Professor Anderson is an empirical researcher who studies management and policy questions at the intersection of entrepreneurship and technology-driven growth in developing economies. As a boundary spanner between the quantitative and behavioural fields, his research focuses on spurring more equitable advancement for the small firms that epitomize these markets. Steve uses multi-year field experiments, along with lab-in-the-field studies, to examine the main effects and mechanisms of market-based interventions (e.g., analytics technology, digitization practices, AI tools, e-payment solutions) on the behaviours, mindsets and performance of entrepreneurs and their customers.
With more than twenty randomized controlled trials (RCTs) launched throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia, Steve has been a pioneer in bringing development economics research to the field of marketing over the past decade. These studies have been published in top journals across both disciplines, including Marketing Science, the Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science and the Journal of Marketing, as well as the Journal of Political Economy and the Journal of Development Economics. The impact of this work has also been recognized with the MSI/AMA Paul Root Award, the INFORMS Frank Bass Outstanding Dissertation Award, the Hunt- Maynard Award (finalist), the AMA Robert Lavidge Global Marketing Research Award, and the INFORMS Gary Lilien Practice Prize Award.