James Choi

Professor of Finance

Yale School of Management

James Choi is Professor of Finance at the Yale School of Management. His research addresses issues spanning behavioral finance, behavioral economics, household finance, capital markets, health economics, and sociology. His work on default options has led to changes in 401(k) plan design at many U.S. corporations and has influenced pension legislation in the U.S. and abroad.

Choi’s research also has examined the influence of racial, gender, and religious identity on economic preferences, investor ignorance of mutual fund fees, the effect of deadlines and peer information on savings choices, and how retail investor sentiment in China affects stock returns. He earned his A.B. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Professor Choi is a recipient of the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for outstanding scholarly writing on lifelong financial security. He is ​an Associate Director of the Retirement Research Center at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the FINRA Investor Issues Committee,​ and a TIAA-CREF Institute Fellow.