Robert Stephen Pindyck (/ˈpɪndaɪk/ PIN-dyke; born January 5, 1945) is an American economist, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Professor of Economics and Finance at Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[1] His PhD dissertation dealt with the application of optimal control theory to the design of monetary and fiscal policy for macroeconomic stabilization.
His early work focused on empirical studies of oil and natural gas markets and the effects of price regulation,[5][6] and he wrote a book and several articles on world energy demand.
[22][23] Pindyck has shown how this option value depends on the nature of the uncertainty, and how it can affect investment decisions and market structure.
He has shown how uncertainty over future damages from climate change can affect policy decisions, such as the design of a carbon tax.
[38] The book explains what we know and don't know about climate change, argues that despite our best intentions and efforts temperatures are likely to rise substantially over the coming decades, and shows how forms of adaptation can be used to reduce the impact of warming.