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UID:20260424T013512EDT-3836M90Zux@132.216.98.100
DTSTAMP:20260424T053512Z
DESCRIPTION:Ali Aouad\n\nMIT Sloan School of Management\, Massachusetts Ins
 titute of Technology\n\nOptimal Subsidy Design: Application to Food Assist
 ance Programs\n\nDate: Friday\, April 24\, 2026\n	Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
 \n	Location: Armstrong Room 375\n\n\nAbstract\n\nThe design of a subsidy po
 ses a classic demand management problem: choosing an offer set (bundle\, a
 ssortment\, voucher) that balances policy efficiency with flexibility of i
 ndividual choice. In the food security context\, in-kind subsidies are maj
 or safety nets in the Global South to curb malnutrition and involve large-
 scale supply chains—the Public Distribution System in India serves hundred
 s of millions of beneficiaries. We introduce a high-frequency\, transactio
 n-level tracking method that reveals how households respond to alternative
  in-kind subsidies in underserved communities. We present experimental evi
 dence of trade-offs between take-up (demand) and efficiency (in terms of n
 utritional goals) when designing food assistance programs. We develop a pr
 obabilistic choice model that captures subsidy take-up behavior and formul
 ate the optimal subsidy design problem that balances paternalistic efficie
 ncy goals with beneficiaries’ utility. Using efficient approximation schem
 es\, we explore various subsidy designs and gain insights into simple poli
 cies that can improve performance on our dual objective compared to curren
 t practice.\n	\n	Joint work with Kamalini Ramdas\, Alp Sungu\, and Zhicong H
 u\n\nBio\n\nAli Aouad is the Sloan School Career Development Assistant Pro
 fessor and an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at MIT Sloan. H
 is research focuses on algorithm design and data-driven decision processes
  with applications covering revenue management\, market design\, and publi
 c and societal operations. His work was recognized by several awards\, inc
 luding the 2024 POMS Analytics Research Challenge Prize\, the 2022 INFORMS
  Second Prize of the Junior Faculty Interest Group\, and a selection for f
 unding in the European Research Council’s 2022 HORIZON Starting Grant. Bef
 ore MIT\, he was an Associate Professor at London Business School (UK) and
  an Applied Scientist at Uber Technologies (2018-2019)\, where he contribu
 ted to new matching and pricing technology and product innovations. Ali ea
 rned his PhD in Operations Research from MIT ORC in 2017.\n
DTSTART:20260424T150000Z
DTEND:20260424T160000Z
LOCATION:Room 375\, Donald E. Armstrong Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A
  3L1\, 3420 rue McTavish
SUMMARY:Management Science Research Centre (MSRC) Seminar: Ali Aouad
URL:/desautels/channels/event/management-science-resea
 rch-centre-msrc-seminar-ali-aouad-372627
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