Harvard Business School

Behind the Research: Alex Chan

Alex Chan, an assistant professor in Harvard Business School’s Negotiations, Organizations & Markets unit, studies market design, focusing on high‑stakes arenas such as organ transplantation and artificial‑intelligence alignment. He argues that modest rule tweaks in organ‑allocation systems can save thousands of lives, while mis‑aligned incentives in AI markets risk costly failures. Chan’s work builds on guidance from Nobel laureate Alvin Roth and has been applied to federal and foreign policy initiatives. Chan often illustrates his points with a Rubik’s cube, noting that a chaotic market becomes orderly only after the right sequence of moves, yet fairness may still be questioned from another angle. He also engages students in moral‑philosophy and negotiation exercises before lunch, turning theory into practice. The implications are clear: better‑designed markets can improve health outcomes, guide responsible AI deployment, and provide a template for policymakers and future leaders to address complex societal challenges.