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- May 2023
- Article
Competition in Pricing Algorithms
By: Zach Y. Brown and Alexander J. MacKay
We document new facts about pricing technology using high-frequency data, and we examine the implications for competition. Some online retailers employ technology that allows for more frequent price changes and automated responses to price changes by rivals. Motivated...
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Keywords:
Pricing Algorithms;
Pricing Frequency;
Commitment;
Online Competition;
Price;
Information Technology;
Competition
Brown, Zach Y., and Alexander J. MacKay. "Competition in Pricing Algorithms." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 15, no. 2 (May 2023): 109–156.
- May 2023
- Article
Self-Preferencing at Amazon: Evidence from Search Rankings
By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Alexander MacKay
We study whether Amazon engages in self-preferencing on its marketplace by favoring its own brands (e.g., Amazon Basics) in search. To address this question, we collect new micro-level consumer search data using a custom browser extension installed by a panel of study...
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Farronato, Chiara, Andrey Fradkin, and Alexander MacKay. "Self-Preferencing at Amazon: Evidence from Search Rankings." AEA Papers and Proceedings 113 (May 2023): 239–243.
- Article
Recovering Investor Expectations from Demand for Index Funds
We use a revealed-preference approach to estimate investor expectations of stock market returns. Using data on demand for index funds that follow the S&P 500, we develop and estimate a model of investor choice to flexibly recover the time-varying distribution of...
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Keywords:
Stock Market Expectations;
Demand Estimation;
Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs);
Demand and Consumers;
Investment
Egan, Mark, Alexander J. MacKay, and Hanbin Yang. "Recovering Investor Expectations from Demand for Index Funds." Review of Economic Studies 89, no. 5 (October 2022): 2559–2599.
- 2022
- Article
Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, and Regulatory Response
By: Alexander MacKay and Samuel N. Weinstein
Pricing algorithms are rapidly transforming markets, from ride-sharing apps, to air travel, to online retail. Regulators and scholars have watched this development with a wary eye. Their focus so far has been on the potential for pricing algorithms to facilitate...
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Keywords:
Competition Policy;
Regulation;
Algorithmic Pricing;
Dynamic Pricing;
Economics;
Law And Economics;
Law And Regulation;
Consumer Protection;
Antitrust Law;
Industrial Organization;
Antitrust Issues And Policies;
Technological Change: Choices And Consequences;
Competition;
Policy;
Price;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Microeconomics;
Duopoly and Oligopoly;
Law
MacKay, Alexander, and Samuel N. Weinstein. "Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, and Regulatory Response." Washington University Law Review 100, no. 1 (2022): 111–174. (Direct download.)
- August 2022
- Article
Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions
By: Alexander MacKay
The optimal duration of a supply contract balances the costs of reselecting a supplier against the costs of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the contract lasts too long. I develop a structural model of contract duration that captures this tradeoff and...
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Keywords:
Supply Contracts;
Intermediate Goods;
Switching Costs;
Vertical Relationships;
Transaction Costs;
Contract Duration;
Identification;
Supply Chain;
Cost;
Contracts;
Auctions;
Mathematical Methods
MacKay, Alexander. "Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 14, no. 3 (August 2022): 164–212.
- 2024
- Working Paper
What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences
We present an empirical model of portfolio choice that allows for the nonparametric estimation of investors' (subjective) expectations and risk preferences. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 401(k) plans from 2009 through 2019, we explore heterogeneity in asset...
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Keywords:
Stock Market Expectations;
Demand Estimation;
Retirement Planning;
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan;
401 (K);
Finance;
Investment Portfolio;
Investment;
Retirement;
Behavioral Finance;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
Egan, Mark, Alexander MacKay, and Hanbin Yang. "What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-044, December 2021. (Revised April 2024. Direct download. NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29604, December 2021)
- 2021
- Working Paper
Recovering Investor Expectations from Demand for Index Funds
We use a revealed-preference approach to estimate investor expectations of stock market returns. Using data on demand for index funds that follow the S&P 500, we develop and estimate a model of investor choice to flexibly recover the time-varying distribution of...
View Details
Keywords:
Stock Market Expectations;
Demand Estimation;
Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs);
Demand and Consumers;
Investment;
United States
Egan, Mark, Alexander J. MacKay, and Hanbin Yang. "Recovering Investor Expectations from Demand for Index Funds." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 26608, January 2020. (Accepted at the Review of Economic Studies. Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-122, May 2020. Direct download. Revised July 2021.)
- January 2020
- Article
The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation
By: Tatyana Deryugina, Alexander MacKay and Julian Reif
We study the dynamics of residential electricity demand by exploiting a natural experiment that produced large and long-lasting price changes in over 250 Illinois communities. Using a flexible difference-in-differences matching approach, we estimate that the price...
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Keywords:
Electricity Demand;
Consumption Dynamics;
Energy;
Policy;
Demand and Consumers;
Price;
Mathematical Methods
Deryugina, Tatyana, Alexander MacKay, and Julian Reif. "The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 12, no. 1 (January 2020): 86–114.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Consumer Inertia and Market Power
By: Alexander MacKay and Marc Remer
We study the pricing decisions of firms in the presence of consumer inertia. Inertia, which can arise from habit formation, brand loyalty, and switching costs, generates dynamic pricing incentives. These incentives mediate the impact of competition on market power in...
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Keywords:
Consumer Inertia;
Market Power;
Dynamic Competition;
Demand Estimation;
Consumer Behavior;
Markets;
Performance;
Competition;
Price
MacKay, Alexander, and Marc Remer. "Consumer Inertia and Market Power." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-111, April 2019. (Revised January 2024. Direct download.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions
By: Alexander MacKay
The optimal duration of a supply contract balances the costs of reselecting a supplier against the costs of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the contract lasts too long. I develop a structural model of contract duration that captures this tradeoff and...
View Details
Keywords:
Vertical Relationships;
Transaction Costs;
Contract Duration;
Identification;
Supply Chain;
Cost;
Contracts;
Auctions;
Mathematical Methods
MacKay, Alexander. "Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-058, December 2017. (Revised May 2020. Direct download.)
- Working Paper
The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation
By: Tatyana Deryugina, Alexander MacKay and Julian Reif
Economic theory suggests that demand is more elastic in the long run relative to the short run, but evidence on the empirical relevance of this phenomenon is scarce. We study the dynamics of residential electricity demand by exploiting price variation arising from a...
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Deryugina, Tatyana, Alexander MacKay, and Julian Reif. "The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 23483, October 2017.
- March 2017
- Article
Challenges for Empirical Research on RPM
By: Alexander MacKay and David A. Smith
This article discusses the empirical challenges that researchers face when demonstrating the existence and effects of resale price maintenance (RPM). We outline three approaches for finding price effects of RPM and the corresponding hurdles in data and methodology. We...
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Keywords:
Antitrust Issues And Policies;
Antitrust Law;
Resale Price Maintenance;
Welfare Economics;
Price;
Competition;
Research
MacKay, Alexander, and David A. Smith. "Challenges for Empirical Research on RPM." Review of Industrial Organization 50, no. 2 (March 2017): 209–220.
- May 2014
- Article
Bias in Reduced-form Estimates of Pass-through
By: Alexander MacKay, Nathan H. Miller, Marc Remer and Gloria Sheu
We show that, in general, consistent estimates of cost pass-through are not obtained from reduced-form regressions of price on cost. We derive a formal approximation for the bias that arises even under standard orthogonality conditions. We provide guidance on the...
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MacKay, Alexander, Nathan H. Miller, Marc Remer, and Gloria Sheu. "Bias in Reduced-form Estimates of Pass-through." Economics Letters 123, no. 2 (May 2014): 200–202.
- Research Summary
Overview
Professor MacKay combines theory and measurement to deliver new insights about price competition and consumer preferences. In current and published papers, his research addresses how strategic pricing decisions may be influenced by algorithms, long-term contracts,... View Details