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Koren, M. (2026).
"The Gatekeeper Effect: The Implications of Pre-Screening, Self-Selection, and Bias for Hiring Processes".
Management Science, 72(1), 426–441.
Summary: This paper analyzes how pre-screening stages ("gatekeepers") in hiring can paradoxically lower the average quality of the applicant pool by altering candidates' self-selection incentives and perpetuating historical biases.
Tools & Methodologies: Game Theory, Algorithmic Screening, Information Design, Self-Selection Models.
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Danino, G., Koren, M., & Madmon, O. (2026).
"A Strategy-Proof Mechanism for Ownership Restructuring in Privately Owned Assets".
Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 35(1), 50–58.
Summary: We develop a practical, strategy-proof mechanism for resolving ownership deadlocks in contexts like joint ventures or supply chain partnerships, ensuring efficient and fair outcomes.
Tools & Methodologies: Mechanism Design, Game Theory, Corporate Finance.
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Berkovich, E., Shapira, S., Koren, M., Talmon, N., & Nitzan, D. (2026).
"Reimagining Israel's Food System: Balancing Mediterranean Diet Recommendations with National Food Security, Sovereignty and Resilience".
Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 15(1), Article 6.
Summary: Examines Israel's food system through the lens of the Mediterranean Diet, combining FAO Food Balance Sheets and CBS data to quantify import-dependency ratios and alignment with MD guidelines. Documents heavy import dependency in cereals, fish, nuts, and added fats, and shows that the current supply deviates from MD recommendations — notably undersupplying plant-based proteins. Argues for a shift toward locally produced, plant-based food and feed as a joint lever for public health, food security, resilience, and sustainability.
Tools & Methodologies: Food Systems Analysis, Operations Management, Public Policy, Resilience, Mediterranean Diet, Import Dependency.
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Arieli, I., Koren, M., & Smorodinsky, R. (2024).
"Information Aggregation in Large Collective Purchases".
Economic Theory, 78(1), 295–345.
Summary: This work examines how information from individual consumers is aggregated in settings like group buying or crowdfunding, analyzing the efficiency of collective decision-making under uncertainty.
Tools & Methodologies: Information Aggregation, Game Theory, Collective Action.
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Cohen, A., Deligkas, A., & Koren, M. (2023).
"Learning Approximately Optimal Contracts".
Theoretical Computer Science, 980, 114219.
Summary: This research connects contract theory with machine learning by introducing algorithms that enable a principal to learn the optimal contract to offer an agent whose cost structure is initially unknown.
Tools & Methodologies: Algorithmic Mechanism Design, Contract Theory, Machine Learning, Online Learning.
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Arieli, I., Koren, M., & Smorodinsky, R. (2022).
"The Implication of Pricing on Social Learning".
Theoretical Economics, 17(4), 1761-1802.
Summary: This paper investigates how a manager can use dynamic pricing as an operational lever to learn consumer demand, identifying conditions under which a firm can overcome informational herds and guarantee long-run learning.
Tools & Methodologies: Social Learning, Game Theory, Dynamic Pricing, Information Design.
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Koren, M., & Mueller-Frank, M. (2022).
"The Welfare Costs of Informationally Efficient Prices".
Games and Economic Behavior, 131, 186-196.
Summary: We demonstrate a critical managerial tradeoff by showing that operational policies designed to be "informationally efficient" can paradoxically reduce short-term profitability and overall welfare.
Tools & Methodologies: Information Economics, Game Theory, Market Efficiency.
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Kang, J., Koren, M., Monachou, F., & Ashlagi, I.
"Counterbalancing Learning and Strategic Incentives in Allocation Markets".
(Major Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management).
Summary: This work designs mechanisms that balance information acquisition and strategic incentives in dynamic allocation markets (e.g., organ/platform markets). It proposes a novel batch-based voting mechanism to mitigate herd behavior and improve allocation efficiency.
Tools & Methodologies: Mechanism Design, Game Theory, Social Learning, Market Design, Simulations.
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Ban, A., & Koren, M.
"Sequential Fundraising and Mutual Insurance".
(Revise & Resubmit at JPE-Micro).
Summary: Characterizes when sequential fundraising with risk-sharing generates inefficiency and provides implementable design fixes; delivers testable comparative statics.
Tools & Methodologies: Game Theory, Mechanism Design, Crowdfunding, Social Learning.
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Bar Nir, V., Cornfeld, Y., & Koren, M. "Batch Offering Under Uncertainty: A Common-Value Stopping Game Model for Organ Allocation". (Working paper; presented at ORSIS 2026, Technion).
Summary: Models the proposed switch to batch offering in organ allocation as a common-value variant of the Dynkin (1969) stopping game. Agents compete over an offering of unknown value and receive private signals over time; each must trade off waiting for more information against losing the offer to a competitor. We prove existence of a symmetric threshold equilibrium in the binary-signal case, characterize the asymptotic barrier strategy (its velocity rises with signal accuracy), and show numerically that larger batches raise the probability of a mistake, lower the probability of waste, and shorten time-to-resolution in the good state. Translating the parameters into policy levers (batch size, diagnostic quality, organ preservation, supply), we find that signal accuracy dominates batch size for welfare — the success of batch offering depends less on how many centers compete and more on how good their information is.
Tools & Methodologies: Stopping Games, Common-Value Auctions, Mechanism Design, Organ Allocation, Numerical Equilibrium Analysis.
- Yuval, D., & Koren M. "Socially-Aware Allocation on Networks". (Working paper).
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Amir, D., Hoter, B., Koren, M. (2025).
"Strategic Behavior in Crowdfunding: Insights from a Large-Scale Online Experiment".
WINE 2025.
[Acceptance: 29.8%]
Summary: This student-led publication serves as a proof-of-concept for translating a core research agenda into a productive, student-driven research program. It directly validates theoretical predictions from earlier work.
Tools & Methodologies: Online Experiments, Behavioral Economics, Game Theory, Crowdfunding Platforms.
- Havin, M., Kleinman, T.W., Koren, M., Goldstein, A., & Dover, Y. (2025). "Can (A)I Change Your Mind?". CogSci 2025.
- Hoter, B., Koren, M., Nitzan, D., Shapira, S., & Talmon, N. (2025). "Enhancing Food Security with Blockchain...". IEEE ISCC 2025.
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Horowitz, G., Sommer, Y., Koren, M., & Rosenfeld, N. (2024).
"Classification Under Strategic Self-Selection".
ICML 2024.
Summary: Develops entry-aware classification under endogenous applicant pools and proposes screening rules that are robust to self-selection.
Tools & Methodologies: Machine Learning, Algorithmic Game Theory, Causal Inference, Fairness in AI.
- Cohen, A., Deligkas, A., & Koren, M. (2022). "Learning Approximately Optimal Contracts". SAGT 2022.
- Kang, J., Koren, M., Monachou, F., & Ashlagi, I. (2021). "Counterbalancing Learning and Strategic Incentives in Allocation Markets". NeurIPS 2021.
- Ban, A., & Koren, M. (2020). "Sequential Fundraising and Social Insurance". ACM EC '20.
- Jakesch, M., Koren, M., Evtushenko, A., & Naaman, M. (2020). "How Partisan Crowds Affect News Evaluation". TTO 2020.
- Arieli, I., Koren, M., & Smorodinsky, R. (2019). "The Implication of Pricing on Social Learning". ACM EC '19.
- Arieli, I., Koren, M., & Smorodinsky, R. (2018). "The One-Shot Crowdfunding Game". ACM EC '18.
- Arieli, I., Koren, M., & Smorodinsky, R. (2017). "The Crowdfunding Game". WINE 2017.