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A. Michael Spence

A Brief Biographical Sketch

A. Michael Spence Is Professor Emeritus of Management in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a partner in Oak Hill Capital Partners and Oak Hill Venture Partners. He served as dean of the Stanford Business School from 1990 to 1999. As dean, he oversaw the finances, organization, and educational policies of the school. Spence earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Princeton summa cum laude and was selected for a Rhodes Scholarship. He was awarded a B.S.-M.A. from Oxford and earned his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard. He taught at Stanford as an Associate Professor of Economics from 1973 to 1975. From 1975 to 1990, he served as professor of Economics and Business Administration at Harvard, holding a joint appointment in the Business School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In l983 he was named chairman of the Economics Department and George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration. Spence was awarded the John Kenneth Galbraith Prize for excellence in teaching and the John Bates Clark medal for a "significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." From 1984 to 1990, Spence served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, overseeing Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education. 

Resume

Education:
1968-1972 Harvard University. Ph.D. Economics, 1972. Doctoral 
1966-1968 Oxford University. BA-MA in Mathematics (Rhodes Scholar), 1968
1962-1966 Princeton University. BA in Philosophy, 1966. Summa cum Laude. Varsity hockey.

Work Experience: 
1999: Affiliate of Oak Hill Venture Partners and Professor of Management at the Stanford Business School.
1990-1999: Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.
1984-1990: Dean of Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Harvard University.
1983-1986: George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration, Harvard University.
1977-1983: Professor of Economics (since 1977); Professor of Business Administration (since 1979), Harvard University.
1983-1984: Chairman of the Economics Department, Harvard University.
1981-1983: Chairman of the Business Economics Ph.D. program, Harvard University.
1980-1985: Chairman of Project in Industry and Competitive analysis, a database for research in finance, industrial organization, and competitive strategy.
1978-1979: Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (advising the Harvard Corporation).
1976-1980: Chairman of the Committee for hiring junior faculty in the Department of Economics.
1976-1977: Visiting Professor, Economics Department, Harvard University.
1975-1976: Honorary Research Fellow, Economics Department, Harvard University. 
1977-1979: Member of Economics Advisory Panel of the National Science Foundation. 
1979: Sloan Foundation Economics Advisory Committee
1973-1975: Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Stanford University. 
1971-1975: Assistant Professor of Political Economy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

At various times, member of the editorial boards: American Economics Review, Bell Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, and Public Policy.

Honors:
1983: Elected a Fellow of the America Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1981: John Bates Clark Medal: awarded once every two years by the American Economic Association to an economist under age 40, for contributions to economic research.

1978: John Kenneth Galbraith Prize for excellence in teaching.

1972: David A. Wells Prize for outstanding doctoral dissertation at Harvard University.

1966: Danforth Fellow.

1966: Rhodes Scholar.

1966: Honors Thesis Prize in Philosophy, Princeton University.

Professional and Other Affiliations: 
Board of Directors: General Mills, Siebel Systems, Nike Inc., Exult Inc, Blue Martini Software, Torstar, ITI Education

Chairman, National Research Council Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (1991-1997)

American Economic Association

Fellow of the Econometric Society

Publications: 
Market Signaling: Informational Transfer in Hiring and Related Processes, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1974.

Industrial Organization in an Open Economy, with R. E. Caves and M. E. Porter, Harvard University Press, 1980.

Competitive Structure in Investment Banking, with Samuel Hayes and David Marks, Harvard University Press, 1983.

"Insurance, Information, and Individual Action," (with R. J. Zeckhauser), American Economic Association, Papers and Proceedings, May 1971.

"The Optimal Control of Pollution," (with E. Keeler and R.J. Zeckhauser), Journal of Economic Theory, February 1972.

"The Effect of the Timing of Consumption Decisions and the Resolution of Uncertainty on the Choice of Lotteries," (with R. J. Zeckhauser) Econometrica, March 1972.

"Job Market Signaling," Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1973.

"Time and Communication in Economic and Social Interaction," Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1973.

"Competitive and Optimal Responses to Signals: An Analysis of Efficiency and Distribution," Journal of Economic Theory, March 1974.

"Consumer Misperceptions, Product Safety and Producer Liability," Review of Economic Studies, October 1977.

"Competition in Salaries, Credentials, and Signaling Prerequisites for Jobs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1976.

"Blue Whales and Applied Control Theory," in Systems Approaches to Environmental problems, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, conference values, June 1973.

"An Economist's View of Information," in Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, vol. 9, 1974,Carlos Cuadra (ed.) American Society for Information Science.

"Most Rapid Approach Paths in Accumulation Problems," (with David Starrett) International Economic Review, June 1975.

"The Economics of Internal Organization: An Introduction," Bell Journal of Economics, Spring 1975.

"Monopoly, Quality and Regulation, "Bell Journal of Economics Autumn 1973.

"Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," Review of Economic Studies, June 1976.

"Effluent Charges and Licenses Under Uncertainty," (with Marc J. Roberts), Journal of Public Finance, 1976.

"Television Programming, Monopolistic Competition, and Welfare," (with Bruce Owen), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1977. Also in Bruce Owen, The Economics of the First Amendment," Ballinger, Boston MA, 1975.

"Monopolistic Competition and Welfare," American Economic Association, Papers and Proceedings, May 1976.

"Informational Aspects of Market Structures: An Introduction," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1976.

"Nonlinear Prices and Welfare," Journal of Public Economics, 1977.

"Regulatory Strategies for Pollution Control," (with Martin Weitzman) in A. F. Friedlaender (ed.) Approaches to Controlling Pollution, M.I.T. Press, 1978.

"Markovits on Imperfect Competition," Stanford Law Review, May 1976.

"Markets and Imperfect Information," Portfolio, vol. 5, number 5.

"Entry, Capacity, Investment and Oligopolistic Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, Autumn, 1977.

"Tacit Coordination and Imperfect Information," Canadian Journal of Economics, 1978.

"Product Differentiation and Consumer Choice in Insurances Markets," Journal of Public Economics, 1979.

"Signaling and Screening," in S. Rosen (ed.) Low Income Labor Markets, National Bureau of Economics, volume forthcoming.

"Investment, Strategy and Growth in a New Market," Bell Journal of Economics, Spring 1979.

"The Learning Curve and Competition," Bell Journal of Economics, Spring 1981.

"Multi-Product Quantity-Dependent Prices and Profitability Constraints," Review of Economic Studies, 1980.

"Entry, Conduct, and Regulation in Professional Markets," a report to the Professional organizations Committee, Attorney General, Ontario, February 1978.

"Capacity Expansion in a Growing Oligopoly: The Case of Corn Wet Milling," (with M. E. Porter), Harvard Institute of Economic Research Discussion paper, forthcoming in a National Bureau of Economic Research volume.

"Advertising and Entry Barriers," Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1980.

"Reconciling Fragmented Economic Policies," in Antitrust in the 1980's, Conference Board, New York, 1982.

"Competition, Entry, and Antitrust Policy," in Steven Salop (ed.), Strategy, Predation, and Antitrust Analysis, Federal Trade Commission, September 1981.

"Some Thoughts on Competitive Strategy in a Growing Market," Corporate Director, forthcoming.

"Cost Reduction, Competition, and Industry Performance," May 1981, forthcoming in Econometrica.

"Capital Structure and the Corporation's Product Market Environment," forthcoming in a National Bureau of Economics Volume on Capital Structure.

"Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Structure: A Review Article," forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Literature.

Papers:
"Price, Quality and Quantity Interdependencies, Stanford, 1973.

"The Implicit Maximization of a Function in Monopolistically Competitive Markets," Harvard, 1976.

"Stable Prices, Fluctuating Demand, and Inventory Adjustments in Oligopolistic Industries," Harvard, 1976.

"Marginal Cost, Inventories, and Passing on Input Price Increases," Harvard, 1976.

"Signals, Contingent Contracts, and the Divergence of Earnings from productivity," Harvard, 1977.

"Vertical Integration and Differentiated Inputs," (with M.E. Porter), Harvard, 1979.

"Non-Random Missing Data," (with Jerry Haussan), M.I.T. working paper, May 1977.

Modelling the Role of History in Industrial Organization and Competition," with David Kreps, May 1983.

"Models of Spillovers in R&D," with David Kreps, June 1983.

"Learning Curve Spillovers, Shared Experience and Market Performance," with Pankaj Ghemawat, March 1983.

Related Links:
Press Release: Stanford Business School’s Spence Wins 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics 
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Stanford Business School Faculty Bio

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