Professor Hastings' areas of research bring together topics in applied Industrial Organization and Public Economics. In particular, her research focuses on consumer behavior, firm strategy, regulation and market design in traditionally regulated or government-provided markets. She is currently engaged in an ongoing analysis of savings and investment behavior in Chile and Mexico, and the implications for efficiency in, market design and regulation of privatized social security programs. Her empirical research employs diverse techniques, combining field experiments and structural analysis to better understand the factors that drive investor decision making and the impact that policy can have on consumer behavior, firm response and market efficiency.