Dr. Scott Nelson

Associate Professor

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Biography

Scott Nelson’s research focuses on consumer credit markets, particularly how regulation interacts with information asymmetries and market structure, affecting how consumers make choices about borrowing, deleveraging, and default. His research employs a range of data sources, including credit reports, credit card account data, surveys, court filings, and employment data, to build models that examine consumer and firm behavior to understand the drivers of credit market outcomes. His work on the credit card market was recognized with the AQR Top Finance Graduate Award in 2018. Before joining Booth, Nelson spent a post-doctoral year at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Princeton University, and served as a research fellow at the City of Boston Office of Financial Empowerment, a visiting graduate fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and as a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. Nelson earned his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and was a member of the Innovations for Poverty Action and the Household Finance Initiative. He also received his BA, summa cum laude, in economics and mathematics from Yale College.

Research Interests

Courses

Consumer Finance

Requirements for University of Chicago

Doctorate Program
Requirements
TOEFL
Listening
Required:26
Reading
Required:26
Writing
Required:26
Speaking
Required:26
Total
Required:104
IELTS
Listening
Required:7
Reading
Required:7
Writing
Required:7
Speaking
Required:7
Overall
Required:7
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree Writing sample Candidate statement
Application Checklist
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  • Writing Sample
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Specialization Notes

Department of Philosophy