Neil Malhotra

Edith M. Cornell Professor of Political Economy
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

Neil Malhotra studies American politics, political behavior, and survey methodology, with recent work spanning political polarization, social media, and the intersection of business and society. He has authored over 100 articles and two books, and directs the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Bio & C.V. Contact

Books

Leading with Values: Strategies for Making Ethical Decisions in Business and Life

Neil Malhotra and Ken Shotts · New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022

A framework for making ethical decisions in business and life, developed from the ethics course Malhotra and Shotts teach to MBA students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Publisher's Version

Frontiers in Social Innovation: The Essential Handbook for Creating, Deploying, and Sustaining Creative Solutions to Systemic Problems

Neil Malhotra (editor) · Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2022

An edited handbook on creating, deploying, and sustaining solutions to systemic social problems, drawing on the work of the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Publisher's Version

Research Areas

Representative Publications

Business and Society

How businesses, executives, and economic elites engage with politics, regulation, and ethics.

Neil Malhotra and Ken Shotts. 2022. Leading with Values: Strategies for Making Ethical Decisions in Business and Life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Neil Malhotra, Benoît Monin, and Michael Tomz. 2019. “Does Private Regulation Preempt Public Regulation?” American Political Science Review 113(1): 19-37.
David Broockman, Gregory Ferenstein, and Neil Malhotra. 2019. “Predispositions and the Political Behavior of American Economic Elites: Evidence from Technology Entrepreneurs.” American Journal of Political Science 63(1): 212-233.
Neil Malhotra, Yotam Margalit, and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo. 2013. “Economic Explanations for Opposition to Immigration: Distinguishing Between Prevalence and Conditional Impact.” American Journal of Political Science 57(2): 391-410.

Political Polarization

The origins and consequences of partisan animosity in American politics and everyday life.

Shanto Iyengar, Yphtach Lelkes, Matthew Levendusky, Neil Malhotra, and Sean Westwood. 2019. “The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States.” Annual Review of Political Science 22: 129-146.
Gregory Huber and Neil Malhotra. 2017. “Political Homophily in Social Relationships: Evidence from Online Dating Behavior.” Journal of Politics 79(1): 269-283.
Matthew Levendusky and Neil Malhotra. 2016. “Does Media Coverage of Partisan Polarization Affect Political Attitudes?” Political Communication 33(2): 283-301.
Christopher McConnell, Yotam Margalit, Neil Malhotra, and Matthew Levendusky. 2018. “The Economic Consequences of Partisanship in a Polarized Era.” American Journal of Political Science 62(1): 5-18.

Social Media and Politics

Large-scale field experiments on how social media platforms shape political attitudes and behavior, from the U.S. 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study.

Andrew Guess, Neil Malhotra, Jennifer Pan, Pablo Barberá, et al. 2023. “How Do Social Media Feed Algorithms Affect Attitudes and Behavior in an Election Campaign?” Science 381(6656): 398-404.
Brendan Nyhan, Jaime Settle, et al. 2023. “Like-Minded Sources on Facebook Are Prevalent but Not Polarizing.” Nature 620(7972): 137-144.
Sandra González-Bailón, David Lazer, et al. 2023. “Asymmetric Ideological Segregation in Exposure to Political News on Facebook.” Science 381(6656): 392-398.
Andrew Guess, Neil Malhotra, Jennifer Pan, Pablo Barberá, et al. 2023. “Reshares on Social Media Amplify Political News but Do Not Detectably Affect Beliefs or Opinions.” Science 381(6656): 404-408.

Survey Methodology

Measurement, sampling, and design in public opinion research.

Neil Malhotra. 2008. “Completion Time and Response Order Effects in Web Surveys.” Public Opinion Quarterly 72(5): 914-934.
Neil Malhotra and Jon A. Krosnick. 2007. “The Effect of Survey Mode and Sampling on Inferences about Political Attitudes and Behavior: Comparing the 2000 and 2004 ANES to Internet Surveys with Non-Probability Samples.” Political Analysis 15(3): 286-323.
Annie Franco, Neil Malhotra, Gabor Simonovits, and L.J. Zigerell. 2017. “Developing Standards for Post-Hoc Weighting in Population-Based Survey Experiments.” Journal of Experimental Political Science 4(2): 161-172.

Retrospective Voting

How voters reward and punish governments for events and policy, including natural disasters.

Andrew Healy and Neil Malhotra. 2013. “Retrospective Voting Reconsidered.” Annual Review of Political Science 16: 285-306.
Andrew Healy and Neil Malhotra. 2009. “Myopic Voters and Natural Disaster Policy.” American Political Science Review 103(3): 387-406.
Andrew Healy, Neil Malhotra, and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo. 2010. “Irrelevant Events Affect Voters' Evaluations of Government Performance.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(29): 12804-12809.
Neil Malhotra and Alexander G. Kuo. 2008. “Attributing Blame: The Public's Response to Hurricane Katrina.” Journal of Politics 70(1): 120-135.

Publication Bias

How publication and reporting practices shape the published scientific record, and efforts to promote research transparency.

Annie Franco, Neil Malhotra, and Gabor Simonovits. 2014. “Publication Bias in the Social Sciences: Unlocking the File Drawer.” Science 345(6203): 1502-1505.
Brian A. Nosek, et al. 2015. “Promoting an Open Research Culture.” Science 348(6242): 1422-1425.
Alan Gerber and Neil Malhotra. 2008. “Do Statistical Reporting Standards Affect What Is Published? Publication Bias in Two Leading Political Science Journals.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3(3): 313-326.
Annie Franco, Neil Malhotra, and Gabor Simonovits. 2016. “Underreporting in Psychology Experiments: Evidence from a Study Registry.” Social Psychological and Personality Science 7(1): 8-12.