Alexander Williams is a fourth-year undergraduate student seeking a dual B.S. in economics and mathematics.
Alexander is the lead tutor in the department's Economics Learning Center and is active in the undergraduate clubs. He is the editor-in-chief of the Undergraduate Economics Journal, which publishes economics research articles written by Ohio State undergraduates, and is president of the Sports Analytics Association, a new club advised by Dr. Ryan Ruddy, senior lecturer in the Department of Economics.
Alexander's thesis, advised by assistant professor Dr. John Rehbeck, investigates the Efficient Markets Hypothesis and rational expectations in the NFL gambling market. Since traditional financial markets' structure makes empirical asset pricing tests hard to conduct, using gambling markets as a proxy for testing may yield better results. His work finds that while gamblers are not profit-maximizing, an apparent deviation from rational expectations, the NFL gambling market preserves efficiency. These findings suggest that other financial markets whose market participants are not fully profit-maximizing may still retain long-run price efficiency.
Alexander began work on his thesis during his sophomore year after discovering literature on the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, and wanted to test it in nontraditional settings where market forces may be weaker. He presented his work at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Economics Association, and plans to submit his thesis to a journal for publication. After graduating, Alexander plans to pursue an economics Ph.D. at a university before working as either an economics professor or sports data scientist.
