About
I am an Associate Professor in Economics at King's College London and the Vice Dean International of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy. I am an economist who measures what works and what would work if it were tried. I specialise in the quantitative (causal) evaluations of interventions and their effects on human behaviour. I assess interventions that exist and predict likely effects of interventions before they exist. I design measurement tools that make those effects visible, measuring the parts of human decision-making that usually stay hidden, such as as people's beliefs about the future, their tolerance for uncertainty, and their mental models of reasoning.
I am known for thinking in systems and for finding solutions outside the usual playbook.
My research brings together economics, psychology and computer science. I use applied econometrics and data science methods to answer questions that organisations face in practice. I study how people choose when they face trade-offs; how to design agreements between parties whose interests conflict; how technology can build skills, including the skills that support peacemaking.
I use a variety of methods and data analysis techniques, among which lab and field experiments, Randomized Control Trials, interactive surveys, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing.
I obtained my PhD in Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London and held Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships at SOAS, University of London, and at the Institute for Fiscal Studies before joining King's College London. I hold a Level 7 (master's-level) qualification in AI and Data Science. I co-founded the Association of Italian Scientists in the UK, now 700 members strong, and I am a founding and Board member of CONNECTS-UK, a pan-European science platform to strengthn collaboration between the UK and the EU funded by the EU. I also co-founded the Behavioural and Experimental Economists UK and its London-based network. My research on conflict resolution has been developed into a product now licensed to an industry partner.
Research
My current research has two themes. The first is how technology, including virtual reality and explainable AI, can build the skills that support cooperation and peacemaking, and help negotiators design solutions to intractable conflict. The second is how beliefs, preferences and behaviour towards others form in contexts of political violence and disadvantage. Across both themes, I design new tools to measure the underlying behavioural traits that drive these outcomes and that existing methods capture poorly.
My research has been funded by UNICEF, the Churchill Fellowship, the Emirates Foundation, the Qatar National Research Foundation, ESRC Transformative Research Fellowship, the AXA Research Fund, Global Development Network-Economic Research Forum, King's College London, SOAS, and Birkbeck College.
- All
- Publications
- Working papers
- In progress
For students
Borderless: the Econometric Competition
Challenge yourself and learn econometrics in a fun way: join a mixed team of students from King's and Queensland University.
For industry and external organisations
Industry Collaborations
I build partnerships that put my students in front of industry professionals. One example is BSides London 2022, a top practicioner security conference, where my students were selected to present on the main stage. A great collaboration with leading firm Veracode.
Connect
If your organisation is facing a problem that resists easy answers, please get in touch. Those are the problems that motivate me.
Contact
Location:
King's College London, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BG
Email:
elisa.cavatorta[at]kcl.ac.uk
