Olivia S. Mitchell

Olivia S. Mitchell
  • International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor
  • Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
  • Professor of Insurance and Risk Management
  • Executive Director, Pension Research Council

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3303 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich hall
    3620 Locust Walk
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

  • office Address:

    3406 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall
    3620 Locust Walk
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: economics of public and private pensions, household portfolio and retirement behavior, employee benefits/compensation, health/retirement analysis and policy, global private/social insurance, labor economics, public finance, risk and crisis management

Links: CV

Overview

Olivia S. Mitchell is the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor, as well as Professor of Insurance/Risk Management and Business Economics/Policy; Executive Director of the Pension Research Council; and Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research; all at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Concurrently Dr. Mitchell serves as a Research Associate at the NBER; Independent Director on the Allspring Mutual Fund Boards; and Research Fellow, Leibnitz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, Goethe University Frankfurt. She received the MA and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the BA in Economics from Harvard University. Dr. Mitchell has been awarded the Doctor Rerum Publicarum Honoris Causa, Goethe University of Frankfurt; Doctor Oeconomiae Honoris Causa, University of St. Gallen; and an honorary Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Professor Mitchell’s professional interests focus on public and private pensions, insurance and risk management, financial literacy, and public finance. Her research explores how systematic longevity risk and financial crises can shape household portfolios and work patterns over the life cycle, the economics and finance of defined contribution pensions, financial literacy and wealth accumulation, and claiming behavior for Social Security benefits. Her research has been appeared in leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Finance, and it has been featured in outlets such as The Economist, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She has published over 300 books and articles, and she is a Senior Editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance.

 

Dr. Mitchell was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2023, and she received the CIO Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024. She received the Fidelity Pyramid Prize for research improving lifelong financial well-being; the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession; and the Roger F. Murray First Prize (twice) from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance. She was also honored with the Premio Internazionale Dell’Istituto Nazionale Delle Assicurazioni from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. Her study of Social Security reform won the Paul Samuelson Award for “Outstanding Writing on Lifelong Financial Security” from TIAA-CREF. In 2010 Wealth Management Magazine named her one of the “50 Top Women in Wealth;” ; in 2010 she also received the Retirement Income Industry Association’s Award for Achievement in Applied Retirement Research. Investment Advisor Magazine named her one of the “25 Most Influential People” and “50 Top Women in Wealth” in 2011; in 2015, she was named a “Top 10 Women Economist” by the World Economic Forum; and in 2016 Crain Communications named her a “Top 100 Innovator, Disruptor, and Change-Maker in Business.” In 2019, Worth.com named her a “Top 16 Powerhouse Female Economist.”

 

Previously Professor Mitchell chaired Wharton’s Department of Insurance and Risk Management, and previously she taught for 16 years at Cornell University. She was a Commissioner on the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security and a Member of the US Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council; she also served on the Board of Directors of Alexander and Alexander Services, Inc., the Board of the American Economic Association, the Advisory Board for the Central Provident Fund of Singapore, the National Academy of Social Insurance Board, the Board of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, and the GAO Advisory Board. She also co-chaired the Technical Panel on Trends in Retirement Income and Saving for the Social Security Advisory Council; and she served as Vice President for the American Economic Association.

 

Professor Mitchell has visited and taught at numerous institutions including Harvard University, the NBER, Cornell University, the Goethe University of Frankfurt, the Singapore Management University, and the University of New South Wales. Professor Mitchell has consulted with many public and private groups including the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary Fund, the Investment Company Institute, the President’s Economic Forum, the World Bank, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the White House Conference on Social Security, the Q Group, and the Association of Flight Attendants. She also testified before numerous committees of the US Congress, the UK Parliament, the Australian Parliament, the US Department of Labor, and the Brazilian Senate. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese, having lived and worked in Latin America, Europe, and Australasia.

 

Academic Positions

Wharton: 1993-present: International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor and Executive Director Pension Research Council; Professor of Insurance & Risk Management.

2008-present; Director, Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research.

2012- Present: Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy.

Previous positions: Chair of the Department of Insurance & Risk Management, Wharton; Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Cornell University.  Previous visiting appointments at the University of New South Wales, Australia; Goethe Universitat of Frankfurt; Celia Moh Visiting Professor, Singapore Management University; Harvard University; and NBER.

 

Other Positions

Professional Leadership 2015-present

Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research; Co-PI and Executive Committee Member for the Health and Retirement Study; Michigan Retirement Research Center Executive Committee; Scientific Advisor for Centre for Pensions and Superannuation UNSW; Executive Committee, Penn Aging Research Center; Senior Editor, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance; Senior Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center; Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute.

 

Corporate and Public Sector Leadership 2015-present
Independent Trustee of the Allspring Mutual Fund Boards; Chilean Pension Reform Commission; Research Fellow of the Leibnitz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, Goethe University Frankfurt; Philadelphia Federal Reserve Academic Advisory Council for the Consumer Finance Institute.

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Research

  • James Li, Olivia S. Mitchell, Christina Zhu (2024), Suboptimal Investment and Information-Processing Frictions: Evidence from 529 College Savings Plans, Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing, 2 (2), pp. 142-170. 10.1017/flw.2024.19

    Abstract: We use the 529 college savings plan setting to investigate whether and why households make suboptimal choices to invest in local assets. We estimate that 67% of open accounts between 2010 and 2020 were located suboptimally due to the plans' tax inefficiencies and high expenses. Over the accounts' projected lifetimes, such investments yielded expected losses of 8% on average or $15.6 billion in 2020 alone. We then investigate why suboptimal investment is so prevalent. Consistent with households' lack of understanding of state-level tax benefits, we find that a meaningful proportion of households does not account for the potential tax benefits and costs of local versus nonlocal 529 investment. Household financial literacy and plan disclosure complexity appear to explain suboptimal investment patterns, which further supports the role of information-processing frictions. Our study presents novel evidence on individuals' preferences for local assets and how information-processing frictions shape their investment decisions, reducing their financial well-being.

  • Stephen Dimmock, Roy Kouwenberg, Olivia S. Mitchell, Kim Peijnenberg (Forthcoming), Household Portfolio Underdiversification and Probability Weighting: Evidence from the Field.

  • Abigail Hurwitz, Olivia S. Mitchell, Orly Sade (2021), Longevity Perceptions and Saving Decisions during the COVID-19 Outbreak: An Experimental Investigation, AEAP&P.

  • Robert Clark, Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell (2021), Financial Fragility during the COVID-19 Pandemic, AEAP&P.

  • Raimond Maurer, Olivia S. Mitchell, Ralph Rogalla, Tatjana Schimetschek (2021), Optimal Social Security Claiming Behavior under Lump Sum Incentives: Theory and Evidence, Journal of Risk and Insurance, 88 (), pp. 5-27.

  • Justine Hastings and Olivia S. Mitchell (2020), How Financial Literacy and Impatience Shape Retirement Wealth and Investment Behaviors, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 19 (1), pp. 1-20.

  • Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer, Olivia S. Mitchell (2020), Putting the Pension Back in 401(k) Plans: Optimal Retirement Plan Design with Longevity Income Annuities, Journal of Banking and Finance.

  • Raimond Maurer and Olivia S. Mitchell (2020), Older Peoples’ Willingness to Delay Social Security Claiming, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance.

  • Daniel Gottlieb and Olivia S. Mitchell (2019), Narrow Framing and Long-Term Care Insurance, Journal of Risk and Insurance, 87 (4), pp. 861-893.

  • Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell, Noemi Oggero (2019), Debt and Financial Vulnerability on the Verge of Retirement, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 52 (5), pp. 1005-1034.

Teaching

Fall 2012: BEPP 250, Intermediate Microeconomics

Current Courses (Fall 2025)

  • BEPP2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

    Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

    BEPP2020401 ( Syllabus )

    BEPP2020402 ( Syllabus )

  • FNCE2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

    Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

    FNCE2020401 ( Syllabus )

    FNCE2020402 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

  • BEPP2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

    Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

  • BEPP2990 - Independent Study

  • BEPP3050 - Risk Management

    The last financial crisis and subsequent recession provide ample evidence that failure to properly manage risk can result in disaster. Individuals and firms confront risk in nearly all decisions they make. People face uncertainty in their choice of careers, spending and saving decisions, family choices and many other facets of life. Similarly, the value that firms create by designing and marketing good products is at risk from a variety of sources. The bankruptcy of a key supplier, sharp rise in cost of financing, destruction of an important asset, impact of global warming, or a liability suit can quickly squander the value created by firms. In extreme cases, risky outcomes can bankrupt a firm, as has happened recently to manufacturers of automobile parts and a variety of financial service firms. The events since the Global Financial Crisis also offer stark reminders that risk can impose significant6 costs on individuals, firms, governments, and society as a whole. This course explores how individuals and firms assess and evaluate risk, examines the tolls available to successfuly mange risk and discusses real-world phenomena that limit the desired amount of risk-sharing. Our focus is primarily on explaining the products and institutions that will serve you better when making decisions in your future careers and lives.

  • BEPP8050 - Risk Management

    The last financial crisis and subsequent recession provide ample evidence that failure to properly manage risk can result in disaster. Individuals and firms confront risk in nearly all decisions they make. People face uncertainty in their choice of careers, spending and saving decisions, family choices, and many other facets of life. Similarly, the value that firms create by designing and marketing good products is at risk from a variety of sources. The bankruptcy of a key supplier, sharp rise in cost of financing, destruction of an important asset, impact of global warming, or a liability suit can quickly squander the value created by firms. In extreme cases, risky outcomes can bankrupt a firm, as has happened recently to manufacturers of automobile parts and a variety of financial service firms. The events since the Global Financial Crisis also offer stark reminders that risk can impose significant costs on individuals, firms, governments, and societ6y as a whole. This course explores how individuals and firms assess and evaluate risk, examines the tools available to successfully manage risk, and discusses real-world phenomena that limit the desired amount of risk-sharing. Our focus is primarily on explaining the products and institutions that will serve you better when making decisisions in your future careers and lives.

  • BEPP8950 - Global Business Week

    In the second year of the Executive MBA program, students embark on a required Global Business Week in a country facing business challenges of interest. During this intensive week of corporate visits and lectures, students engage with senior management to discuss topics relevant to the region. Following the trip, they have the opportunity to reflect on the insights gained from the experience and present their findings.

  • DEMG9999 - Independent Study

    Primarily for advanced students who work with individual instructors upon permission. Intended to go beyond existing graduate courses in the study of specific problems or theories or to provide work opportunities in areas not covered by existing courses.

  • FNCE2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

    Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

  • HCMG8950 - Global Business Week

    In the second year of the Executive MBA program, students embark on a required Global Business Week in a country facing business challenges of interest. During this intensive week of corporate visits and lectures, students engage with senior management to discuss topics relevant to the region. Following the trip, they have the opportunity to reflect on the insights gained from the experience and present their findings.

  • INSP4997 - Senior Capstone

    This senior-year research course is designed to facilitate the completion of a thesis or project as part of the Huntsman Program's senior capstone experience. Students in the Huntsman Program should consult with the Huntsman Program advisors for more information.

Awards and Honors

Honors and Awards:

2024    CIO’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award – Chief Investment Officer

2023    Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association

2023    Best Paper Award, Cherry Blossom Financial Literacy Conference, George Washington Univ., for “Household Investment in 529 College Savings Plans and Information Processing Frictions.”

2022    American Risk and Insurance Association Kulp-Wright Book Award for best 2022 book in risk management and insurance, Remaking Retirement: Debt in an Aging Economy.

2021    Top Women Economists, International Monetary Fund

2021    Robert C. Witt Best Paper Award in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, American Risk and Insurance Association, for “Narrow Framing and Long-Term Care Insurance.”

2019    FINRA Investor Education Foundation 2019 Ketchum Prize

2017     ICA Best Paper Award on Behavioral Aspects of Insurance.

2017    Robert C Witt Best Paper Award in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, American Risk and Insurance Association

2017    EBRI Lillywhite Award

2017, 2008       Roger F. Murray First Prize – Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance

2015      Top 10 Women Economists, World Economic Forum

2010    Retirement Income Industry Association Award for Achievement in Applied Retirement Research

2008    Carolyn Shaw Bell Award of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession

2007    Fidelity Pyramid Research Institute Award

  • The Ketchum Prize, 2019
  • “Top 16 Powerhouse Female Economist”, 2019
  • ICA Best Paper Award on Behavioral Aspects of Insurance Mathematics: Maurer, Raymond, Olivia S. Mitchell, Ralph Rogalla, and Tatjana Schimetschek. For their paper entitled “Optimal Social Security Claiming Behavior under Lump Sum Incentives: Theory and Evidence”, 2017
  • Roger F. Murray First Prize – Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, 2017
  • EBRI Lillywhite Award, 2017
  • Olivia Mitchell Named 2016 EBRI Lillywhite Award Winner, 2016
  • CRAIN Top 100 Innovators, Disruptors, and Change-Makers in Business, 2016
  • Top 10 Women Economists, World Economic Forum, 2015
  • Investment Advisor Magazine “25 Most Influential People in 2011” and “50 Top Women in Wealth”, 2011
  • Retirement Income Industry Association Award for Achievement in Applied Retirement Research, 2010
  • Top 50 Women in Wealth, Wealth Management, 2010
  • Roger F. Murray First Prize – Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, 2008
  • Roger F. Murray First Prize – Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, 2008
  • Carolyn Shaw Bell Award of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, 2008
  • Fidelity Pyramid Research Institute Award, 2007
  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Trans-Coop Program Research Award grant, 2005-2006
  • Premio Internazionale Dell’Istituto Nazionale Delle Assicurazioni, INA, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy, 2003
  • Paul A. Samuelson Award for Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security, TIAA-CREF, 1999
  • 2022 American Risk and Insurance Association Kulp-Wright Book Award for best 2022 book in risk management and insurance, Remaking Retirement: Debt in an Aging Economy., 1970
  • 2021 The Robert C. Witt Best Paper Award in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, American Risk and Insurance Association, 1970

In the News

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Latest Research

James Li, Olivia S. Mitchell, Christina Zhu (2024), Suboptimal Investment and Information-Processing Frictions: Evidence from 529 College Savings Plans, Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing, 2 (2), pp. 142-170. 10.1017/flw.2024.19
All Research

In the News

Automatic Enrollment, Tax Fears, and the 401(k) Surge

Professor and director of the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School breaks down new data on rising 401(k) contributions, the influence of automatic enrollment, and the savings behaviors of younger generations.…Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 7/9/2025
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Wharton Magazine

The Economics of Living to 100
Wharton Magazine - 10/16/2020

Wharton Stories

woman inserting card into metrocard machine heroSocial Impact Faculty Spotlight: Professor Olivia S. Mitchell and Financial Well-Being

Strengthening the role of business in creating a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable global economy. That’s Wharton Social Impact’s mission. In our research and training programs, we are proud to recognize and build on the work of Wharton’s extraordinary faculty. In our “Social Impact Faculty Spotlight” series, we highlight recent…

Wharton Stories - 03/30/2021
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