Sanaz Kakavand

Sanaz Kakavand

Ph.D. Candidate

Positions

PhD Candidate

Haskayne School of Business, Business Technology Management [BTM]

Contact information

Background

Educational Background

MBA Allame Tabataba'i Univesity, 2019

Bachelor Software Engineering , K.N.Toosi University of Technology , 2016

Biography

Sanaz is a PhD candidate in Business Technology Management at the University of Calgary, focusing on user data privacy and the economic effects of privacy regulations on online content monetization. Her work examines consent-based monetization strategies, including Consent-or-Pay, and subscription-based strategy. Additionally, her work examines  the economics of blockchain-based platforms, particularly the emerging field of Move-to-Earn (M2E) gaming models. She explores how blockchain-enabled financial incentives, asset ownership, and governance structures influence user motivation and engagement. 

 

 

Research

Areas of Research

Decentralized Digital Ecosystems & Blockchain Governance

Exploring user engagement, motivation, and sustainability in blockchain-enabled platforms.

Behavioral Economics of Digital Assets

Investigating the impact of financial incentives, ownership structures, and psychological factors on user decision-making in tokenized economies.

Privacy

Studying user data privacy and the economic effects of privacy regulations on online content monetization. 

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
BTMA 333 Enterprise Analysis Winter 2024
MGST 217 Introduction to Business Analytics Fall 2024
BTMA 431 Gathering, Wrangling, and Analyzing Data in R Winter 2025

Awards

  • Haskayne Founders' Circle Doctoral Scholarship , 2022
  • Haskayne PhD Research Excellence Award, 2025
  • Eyes High International Doctoral Scholarship, 2025

Publications

  • Fraud Detection in Cryptocurrency Investment Websites. Gopal, R., Kakavand, S., Patterson, R., Nur Kutlu, S.,. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE). (2024)
  • Welfare Implications of Consent-Based Privacy Regulations. Kakavand, S., Eshghi, A., Hidaji, H.. Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS). (2025)

More Information

Supervisor: Hooman Hidaji