Sarah Palor Sylvester
Sarah Palor Sylvester
Graduate Research Assistant
Experimental Economics, Cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Finance
Sarah Sylvester is a fifth-year Ph.D. student, currently on the job market. She is an ICES research assistant and Mercatus PhD Fellow at George Mason University. Her research specializes in cryptocurrency trading mechanisms and understanding the composition and motivation of using Automated Market Makers and cryptocurrencies.
Current Research
Current research focuses on decentralized exchanges, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology with a specific emphasis on Automated Market Makers and the willingness to own cryptocurrencies.
Selected Publications
Job Market Paper. Cryptocurrencies: Experiments on Individual Attitudes and Perceptions, with Johanna Mollerstrom
Draft available here.
Working Paper. Analyzing Arbitrage Behavior in Automated Market Makers, with Kevin McCabe, Nalin Bhatt, and Aleksander Psurek
Draft available here.
Other Projects
The Adaptive Rationality of Markets, with Kevin McCabe, Stephen Kunath, and Aleksander Psurek
The Efficiency of Escrow Mechanisms on Online Exchange, with Kevin McCabe and Nalin Bhatt
Grants and Fellowships
Mercatus Center Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship, 2023
Agoric Summer Research Grant, 2022
Mercatus Center Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship, 2022
Mercatus PhD Fellow 2019-present
Graduate Research Assistant with ICES 2019-present
Courses Taught
- Graduate Lecturer for LAW 108: Economics for Lawyers (LLM, online). Fall 2023, Summer 2023
- Graduate Lecturer ECON 308: Managerial Economics/Strategy (undergraduate, in-person). Spring 2023
- Co-taught ECON 895: Computational Methods for Economists (undergraduate and graduate, hybrid) with Dr. Kevin McCabe. Fall 2021
- Mentor and Graduate Lecturer for IFREE/CeLab Workshop. Led a group of undergraduate students in a research project on cryptocurrency trading mechanisms, teaching research skills and computational, experimental economics. Summer 2020 and Summer 2021. With Dr. Kevin McCabe. Workshop overview found here: https://medium.com/agoric/kevin-mccabe-on-the-inner-workings-of-computational-microeconomics-27caf66e20f6
Education
George Mason University, Ph.D. Economics, 2019-present. Expected date of graduation: May 2024
George Mason University, M.A. Economics, 2021
University of Arizona, B.A. Mathematics and Economics, 2015-2019
Recent Presentations
November 2023. SEA 93rd Annual Meeting 2023, New Orleans, LA
October 2023. ESA North American Meeting 2023, Charlotte, NC
April 2023. APEE Conference Presentation, Cancún, Mexico
November 2022. ESA North American Meeting 2022, Santa Barbara, CA
October 2022. UCSB-Econ DeFi Seminar Series Presentation, Virtual
April 2022. APEE Conference Oral Presentation, Las Vegas, NV
April 2021. APEE Conference Oral Presentation, , Fort Lauderdale, FL