Ken Moon

Biography

Ken Moon is an Associate Professor of Operations, Technology and Information Management at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. His work combines large datasets with mathematical modeling, causal analysis, AI, and algorithms to improve the organization of workforces and of markets, including under decentralized and strategic decision-making.

Moon’s research, published in Management Science, has explored the disruptive effects of worker turnover on manufacturing productivity and product reliability, how gig-economy workers strategically self-deploy across multiple platforms, and how online marketplaces should match buyers, sellers, and workers. His collaborations include Apple, Penn Medicine, JD.com, eBay, Meta, and Upwork, and his research has been recognized with multiple best-paper awards from the INFORMS, MSOM, and POMS professional societies.

Moon’s current research examines AI in work, teaching, and marketplaces, including whether AI can replace human judgment in marketplace operations, a randomized controlled trial of teaching with AI in business education, and new work on how AI shapes consumer behavior in online marketplaces. He also develops empirical studies and algorithms that use biometric wearable sensors to anticipate and reduce burnout and fatigue in critical workforces such as ICU nurses.

His research group includes PhD students and research assistants drawn from Cornell’s business and engineering schools. The group works in operations research and statistics, developing methods that include diffusion models, reinforcement learning, and large-scale causal inference for data from wearable sensors and online platforms. He is the principal investigator on two research computing allocations from the Empire AI consortium.

At Cornell, he chaired the committee designing the Dyson School’s new AI & Business Analytics concentration and served on the organizing committee for the 2026 Cornell Academic-Industry Workshop on the Business of AI. He serves on the SC Johnson College’s school-wide AI advisory panel, which he will co-chair in spring 2027.

Before joining Cornell in 2025, Moon served on the faculty of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and undergraduate degrees in economics and mathematics from Stanford University.

Education

PhD Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 2017
JD Harvard Law School, Harvard University, 2008
BAS Stanford University, 2005

Research

• Lim, Jong; Moon, Kenneth; Savin, Sergei. "Searching for the Best Yardstick: Cost of Quality Improvements in the U.S. Hospital Industry"Management Science. 70.6 (2024): 3769-3788
• Moon, Kenneth; Bergemann, Patrick; Brown, Daniel; Chen, Andrew; Chu, James; et al. "Manufacturing Productivity with Worker Turnover"Management Science. 69.4 (2023): 1995-2015
• Moon, Kenneth; Loyalka, Prashant; Bergemann, Patrick; Cohen, Joshua. "The Hidden Cost of Worker Turnover: Attributing Product Reliability to the Turnover of Factory Workers"Management Science. 68.5 (2022): 3755-3767
• Allon, Gad; Askalidis, Georgios; Berry, Randall; Immorlica, Nicole; Moon, Kenneth; Singh, Amandeep. "When to Be Agile: Ratings and Version Updates in Mobile Apps"Management Science. 68.6 (2022): 4261-4278
• Bimpikis, Kostas; Elmaghraby, Wedad; Moon, Kenneth; Zhang, Wenchang. "Managing Market Thickness in Online Business-to-Business Markets"Management Science. 66.12 (2020): 5783-5822
• Moon, Kenneth; Bimpikis, Kostas; Mendelson, Haim. "Randomized Markdowns and Online Monitoring"Management Science. 64.3 (2018): 1271-1290
• Moon, Kenneth. "(Machine) Learning Preferences from Complex Choice Sets: An Application to Service Networks" (in preparation).
• Zhang, Wenchang; Moon, Kenneth; Dhonukshe, Rohit; Somarouthu, Saradhi; Li, Binbin; et al. "Can AI Replace Human Judgment? Evidence from Keyword Auction Campaigns" (in preparation).
• Lim, Jong Myeong; Moon, Kenneth; Park, Minje. "First, Do No Harm: Do Staffing Shortages Drive Abuse and Malfeasance in U.S. Nursing Homes?" (in preparation).
• Zhang, Jiding; Moon, Kenneth; Veeraraghavan, Senthil. "Does Fake News Create Echo Chambers?" (in preparation).

Awards

• Best Student Paper (2021) Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society (MSOM)
• IBM Best Student Paper Award (2017) INFORMS, Service Science Section
• Operational Excellence College Best Paper Award (2020) Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)
• Product Innovation and Technology Best Student Paper (2020) Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)
• Early-Career Sustainable OM Workshop - People’s Choice Award (2020) INFORMS