Alexander MacKay is an industrial organization economist who researches topics at the intersection of antitrust policy, price competition, consumer behavior, and technology.
Combining both theory and empirical analysis, Professor MacKay’s work examines firm pricing strategies and how they respond to new technologies, vertical relationships along the supply chain, and dynamic consumer behavior. He also analyzes the impact of dynamic consumer behavior on mergers and longer-run changes across markets. Professor MacKay has extensively studied algorithmic pricing and has expertise related to self-preferencing.
Professor MacKay publishes articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Review of Economic Studies, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, and the Review of Industrial Organization. His paper “Rising Markups and the Role of Consumer Preferences” was awarded the Robert F. Lanzillotti Prize for Best Paper in Antitrust Economics. The New York Times, Financial Times, TIME Magazine, and National Public Radio have referenced his analyses.
Professor MacKay has taught courses in microeconomics, competition and strategy, and econometrics. Before joining the UVA faculty, he was an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), where he contributed multiple case studies to the M.B.A. curriculum. Professor MacKay serves as a principal investigator in the Pricing Lab of the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard, a global research center focused on the use of AI and digital technologies in business and society.
Professor MacKay has served as a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship jointly at HBS and at the Harvard Kennedy School.