Nikhil Malik
Nikhil Malik

Nikhil Malik

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Business Technology

Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University

My research examines the impact of AI and technology on human choices and equilibrium market outcomes.

  • Economics of AI
    • LLMs’ world model, design of AI explanations
    • AI Risks: Feedback Loops, asymmetric information, biases, and strategic manipulation
    • Algorithmic pricing
  • Digital Platforms
    • Blockchains (Polymarket, Bitcoin, NFT), Housing (Zillow), Creative Content (TikTok, iTunes), SuperApps

Methods: Econometrics · Machine learning · Game Theory

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Background
  • 2021–25Assistant Professor of Marketing · Marshall School of Business, USC
  • 2016–20MS and PhD at Carnegie Mellon University
  • 2011–16Quantitative Strategist · Goldman Sachs
  • 2007–11Undergrad at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Popular Media: Boston Globe 2025, Tepperspectives 2026 (op-eds) · CNN Business 2021, Forbes, Business Insider 2025, Phys.org 2025, StudyFinds 2025 (mentions)

Research
Published
"The Asymmetric Value of Algorithmic Information in Two-Sided Platforms: Evidence from Zillow"
Troncoso I., Malik N., Proserpio D., Fu R.
Quantitative Marketing and Economics 24, 12 (2026).
"Estimation Bias from Machine-Learned Features in Econometric Models"
Wei M., Malik N.
Forthcoming at Management Science
SSRN
"Regulating eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) May Harm Consumers"
Mohammadi B., Malik N., Derdenger T., Srinivasan K.
Marketing Science 44.3 (2025): 711–724.
"When does beauty pay?"
Malik N., Singh P.V., Srinivasan K.
Information Systems Research 35.4 (2024): 1524–1545.
"Why bitcoin will fail to scale?"
Malik N., Aseri M., Singh P.V., Srinivasan K.
Management Science 68.10 (2022): 7323–7349.
Invited
"Blockchain technology for creative industries: Current state and research opportunities"
Malik N., Wei M., Appel G., Luo L.
IJRM 40.1 (2023): 38–48.
"Deep Learning in Computer Vision — Methods, Interpretation, Causation and Fairness"
Malik N., Singh P.V.
Tutorials in OR, INFORMS (2019).
Video
Working Papers
"Does Machine Learning amplify pricing errors in housing market? Economics of ML Feedback Loops"
Malik N., Manzoor E.A.
R&R Management Science
SSRN Video (MS) Video (WoPA)
"Designing Effective Music Excerpts"
Manzoor E.A., Malik N.
Conditionally Accepted Marketing Science
arXiv
Work in Progress
"Platform design of algorithmic pricing models" · Malik N., Wei M. · SSRN
"The Regulation of Sexually Suggestive Live Streaming Content" · Yuan Y., Malik N., Wang W., Srinivasan K. · SSRN
"The Welfare Effects of Super Apps" · Dai J., Derdenger T., Kim M., Malik N. · SSRN
"Mechanistic Interpretability for LLM based financial choices"
Students
Currently working with
Yuan Yuan — 4th year, Marketing, CMU
Ziqian Ding — 3rd year, Business Technologies, CMU
Jingwei Dai — 3rd year, Information Systems, CMU
Past dissertation committee for
Poet Larsen — USC → Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harvard Business School (2025)
Yanyan Li — USC → University of Houston (2025)
Behnam Mohammadi — CMU → UT Dallas (2025)
Past and Current Research Assistants
Anshul Kumar — MS Machine Learning & Public Policy, CMU (2025–26)
Alan Mohan — MS Artificial Intelligence Engineering – Information Security, CMU (2025–26)
Barath Basavraj — MS Computational Data Science, CMU (2025–26)
RA Positions →
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