Faculty
John Horton is the Chrysler Associate Professor of Management and an Associate Professor of Information Technologies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Horton's research focuses on the intersection of labor economics, market design, and information systems. He is particularly interested in improving the efficiency and equity of matching markets.
After completing his PhD and prior to joining NYU Stern School of Business in 2013, he served for two years as the staff economist for oDesk, an online labor market.
Horton received a BS in mathematics from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University.
Filippas, Apostolos, John J. Horton, Elliot Lipnowski, and Prasanna Parasurama. Management Science. Forthcoming.
Caoui, El Hadi, Chiara Farronato, John J. Horton, and Robert Schultz. Management Science Vol. 72, No. 4 (2026): 3550-3570. Supplemental Materials. NBER Preprint.
Fradkin, Andrey, Monica Bhole, and John J. Horton. Management Science Vol. 72, No. 2 (2026): 1305-1325. Postprint.
Wiles, Emma, Zanele Munyikwa, and John J. Horton. Management Science Vol. 71, No. 12 (2025): 144-164. NBER Preprint. Supplementary Materials.
Apostolos Filippas, John Horton, Prasanna Parasurama, and Diego Urraca. In EC '24: Proceedings of the 25th ACM Conference on Economics and Computation, New Haven, CT: July 2024. Full version draft.
Manning, Benjamin S., Kehang Zhu, and John J. Horton, Working Paper. April 2024. arXiv Preprint.
New research shows that AI delivers the most value when organizations redesign workflows, not just when they automate individual tasks.
The age of agentic AI — systems that are semi- or fully autonomous and can act on their own — has arrived. Here’s what you need to know, according to MIT experts.
Research, by assistant professor Mert Demirer, associate professor John Horton, Peyman Shahidi (PhD candidate), and co-authors models production as a sequence of interdependent steps and shows that it is this interdependence that determines the true extent of the gains enabled by AI. "We are seeking to understand the effect of AI at the overall system level, not as a one-off productivity tool applied on a task-by-task basis," said Shahidi.
"My sense is that it's a word that's useful to describe software that acts a bit more like a person does," said associate professor John Horton. In economics, he noted, the word "agentic" is used when talking about the "principal-agent problem," or the conflict in priorities that arises between one party and another acting on their behalf. Agentic AI is fraught with similar prioritization problems, he said.
According to a working paper by associate professor John J. Horton, IDE digital fellow Emma Wiles, and co-author, applicants who used AI tools to improve their resume writing were 8% more likely to be hired and also received 8.4% higher salaries than those who didn't use automated help. "Using algorithmic assistance can help applicants express their skills more effectively and reduce bias or premature judgments based on writing errors," the authors noted.
A recent paper by associate professor John Horton and Emma Wiles (PhD '24) found that AI-generated postings tended to be imprecise. Instead of detailing, for example, that they were looking for a programmer with four or more years of experience and knowledge of Python and Julia, the AI often suggested something more vague, such as an ad for "a proactive professional with experience in software engineering."
This online program from the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) challenges common misconceptions surrounding AI and will equip and encourage you to embrace AI as part of a transformative toolkit. With a focus on the organizational and managerial implications of these technologies, rather than on their technical aspects, you’ll leave this course armed with the knowledge and confidence you need to pioneer its successful integration in business.
An exciting collaboration between MIT's Sloan School of Management and Schwarzman College of Computing, this immersive, two-week program on campus dives deep into both the technical and business aspects of artificial intelligence, providing a comprehensive understanding of AI's impact across industries. The program will bridge the gap between AI technology and business leadership through practical, hands-on learning experiences, ensuring participants can apply AI strategies effectively in their organizations.
