T., Oprea, R., Yang, J. “Behavioral Attenuation,” [pdf]
- Guan, M., Oprea, R. and Yuksel, S. “Beyond Instrumental Value: How Complexity Shapes Information Demand,” [pdf]
- Magnani, J. and Oprea, R. “On the Cognitive Foundations of Trade,” [soon]
At Haas since 2025
- 2025-present, Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
- 2020-2025, Maxwell C. and Mary Pellish Endowed Chair of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
- 2016-2020, Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
- 2013-2016, Associate Professor, Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
- 2011-2013, Associate Professor, Economics, University of British Columbia, Canada
- 2006-2011, Assistant Professor, Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Associate Editor, Review of Economics and Statistics, 2021-
- Associate Editor, American Economic Review, 2019-
- Associate Editor, Experimental Economics, 2017-
- Executive Committee, Sage Center for the Study of the Mind, 2016-
- Associate Editor, Games and Economic Behavior, 2018-2022
- Executive Committee, Economic Science Association, 2018-2021
- 2021 Exeter Prize for the best paper published in the previous calendar year in a peer-reviewed journal in the fields of Experimental Economics, Behavioural Economics and Decision Theory
- American Economic Review Excellence in Refereeing Award, 2018.
- 2013 Exeter Prize for the best paper published in the previous calendar year in a peer-reviewed journal in the fields of Experimental Economics, Behavioural Economics and Decision Theory (withDaniel Friedman).
- William P. Snavely Award for Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies in Economics, 2006
- IFREE/Earhart Fellow, 2002-2006
- ICES Research Fellow, 2004-2005
- James Buchanan Center Fellow, 2001-2002
- Economics for Business Decision Making