Prof. Gregory Crawford

Professor of Economics, Affiliated Professor at the UBS Center

Mehr zu Prof. Gregory Crawford auf

Gregory Crawford earned his PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 1998. He is an empirical economist specializing in the fields of industrial organization, econometrics, competition economics, and media and communications economics. Greg builds statistical models of industries with the goal of understanding the impact of changes in firms' strategies or public policies on economic outcomes like the prices paid by consumers and the profits earned by firms. In addition to studying media markets, his research has analyzed the interaction between imperfect competition and informational asymmetries in the market for small business lines of credit, finding the latter is the driving factor predicting market outcomes, as well as issues in pharmaceutical and electricity markets. In 2007-2008, he put his academic ideas into practice in the role of Chief Economist at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), the United States media and communications regulator. Greg is co-Director of the Industrial Organization Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and regularly consults on competition and regulatory matters worldwide.

Interessen

Industrial Organization, Econometrics

Professor of Economics, Affiliated Professor at the UBS Center

Prof. Gregory Crawford

Mehr zu Prof. Gregory Crawford auf

Gregory Crawford earned his PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 1998. He is an empirical economist specializing in the fields of industrial organization, econometrics, competition economics, and media and communications economics. Greg builds statistical models of industries with the goal of understanding the impact of changes in firms' strategies or public policies on economic outcomes like the prices paid by consumers and the profits earned by firms. In addition to studying media markets, his research has analyzed the interaction between imperfect competition and informational asymmetries in the market for small business lines of credit, finding the latter is the driving factor predicting market outcomes, as well as issues in pharmaceutical and electricity markets. In 2007-2008, he put his academic ideas into practice in the role of Chief Economist at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), the United States media and communications regulator. Greg is co-Director of the Industrial Organization Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and regularly consults on competition and regulatory matters worldwide.

Interessen

Industrial Organization, Econometrics

Selected publications

  • The Welfare Effects of Endogenous Quality Choice in Cable Television Markets with Oleksandr Shcherbakov and Matthew Shum, forthcoming American Economic Review download

  • Asymmetric Information and Imperfect Competition in Lending Markets with Nicola Pavanini and Fabiano Schivardi American Economic Review (July 2018), 1659-1701. download

  • The Welfare Effects of Vertical Integration in Multichannel Television Markets with Robin S. Lee, Michael D. Whinston and Ali Yurukoglu Econometrica May 2018, Volume 86, Issue 3, p. 891-954 download

Research

Gregory Crawford analyzes economic outcomes in product markets with a goal of improving public policy and thus consumer outcomes in these markets. Often this entails building econometric models of consumer and firm behavior to reveal their underlying structure and using this structure to predict outcomes under different (typically untried) policy environments. Recent examples include analyzing whether consumer welfare in pay-television markets would be higher if households could select individual channels instead of being forced to buy them in bundles (finding on average that they would not) and analyzing the net welfare effects of vertical integration between TV channel producers and TV channel distributors (finding that it can be efficient or anti-competitive depending on the specific features of the market and the proposed merger). The latter paper was cited in trial testimony in the recent challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice to the "blockbuster" merger between AT&T and Time Warner, the first challenge of a vertical merger in the U.S. in over 40 years.

The rise of dominant firms in a variety of sectors has recently pushed the topic of competition policy directly into the public eye. In addition to rising margins and concentration, topics such as the dominance of digital platforms like Google and Facebook, data as a barrier to entry, and the consequences of mergers on innovation are all first-order public policy questions requiring academic insight. Crawford is currently the co-director of the Industrial Organization program of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and will be launching a CEPR Competition Policy Network in the autumn with Tommaso Valletti, the current/outgoing Chief Economist for DG Competition at the European Commission. This network will seek to focus academics' attention on these topics, with the goal of building an academic consensus on the appropriate policy responses to these challenges.

Gregory Crawford analyzes economic outcomes in product markets with a goal of improving public policy and thus consumer outcomes in these markets. Often this entails building econometric models of consumer and firm behavior to reveal their underlying structure and using this structure to predict outcomes under different (typically untried) policy environments. Recent examples include analyzing whether consumer welfare in pay-television markets would be higher if households could select individual channels instead of being forced to buy them in bundles (finding on average that they would not) and analyzing the net welfare effects of vertical integration between TV channel producers and TV channel distributors (finding that it can be efficient or anti-competitive depending on the specific features of the market and the proposed merger). The latter paper was cited in trial testimony in the recent challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice to the "blockbuster" merger between AT&T and Time Warner, the first challenge of a vertical merger in the U.S. in over 40 years.

The rise of dominant firms in a variety of sectors has recently pushed the topic of competition policy directly into the public eye. In addition to rising margins and concentration, topics such as the dominance of digital platforms like Google and Facebook, data as a barrier to entry, and the consequences of mergers on innovation are all first-order public policy questions requiring academic insight. Crawford is currently the co-director of the Industrial Organization program of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and will be launching a CEPR Competition Policy Network in the autumn with Tommaso Valletti, the current/outgoing Chief Economist for DG Competition at the European Commission. This network will seek to focus academics' attention on these topics, with the goal of building an academic consensus on the appropriate policy responses to these challenges.

Gregory Crawford on Google Scholarbrowse

In the media

  • Europe must not rush Google-Fitbit deal Politico Opinion from 23.7.2020 read

Quotes

There are numerous policy questions centered on dominant platforms that are of first-order importance and that need the time and attention of academics.

Images

Kontakt

Persönlich

Supportpersonal

Name:

Annemarie Kaufmann

Bürozeiten:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday till 15:00

Addresse

University of Zurich

Department of Economics, Schönberggasse 1, 8001 Zürich
(Google Maps)