We are delighted to be able to announce that Professor Mark Armstrong has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for his project "Information Structures in Consumer Markets".
Information flows are fundamental to how well markets work for consumers and firms. Consumers get different deals depending on (a) how much they know about the offerings of different firms and, conversely, (b) how much firms know about consumer preferences. The internet is transforming both (a) and (b), allowing consumers to discover and evaluate products with greater ease and enabling firms to personalise prices and target their advertising. Economic understanding currently lags behind what is needed for robust policy formulation in the areas of consumer privacy, price discrimination, and the costs of consumer search and advertising. This project aims to fill that gap.
The grant is for four years beginning on September 1st 2019.
Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation commented: “The ERC Advanced Grants back outstanding researchers throughout Europe. Their pioneering work has the potential to make a difference in people’s everyday life and deliver solutions to some of our most urgent challenges. The ERC gives these bright minds the possibility to follow their most creative ideas and to play a decisive role in the advancement of all domains of knowledge”.
The ERC’s full press release appears on their website here
In total nine Oxford academics have received Advanced Grants in this year’s funding round. The University’s press release giving full details of the other Oxford researchers receiving Awards can be found here
Mark is a Statutory Professor within the Department of Economics and a Fellow of All Souls College. His work focuses on the operation of markets and his research interests include industrial organization, price discrimination and consumer and competition policy.
