Dr. Hasting's research integrates Industrial Organization and Public Economics to address important economic and policy questions. Hastings studies consumer behavior, and its implications for firm strategy and optimal public policy design. Her question-driven research approach employs a broad range of methodologies, from randomized controlled trials, to survey design to structural estimation of economic models.

Research topics she studies include how parents choose schools and the ramifications for public school choice, how individuals make long-run career investments and the implications for student loan program design, how workers make retirement investments and the implications for social security privatization, the impact of income shocks on consumption, and the importance of information and decision making costs particularly among low-income households. Her research has implications for behavioral economics, policy design and firm strategy.