Michael Spence

Michael Spence is a renowned economist, who was awarded 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics along with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz. Michael Spence was awarded the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work on the dynamics of information flows and market development.

Personal, career and Academic profiles

Michael Spence was born in the year 1943 at Montclair, New Jersey of U.S.

1966: Michael Spence completed his B.A. in Philosophy from Princeton University

1968: Spence got his BA-MA degree in Mathematics from Oxford University

1972: Spence was awarded PhD in Economics from Harvard University

1973-1975: Spence was engaged as the Associate Professor in Department of Economics of Stanford University

1976-1980: He adorned the post of Chairman of the Committee for hiring junior faculty in the Department of Economics.

1977-1983: He worked as the Professor of Economics at Harvard University

1979: Spence became the Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University

1983-1984: During this period of time Spence served as the Chairman of the Economics Department, Harvard University

1984-1990: During this period of time Michael Spence was engaged as the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.

1990-99: During this period of time Spence served as the Dean of the business school at Stanford University

Some of the Honors and awards received by Michael Spence

1966: Spence was awarded the Honors Thesis Prize in Philosophy from Princeton University

1966: Spence became the Rhodes Scholar

1972: Michael Spence was awarded the David A. Wells Prize for distinguished doctoral thesis at Harvard University

1978: Spence was awarded the John Kenneth Galbraith Prize for excellence in teaching

1981: Spence was rewarded with John Bates Clark Medal

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

Theories propounded

Michael Spence will be remembered for his innovative work on the study of dynamic competition and the economics of information. for the theory of markets with asymmetric information.

One of the pioneering works of Michael Spence is the theory of “signaling” which shows how better-communicated individuals in the market communicate their information to the less-well-informed. This will avert the problems linked with adverse selection.

Major Works and publications

1972 (with E. Keeler and R.J. Zeckhauser):"The Optimal Control of Pollution"

1973: "Time and Communication in Economic and Social Interaction"

1974: Market Signaling: Informational Transfer in Hiring and Related Processes

1976: "Competition in Salaries, Credentials, and Signaling Prerequisites for Jobs"

1977: "Consumer Misperceptions, Product Safety and Producer Liability"

1980 (with R. E. Caves and M. E. Porter): Industrial Organization in an Open Economy

1983 (with Samuel Hayes and David Marks): Competitive Structure in Investment Banking

1983 (with David Kreps): "Models of Spillovers in R&D"