Timothy DeStefano
Associate Professor | Georgetown University | McDonough School of Business | Laboratory for Innovation Science Harvard
Timothy DeStefano is an Associate Professor at the Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business. He is an applied economist with expertise in the areas of digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), industrial robotics, firm productivity and trade. His research at Georgetown examines the effects of digital technology on firm reorganization and performance using a mixture of field experiments and observational data techniques. Over the last year, Tim has partnered with various businesses to construct and execute field experiments which measure the causal effects of AI on firm performance. Tim has also carried out a number of research projects that examine how fiber broadband and cloud computing impact firm productivity, organization and employment. He has extensive experience assessing policy interventions for multiple European and Asia Pacific governments on a range of economic outcomes at the region, firm, and individual levels.
Before joining Georgetown University, Tim worked for 3 years at Harvard University in the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH) where he led a team to establish a new research area at the lab on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. Before moving to Harvard, Tim worked as an Economist/Policy Analyst for 5 years at the OECD and for 1 year for the G20. Tim’s work has been presented at a number of high-level academic events including the NBER meetings (on the Economics of Digitization and Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship), the Royal Economics Society, and the Toulouse School of Economics and to policy makers at the G20, the OECD, the World Bank, the Italian Parliament, the Ministry of Finance France, the Ministry of Economics Trade and Industry Japan and the Vatican. Tim holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham (UK).
In his free time, Tim enjoys hiking when it's warm and snowboarding when it's cold.
Email address: timothy.destefano@georgetown.edu
Accepted Publications or R&R
DeStefano, T., Kneller, R., and J. Timmis. (2018), Broadband infrastructure, ICT use and firm performance: Evidence for UK firms, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol 155, pp. 110-139.
Cho, J., DeStefano, T., Kim, H., Kim, I., & Paik, J. H. (2022). What's driving the diffusion of next-generation digital technologies?. Technovation, 102477.
DeStefano, T., Kneller, R., and J. Timmis. (2022), The (fuzzy) digital divide: the effect of universal broadband on firm performance, Journal of Economic Geography, lbac006.
DeStefano, T., Kneller, R., and J. Timmis. (2020), Cloud computing and firm growth, under 2nd R&R, Review of Economics and Statistics.
Featured in VOXEU- 6th May 2020- "Cloud computing and firm growth."
DeStefano,T., and J. Timmis. (2021). Robots and Export Quality, R&R, Journal of Development Economics.
Featured in World Bank Blogs- 31st August 2021- "Can robots improve export quality in developing countries?"
Featured in VOXEU- 30th October 2021- "Robots and export quality"
Working papers
DeStefano, T., Kellogg, K., Menietti, M., L. Vendraminelli. (2022) "Why Providing Humans with Interpretable Algorithms May, Counterintuitively, Lead to Lower Decision-making Performance", MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 6797-22, Under Review,
Featured in the Wall Street Journal- 5th November 2022- Five Mistakes Managers Make When Introducing AI: and How to Fix Them.
DeStefano, T., Johnstone, N., Kneller, R., and J. Timmis. (2020). Capital incentives and the age of intangibles? GEP Discussion paper 2020/06. presented at NBER Summer Institute on IT and Digitization, 2019.
DeStefano, T., Kneller, R., and J. Timmis. (2020). ICT and capital saving technical change, GEP Discussion paper, 2020/03. presented at NBER Summer Institute on IT and Digitization, 2020.
DeStefano, T., Cho, J., Kim, H., Kim, I., J. Paik. (2020). What determines firm adoption of AI? Discussion paper, 06/20. presented at the NBER Economics and AI Conference, 2021.
Work in Progress
DeStefano, T., Menietti, M., L. Vendraminelli. Does AI improve driver safety and fuel efficiency.
Assesses the causal effect of an AI driver assistance software on truck driver safety and fuel efficiency.
DeStefano, T., and J. Timmis. Firm digital adoption during COVID-19, presented at NBER Summer Institute on IT and Digitization, 2021. To be presented at the American Economic Association Annual Meeting.
Examines the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on technology adoption across 1 million firms in 24 countries.
DeStefano, T. Survey on AI use, data practices, skills and management quality at the firm-country level
Cross-country enterprise-level survey on AI adoption and business organization. Currently being piloted by the South Korean government and the Harvard Business School.
Policy Research
Andres, R., DeStefano, T., Niebel, T., and S. Viete. (2020), Capital incentive policies in the age of cloud computing: An empirical case study, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2020/07, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4bedeb36-en.
DeStefano, T., Silva, F., Haneda, S., and H. Kwon. (2020), Structural adjustment and changes to employment use in Japan, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2020/08, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f58e9301-en.
De Backer, K., DeStefano, T., and C. Menon. (2018), Industrial robotics and the global organization of production, OECD STI Working Paper, No. 2018/03.
DeStefano, T., Manaresi, F., Menon, C., Santoleri, P., and G. Soggia. (2018), "The evaluation of the Italian “Start-up Act”", OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers, No. 54, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/02ab0eb7-en.
Calvino, F., DeStefano, T., and J. Timmis (2017), Digitalization, SMEs, start-ups and dynamism. In OECD (Eds.), Key issues for digital transformation in the G20, Report prepared for a joint G20 German Presidency (pp.115-124). Berlin, Germany.
Seminar, Conferences and Workshops
2022
AI & Strategy Seminar Group
Harvard University Digital, Data, and Design Institute
Harvard Business School Digital Initiative
Academy of Management
ZEW Conference on the Economics of Information Communication Technology
LISH Research Workshop
CSSL Lab Northeastern University
Conference on Robotics and Automation
Zhejiang University School of Management Seminar
2021
NBER Economics of AI Conference
NBER Summer Institute: Economics of IT and Digitization Workshop
Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences
World Bank Asia Pacific Economic Update
OECD Working Party on Rural Policy
ZEW research seminar
CSSL Lab Northeastern University
LISH research workshop
2020
NBER Summer Institute: Economics of IT and Digitization Workshop
Harvard Business Analytics Program
OECD Working party on Rural Policy
Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard Research Seminar
CSSL Lab Northeastern University
NBER Summer Institute: Economics of IT and Digitization Workshop
Chuo University
2019
Harvard Business School-OECD Joint Workshop: Business and Policy Perspectives on Digital
Sogang University
Korea University
Korean Institute for Industry Economics and Trade
NBER Summer Institute: Economics of IT and Digitization Workshop
ZEW Conference on the Economics of Information and Communication Technologies
NBER Economics of Digitization Stanford University Meeting
NBER Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Cambridge Meeting
MIT: Internet Policy and Research Initiative
American University
Vatican Pontifical Academies
2018
Italian Parliament
French Ministry of Finance
European Trade Study Group
National Institute of Science and Technology Policy Japan
Foundation France-Japan de l’EHESS
OECD Applied Economics Seminar
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Japan
2017
Toulouse School of Economics Workshop on Digitalization
International Federation of Robotics
Nihon University Globalization Workshop
OECD Applied Economics Seminar
Ministry of Economic Development Italy
2016
NBER Summer Institute: Economics of IT and Digitization Workshop
National Graduate University for Policy Studies
Paris TelecomTech
Gakushuin University
2015
Royal Economic Society Conference
ZEW Conference on the Economics of Information Communication Technology
OECD Applied Economics Seminar
2013-2014
Nottingham School of Economics GEP Conference
OECD Applied Economics Seminar
Globalization and Economic Policy Workshop
Ingenio PhD Digital Conference
XVII Applied Economics Meeting
University of Nottingham Ningbo Seminar