Behavioral Economist

Behavioral Economist completes the actions laid out across 20 real tasks so you can see typical responsibilities at a glance. Each task highlights who they serve and what matters most. Each one shows where we found it, and comes with an AI prompt you can copy and use straight away.

20evidenced tasks
20ready prompts
7tools of the trade
19-3011.00O*NET-SOC code
17,790hold this job (US, BLS 2025)
$124,720median pay/yr (US)
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What it pays

Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.

Half of all Economists in the U.S. earn more than $124,720 a year — the middle 80% land between $67,360 and $238,060. About 17,790 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Economists”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$124,720typical pay / year
17,790people in this work
$238,060+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
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The work, task by task

These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.

Analysing5

Forecast economic trends

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Produce a six-month forecast of consumer spending using behavioural parameters from the latest panel, show…
Produce a six-month forecast of consumer spending using behavioural parameters from the latest panel, show model assumptions, confidence intervals, and an executive summary with implications for fiscal planning.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelIBM SPSS StatisticsESCOjob descriptionsWikipedia

Evaluate policy impacts

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Evaluate the impact of the cash transfer pilot on labour supply and consumption: define identification…
Evaluate the impact of the cash transfer pilot on labour supply and consumption: define identification strategy, run difference-in-differences and robustness checks, and deliver a 10-slide summary and technical appendix in two weeks.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia

Teach theories, principles, and methods of economics.

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Prepare a three‑week lecture sequence that teaches decision theory, experimental methods, revealed and stated…
Prepare a three‑week lecture sequence that teaches decision theory, experimental methods, revealed and stated preference, and practical lab exercises, with readings, two homework problem sets, and grading rubrics ready by Monday for the undergraduate behavioral economics class.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPointESCOjob descriptionsO*NET

Analyze market activity and trends

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Produce a weekly market activity brief analysing recent retail pricing, search trends, and choice anomalies,…
Produce a weekly market activity brief analysing recent retail pricing, search trends, and choice anomalies, include charts of price dispersion, demand shifts, and a 600‑word interpretation for the strategy team by Thursday noon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Power BIjob descriptionsWikipedia

Analyse statistical data

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Clean the latest consumer survey and transaction dataset, run the predefined regressions and…
Clean the latest consumer survey and transaction dataset, run the predefined regressions and heteroskedasticity tests, generate a one‑page summary of coefficients, p‑values, and policy‑relevant interpretation for the research memo by Friday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelESCOjob descriptions
Convincing1

Write about economic policy

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Draft a 1,200‑word policy brief arguing for a behavioural nudge tax credit, summarise evidence with two…
Draft a 1,200‑word policy brief arguing for a behavioural nudge tax credit, summarise evidence with two empirical examples, include expected welfare effects and implementation risks for the policy team by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordESCOWikipedia
The daily work14

Advise on product feasibility

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Assess whether the new subscription gadget can reach 5,000 steady users in year one given our price points,…
Assess whether the new subscription gadget can reach 5,000 steady users in year one given our price points, projected churn, and a $120 acquisition cost — run sensitivity scenarios, highlight key elasticities, and recommend go/no-go with three mitigation options.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelESCO

Advise on tax policies

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Evaluate the welfare and revenue impact of the proposed graduated tax on digital services for middle-income…
Evaluate the welfare and revenue impact of the proposed graduated tax on digital services for middle-income households, simulate behavioral responses to price changes, estimate deadweight loss, and deliver three policy alternatives ranked by equity and efficiency.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsESCO

Study how societies allocate resources

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Estimate how communities distribute a fixed budget across health, education and infrastructure using…
Estimate how communities distribute a fixed budget across health, education and infrastructure using household survey data from Brazil, run the allocation model, report parameter sensitivity and summarise policy implications for the ministry draft by next Tuesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptionsWikipedia

Study international trade and global economics

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Compile cross-country tariffs, trade volumes and GDP data for the last ten years, estimate gravity models to…
Compile cross-country tariffs, trade volumes and GDP data for the last ten years, estimate gravity models to test tariff impacts on trade flows, produce a short slide brief of results and policy recommendations for the trade counsellor by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptionsWikipedia

Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.

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Analyse labour market microdata to estimate returns to vocational training in agriculture versus…
Analyse labour market microdata to estimate returns to vocational training in agriculture versus manufacturing, calculate heterogeneity by age and region, produce tables of coefficients and a one‑page executive summary for the funder next Monday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelO*NET

Review documents written by others.

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Read the draft literature review from Ana, verify cited statistics against the original studies, annotate…
Read the draft literature review from Ana, verify cited statistics against the original studies, annotate methodological concerns and return a redlined version with a two‑paragraph cover note before Thursday's research meeting.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordO*NET

Supervise research projects and students' study projects.

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Set the study milestones, assign student projects on behavioural experiments to Jae and Priya, schedule…
Set the study milestones, assign student projects on behavioural experiments to Jae and Priya, schedule weekly check‑ins, and draft a one‑page guidance note on data collection protocols for distribution today.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordO*NET

Provide litigation support, such as writing reports for expert testimony or testifying as an expert witness.

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Draft an expert report quantifying damages from the merger, attach cleaned transaction datasets, detail…
Draft an expert report quantifying damages from the merger, attach cleaned transaction datasets, detail assumptions and sensitivity bounds, and prepare sworn exhibit figures for the litigation team by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft ExcelO*NET

Forecast production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion of non-renewable resources.

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Forecast next decade production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion…
Forecast next decade production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion paths for coal, oil, and gas using historical production series, current capacity plans, and population-growth scenarios, flagging policy-sensitive breakpoints and confidence intervals by 2035.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Power BIO*NET

Collect financial and socioeconomic data

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Assemble and clean financial and socioeconomic data for the regional study: tax receipts, household income…
Assemble and clean financial and socioeconomic data for the regional study: tax receipts, household income surveys, unemployment series, firm-level balance sheets and utility consumption records, then validate with cross-source reconciliation and document missingness.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Accessjob descriptions

Communicate findings via reports and presentations

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Draft a concise report and a slide pack that explain methods, key statistical findings, behavioural drivers,…
Draft a concise report and a slide pack that explain methods, key statistical findings, behavioural drivers, and three policy recommendations, include charts of elasticity estimates, marginal effects, and an executive summary for the finance director and energy policy team.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft Wordjob descriptions

Participate in think tanks and publish research

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Prepare a research paper for the think tank and a short policy brief: state hypotheses, run the robustness…
Prepare a research paper for the think tank and a short policy brief: state hypotheses, run the robustness checks and pre-registration results, draft literature synthesis, and create a data appendix so the peer reviewers can replicate the main behavioural experiments.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions

Conduct financial statement analysis

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Analyse last five years of audited financial statements for the sample firms: compute profitability,…
Analyse last five years of audited financial statements for the sample firms: compute profitability, liquidity, leverage ratios, trend decomposition and abnormal accruals, then flag firms with behavioural anomalies for follow-up interviews.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelWikipedia

Study trends

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Study behavioural and economic trends by compiling time series on consumer spending, adoption rates, price…
Study behavioural and economic trends by compiling time series on consumer spending, adoption rates, price sensitivity, and policy changes, estimate trend slopes and structural breaks, and prepare a short memo highlighting likely near-term shifts.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelESCO

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