Manel Baucells

Education: M.S. Mechanical Engineer, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya; MBA, IESE Business School; Ph.D., the Anderson School at UCLA.

Manel Baucells teaches quantitative analysis courses in Darden's MBA and Executive Education programs. Prior to joining Darden in 2015, he held positions at the Rand Corporation in California, the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and IESE Business School. He completed his Ph.D. on game theory, with applications to management, under the supervision of Steve Lippman and of Lloyd Shapley (2012 Nobel Prize laureate in economics).

Baucells' research focuses on incorporating psychological realism into consumer behavior models by considering factors such as reference point formation, mental accounting, psychological distance, anticipation, fatigue, and satiation; and examines how these factors influence risk and time preferences, consumer choices, and managerial decisions. He serves as department editor for the journal Management Science and associate editor for Operations Research.

Baucells has a broad international experience in business education. He has lectured MBAs and executives in North America, Europe, China, Russia, Latin America and Africa. He has held visiting research positions at Duke University, UCLA, London Business School, MIT and Erasmus University. While at IESE, he won the Excellence in Course Development Award as well as the Excellence in Research Award, both given by the Alumni Association; and while at Darden, he won the Dean's Award for Excellence, Multiyear Publication Award, 2015-2018.

Baucells and Rakesh Sarin (UCLA) published the book Engineering Happiness (UC Press), which received the 2014 Best Publication Award by the Decision Analysis Society. The book applies principles of behavioral economics to improve life outcomes.