Mark Armstrong | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Armstrong in 2025 | |
| Born | Christopher Mark Armstrong |
| Known for | Industrial organisation; oligopoly theory; consumer search; pricing of multi-product firms |
| Awards | Fellow of the British Academy (2007) Fellow of the Econometric Society (2008) Fellow of theEuropean Economic Association |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Queens' College, Cambridge (BA) St John's College, Oxford (M.Phil., D.Phil.) |
| Doctoral advisor | James Mirrlees |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Economics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge University of Oxford University College London |
Mark Armstrong (born December 1964)FBA is a British economist and professor of economics atUniversity College London (UCL). He is known for his research inindustrial organisation, focusing on oligopoly theory, consumer search and information frictions, and pricing decisions by platforms and other multi-product firms.
Armstrong earned a B.A. in mathematics fromQueens' College, Cambridge in 1987.[1] He then studied economics atSt John's College, Oxford, where he received an M.Phil. and D.Phil. in 1992 under the supervision ofJames Mirrlees.[2]
Armstrong's first academic position was as an assistant lecturer in microeconomics at theUniversity of Cambridge, where he was also a fellow ofGonville and Caius College, Cambridge between 1992 and 1994. From 1994 to 1997, he held the Eric Roll Professorship of Economic Policy at theUniversity of Southampton. In 1997, he returned to Oxford as an Official Fellow in economics atNuffield College, Oxford.
In 2003, Armstrong was appointed professor of economics atUniversity College London. He remained in this position until 2011, when he became Statutory Professor ofEconomics and a fellow ofAll Souls College, Oxford,[3] a role he held until 2022.[4] He returned toUniversity College London in July 2022 to take up his current position as professor of economics.[5]
Armstrong’s research is primarily inindustrial organisation, focusing on how firms and consumers behave in imperfectly competitive markets. His work has examined topics such asoligopoly theory, consumer search and information frictions, price discrimination, and pricing by multi-product firms and digital platforms.
He has made pioneering contributions to the analysis of platforms andtwo-sided markets, showing how platforms set prices and balance participation on both sides of a market.[6] His research on consumer search has explored how limited information and search costs shape competition, product quality, and pricing outcomes.[7]
With long-term collaboratorJohn Vickers, Armstrong has studied topics including regulation, access pricing, price discrimination and bundling, consumer search, and multiproduct pricing.[8]
Armstrong has held numerous professional and editorial positions during his career. He has served on the councils and executive committees of theEuropean Economic Association (2010–2015),[9] theRoyal Economic Society (2010–2015), and theEconometric Society (2016–2019).[10] He is also the President-elect of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE).[11]
He served as associate editor (1995–2002) and co-editor (2005–2020) of theRAND Journal of Economics,[12] and held editorial roles at theReview of Economic Studies, including managing editor (1999–2003) and chair (2003–2010).[13]
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