Niko Matouschek
Alvin J. Huss Professor of Management and Strategy
Professor of Strategy
Professor Matouschek is the Alvin J. Huss Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management, Professor of Strategy and Department Chair of Strategy. He co-chairs Kellogg's doctoral program in Managerial Economics and Strategy and is an Associate Editor at the RAND Journal of Economics.
Professor Matouschek works on the economics of organizations with a particular focus on the optimal design of decision rules and the effect of competition on the organization and performance of firms. His papers have been published in a variety of economics journals, including the American Economic Review, the Review of Economic Studies and the RAND Journal of Economics.
Professor Matouschek teaches in Kellogg's MBA, EMBA, and PhD programs and has received numerous teaching awards. In 2012 Kellogg's MBA students voted him the L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award.
Before joining Kellogg in 2001, Professor Matouschek received his BSc, MSc, and PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics.
- Economics of organization
- contract economics
- industrial organization
- Strategy and organization; economics of organization
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Type/Date Title/Author Working Paper2025Innovation and Competition on a Rugged Technological Landscape Journal Article2025Organizing Modular Production Journal of Political EconomyJournal Article2023Making and Breaking Promises When Their Costs Are Private Information Journal of Institutional and Theoretical EconomicsJournal Article2021The Power of Referential Advice Journal of Political EconomyJournal Article2021The Novelty of Innovation: Competition, Disruption, and Antitrust Policy Management ScienceJournal Article2021Arrow Meets Hotelling: Innovation in the Product Space American Economic Association Papers and ProceedinJournal Article2017Power Dynamics in Organizations American Economic Journal: MicroeconomicsJournal Article2016The Risk of Failure: Learning by Trial and Error and Long Term Performance American Economic Journal: MicroeconomicsJournal Article2015Organizing to Adapt and Compete American Economic Journal: MicroeconomicsJournal Article2013Managing Conflicts in Relational Contracts American Economic ReviewBook Chapter2012Decisions In Organizations Journal Article2010Strategic Communication: Prices versus Quantities Journal of European Economic AssociationJournal Article2008The Economics of the Marriage Contract: Theories and Evidence Journal of Law and EconomicsJournal Article2008Centralization Versus Decentralization An Application to Pricing by a Multi-Market Firm Journal of the European Economic Association, Papers and ProceedingsJournal Article2008When Does Coordination Require Centralization? American Economic Review -
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PhD, 2000, Economics, London School of Economics
MS, 1996, Economics, London School of Economics
BS, 1995, Economics, London School of Economics -
Professor, Department of Management and Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2013-present
Associate Professor (with Tenure), Department of Management and Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2008-2013
Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellow, School of Law, University of Texas at Austin, 2007-2008
Assistant Professor, Department of Management and Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2001-2008 -
Faculty Impact Award, KSA and Kellogg Dean
Faculty Impact Award, KSA and Kellogg Dean
Faculty Impact Award, KSA and Kellogg Dean
Faculty Impact Award, KSA and Kellogg Dean
Excellence in Refereeing Award for the AER, AEA
Excellence in Refereeing Award for the AER, AEA
L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2012
Excellence in Refereeing Award for the AER, AEA
Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2004-2005
Ely Devons Prize, London School of Economics, 1996 -
Referee, Economic Journal, 2025
Associate Editor, RAND Journal of Economics, 2008
Incentives, Strategy and Organization (STRTX-452-0)
"People respond to incentives and they do so in predictable ways. Starting with this simple premise, this course then asks how managers can design incentives to get employees to do what they want them to do. The goal of the course is to offer a micro-economic approach to both the internal organization of firms and its relationship with the firms’ overall strategies. Topics include the design of pay for performance contracts, which have increased labor productivity by almost 50% in some firms, but also caused significant problems in others. Another major topic is decentralization and the tools that can be used to manage the problems that often arise in decentralized firms. For instance, transfer prices can facilitate decentralization if designed appropriately, but also exacerbate problems if not. The course is structured around an equal number of lectures and case discussions. Case discussions may include classic cases such as Lincoln Electric and Arthur Andersen, and more recent cases such as Timken."
Strategy and Organization (STRT-452-0)
This course focuses on the link between organizational structure and strategy, making use of the microeconomic tools taught in MECN-430. The core question is how firms should be organized to achieve their performance objectives. The first part of the course takes the firm's activities as given and studies the problem of organizational design; topics may include incentive pay, decentralization, transfer pricing, behavioral biases, and complementarities. The second part examines the determinants of a firm's boundaries and may cover such topics as outsourcing, horizontal mergers, and strategic commitment.