Robert Metcalfe

@rmetcalfe.bsky.social

18K followers 570 following 220 posts

Economist, Prof at Columbia University.

Chief Economist: Centre for Net Zero (Octopus Energy Group).

Co-editor: Journal of Public Economics.

1st gen, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

https://www.rmetcalfe.net/

Videos

Robert "Bob" Melancton Metcalfe is an American engineer and entrepreneur who contributed to the development of the internet in the 1970s. He co-invented Ethernet, co-founded 3Com, and formulated Metcalfe's law, which describes the effect of a telecommunications network. Metcalfe has also made several predictions which failed to come to pass, including forecasting the demise of the internet during the 1990s. .. more

Economics 32%

Engineering 17%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · 1d

Simply awful.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Paul Nightingale, Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · 3d

The AEA has posted eight "Recent Developments" lectures exploring highly topical issues in economics, presented by the best scholars in the field:

www.aeaweb.org/conference/w...

Well worth a watch!

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · 4d

Excited to announce that this year's Advances with Field Experiments conference will take place at the University of Chicago on September 17-18, 2026.

@johnlist.bsky.social and I will send out a call for abstracts early in the Spring.

bfi.uchicago.edu/events/event...

@katymilkman.bsky.social

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · 5d

Very excited to join one of the best environmental economics workshops out there.

Sefi Roth @sjroth.bsky.social · 5d

📢 Call for Papers! The 9th Annual LSE/Imperial Workshop on Environmental Econ. will be held in London June 8-9
✅ Submissions by Feb 1
📄 Full papers only (no abstracts)
🎤 Keynote: Prof. @rmetcalfe.bsky.social

🔗 more details here: www.lse.ac.uk/geography-an...

9th Annual LSE/Imperial Workshop on Environmental Economics

Information about the LSE Department of Geography and Environment's Environmental Economics Workshop.

www.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Paul Lehmann, Robert Metcalfe

Sefi Roth @sjroth.bsky.social · 5d

9th Annual LSE/Imperial Workshop on Environmental Economics

Information about the LSE Department of Geography and Environment's Environmental Economics Workshop.

www.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Trade Diversion (Jonathan Dingel) @tradediversion.bsky.social · 11d

I look forward to catching up with folks at the Columbia Economics #ASSA2026 reception on Saturday evening in Marriott Downtown, Room 407.

www.aeaweb.org/conference/2...

American Economic Association

www.aeaweb.org

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Robert Metcalfe, Paul Nightingale

NBER @nber.org · 16d

A large UK field experiment—110,000 drivers, 60 percent of public chargers—found that cutting prices by 40 percent increased charging by 117 percent. Consumers respond fast, large grid benefits, from Bernard, Hackett, @rmetcalfe.bsky.social, Panzone, and Schein www.nber.org/papers/w34600

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham

Jon Mellon @jonmellon.bsky.social · 16d

I’ve seen some junior data scientists really rise to the challenge of AI and have bigger impacts than you could have expected of someone with that experience level. I’m cautiously optimistic for then in the next year or two

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome.bsky.social · 22d

New @nberpubs: "The Impact of Dynamic Prices on Electric Vehicle Public Charging Demand: Evidence from a Nationwide Natural Field Experiment" www.nber.org/papers/w34600
"Our findings suggest that dynamic pricing for public EV charging generated large consumer welfare gains."

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Jesse Anttila-Hughes @jessexjesse.bsky.social · Nov 25

Super excited to see Hannah's JMP in the Economist this week! She uses detailed data to show how firms pass the risk of weather-driven shift changes on to workers in food & bev / retail, & that minimum wages actual *worsen* that effect!

#econsky #climsky #climate #jmp #jmc #susdev

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social · Nov 25

Hannah also finds a tradeoff between schedule unpredictability and wages: when the minimum wage is increased, scheduling unpredictability increases too.

Suggests another margin that firms are able to cut costs on when minimum wages increase.

(parallels with our work on workplace injuries).

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social · Nov 25

2. Firms pass demand risk onto workers: Hannah shows that on bad-weather days (when fewer people come to buy things from these retail & hospitality businesses), there are more last-minute shift cancellations.

In most jobs, the firm bears the risk of demand shocks unless extreme (-> layoffs).

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Anna Stansbury @annastansbury.bsky.social · Nov 25

1. Schedule unpredictability means you don't work full time, but can't fill the other hours.

Avg hours worked per year in hospitality is 26, compared to 35-40 in most other industries.

But workers can't fill the spare hours with another job as they don't know when they'll be scheduled to work.

Figure shows average hours worked per week by industry. It is 25.8 in leisure and hospitality, compared to an average of 34.7 for the whole private sector.

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Chris Hanretty

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 25

Check out Hannah awesome JMP on job schedule unpredictability and how minimum wage policy affects such unpredictability: hannahfarkas.github.io/files/The_Ec...

Reposted by Gernot Wagner, Robert Metcalfe

Hannah Farkas @hannah-farkas.bsky.social · Nov 25

Excited to see my JMP cited in the Economist—it highlights the tradeoffs workers could face with a higher minimum wage and suggests more worker protections like Fair Workweek laws could be important alongside minimum wage increases

www.economist.com/finance-and-...

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 19

Great podcast on indoor air pollution by @volts.wtf. If you’re interested in a field experiment with using real-time information on changing indoor air pollution, check out our paper: bsky.app/profile/rmet...

David Roberts @volts.wtf · Nov 19

Today on Volts: for years, I've wanted to do a podcast on indoor air quality, and I finally found the perfect guest! Dr. Lagoudas & I discuss indoor air pollutants, the policies and technologies that can control them, and the growing need to frame indoor air quality as a basic human right.

What's the deal with indoor air quality?

From CO2 monitors to better building codes, Dr. Georgia Lagoudas outlines how to clean up the spaces where we spend 90% of our lives.

www.volts.wtf

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe, Kevin Miller

David Roberts @volts.wtf · Nov 19

What's the deal with indoor air quality?

From CO2 monitors to better building codes, Dr. Georgia Lagoudas outlines how to clean up the spaces where we spend 90% of our lives.

www.volts.wtf

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 17

The first year is the Columbia Econ sequence, but the second and third years are a lot more flexible, allowing the freedom to pursue ideas that might not necessarily be in the Econ wheelhouse. Abundant space for creativity!

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 17

We admit 5-6 students per year into a tight knit community. The placement in the past has been outstanding, and the alumni of the program is a huge added benefit.

Reposted by Georg Weizsäcker

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 17

Interested in a PhD program that offers students the opportunity to do interdisciplinary research at the nexus of natural science and economics? Please join us for a SustDev information session December 4 from 10:15-12 ET.

Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Robert Metcalfe, Joshua Goodman , and 2 more Richard S.J. Tol, Robert Metcalfe, Joshua Goodman, Aaron Sojourner, Roddy Theobald

Hannah Farkas @hannah-farkas.bsky.social · Nov 14

I’m on the #EconJobMarket! I study labor, extreme weather adaptation, and inequality.

My JMP addresses an under-studied aspect of the labor market: schedule unpredictability among hourly workers in the service sector.

🧵👇

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe, Aaron Sojourner

Hayeon Jeong @hjeong88.bsky.social · Nov 12

I'm happy to share my #JMP on the relationship between policy intensity and effectiveness!

It challenges the idea that stricter policies are always more effective by showing that policy avoidance rises with stringency during the early period of implementation.
🧵👇
#Econsky #EconJobMarket #EconJMP

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · Nov 6

Now that is a cool paper, on how labour markets with hourly workers/zero hour contracts push unpredictability and slow business days onto workers.

(She exploits weather and minimum wage variations.)

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 5

The first is Hannah Farkas.
JMP: "The Economic Incidence of Schedule Unpredictability in Hourly Work"
Website: hannahfarkas.github.io
Interests: Environmental Econ, Labor Econ

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 5

Second is Hayeon Jeong.
JMP: Does Greater Policy Intensity Improve Policy
effectiveness? Evidence from Seoul, South Korea
Website: sites.google.com/view/hayeonj...
Interests: Environmental Econ, Behavioral Econ

Reposted by Christian Odendahl

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 5

The first is Hannah Farkas.
JMP: "The Economic Incidence of Schedule Unpredictability in Hourly Work"
Website: hannahfarkas.github.io
Interests: Environmental Econ, Labor Econ

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Nov 5

Meet our outstanding 2025–26 economics job market candidates from @columbiasipa.bsky.social.

We have two exceptional scholars on this year’s AP market — both bring awesome and policy-relevant research agendas to the market.

www.sipa.columbia.edu/sipa-educati...

Reposted by Robert Metcalfe

Adrián Santonja @adriansantonja.bsky.social · Oct 31

Two intense and inspiring months at @columbiasipa.bsky.social have come to an end!

It has been an incredibly enriching experience to immerse myself in this thriving academic community — and the kind, curious, and passionate researchers at SIPA made it easy to enjoy every day of my research stay.

Reposted by Paul Lehmann, Robert Metcalfe

Jaap Burger @jaapburger.eu · Oct 3

This recent working paper by @rmetcalfe.bsky.social e.a. for @centrefornetzero.bsky.social shows how effective automated EV smart charging is:

"42% reduction in household electricity demand during peak hours, with 100% of this demand shifted to low-cost, low-emission off-peak periods."

Figure shows electricity consumption throughout the day for a baseline and with an EV tariff. During the off-peak period in the middle of the night, consumption is much higher with the EV tariff, while during the peak in the early evening it is much lower.

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Robert Metcalfe, Stuart Shapiro

John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · Sep 23

I remember it like it was yesterday.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 23

Trump's UN speech was his most embarrassing showing since the "DON'T TAKE TYLENOL" one

Robert Metcalfe @rmetcalfe.bsky.social · Sep 17

Very happy to release this working paper today showing the value of AI in helping shape energy demand.

Centre for Net Zero @centrefornetzero.bsky.social · Sep 17

🚗 Can AI make EV charging cheaper and greener?

CNZ ran the world’s largest AI-managed EV charging trial with 13,000 UK households. Check out the results 👇

Summary & working paper 🔗 www.centrefornetzero.org/papers/ai-in...

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