Adam S. Hayes

Experience

Adam S. Hayes is Professor of Sociology and Blockchain at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. His research focuses on economic sociology, behavioral economics, sociology of finance, financial technologies, blockchain, and the social factors that influence economic decision-making. Before entering academia, Hayes worked in financial markets as an options market maker and equity derivatives sales trader and was licensed as a financial advisor. He later pursued an academic career, including serving as Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Hayes holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MA in Economics from The New School for Social Research. He earned his B.S. in Biological Science from Cornell University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. His academic and professional work explores the relationship between society, technology, financial markets, and economic behavior. His research interests include behavioral economics, financial decision-making, fintech, blockchain, culture and cognition, and experimental and mixed-methods research. Hayes is also the author of Irrational Together: The Social Forces That Invisibly Shape Our Economic Behavior, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2025. The book examines how social and cultural forces influence financial and economic choices.