David H. Romer is a respected economist whose ideas influence central bankers and governments hoping to pull out of a recession. He was an early adviser to the Obama campaign along with his wife and frequent collaborator, Christina, who spent the last two years as President Obama’s chief economist.

But on any given Sunday, Romer is better known as the brains behind a different kind of policy advice: what should N.F.L. teams do on fourth down?

Should they punt and try to leave their opponent with lousy field position? Settle for an easy field goal? Or take a chance by going for a first down or even a touchdown?

In a seminal 2002 research paper, Romer captured the attention of football writers, sports nerds and even Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots after he crunched the numbers and concluded that N.F.L. coaches made the wrong decision a shockingly large percentage of the time. Teams should try for a touchdown far more often than they actually do, he found.