Go to main content
Harvard Business School
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions

Faculty & Research

  • HOME
  • FACULTY
  • RESEARCH
    • Global Research Centers
    • HBS Case Collection
    • HBS Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Publications
    • Research Associate (RA) Positions
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    Close
  • FEATURED TOPICS
    • Business and Environment
    • Business History
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Globalization
    • Health Care
    • Human Behavior and Decision-Making
    • Leadership
    • Social Enterprise
    • Technology and Innovation
    Close
  • ACADEMIC UNITS
    • Accounting and Management
    • Business, Government and the International Economy
    • Entrepreneurial Management
    • Finance
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    • Organizational Behavior
    • Strategy
    • Technology and Operations Management
    Close
Photo of Alexander J. MacKay

Unit: Strategy

Contact:

(617) 495-6004

Send Email

Additional Information
  • Personal Website

Areas of Interest

  • anti-trust
  • competition
  • econometrics
  • economics
  • pricing

Additional Topics

  • competitive strategy
  • contracts
  • government and business
  • industry structure
  • procurement
  • strategy
MORE

Alexander J. MacKay

Assistant Professor of Business Administration

Alexander MacKay is an assistant professor of business administration in the Strategy Unit. His research focuses on matters of competition, including pricing, demand, and market structure. Previously, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard Business School and at Harvard Kennedy School.

For more details about his research, please visit alexandermackay.org.
Print Entire ProfileMore

Alexander MacKay is an assistant professor of business administration in the Strategy Unit. His research focuses on matters of competition, including pricing, demand, and market structure. Previously, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard Business School and at Harvard Kennedy School.

Professor MacKay earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. Prior to his doctoral degree, he worked at a consulting firm that specialized in the design and analysis of business experiments. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia.

Print Entire ProfileLess
Publications

Journal Articles

  1. Article | Economics Letters

    Bias in Reduced-form Estimates of Pass-through

    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 conditions under which bias may frustrate inference.

    Keywords: pass-through; reduced-form aggression; bias;

    Citation:

    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.  View Details
    CiteView Details Read Now Related
  2. Article | Review of Industrial Organization

    Challenges for Empirical Research on RPM

    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 show that the quantity test that was suggested by Posner (1977; 1981) does not identify the change to welfare when demand-enhancing effects are considered generally. Finally, we present some solutions to the challenge of identifying welfare effects, and we suggest guidelines for future research.

    Keywords: antitrust issues and policies; antitrust law; resale price maintenance; welfare economics; Price; Competition; Research;

    Citation:

    MacKay, Alexander, and David A. Smith. "Challenges for Empirical Research on RPM." Review of Industrial Organization 50, no. 2 (March 2017): 209–220.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at HarvardPurchaseRelated

Working Papers

  1. Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

    Demand Estimation in Models of Imperfect Competition

    Alexander MacKay and Nathan H. Miller

    We consider the identification and estimation of demand systems in models of imperfect competition. Under standard assumptions about demand and supply, the bias that arises from price endogeneity can be resolved without the use of instruments. We provide a constructive identification result where the causal price parameter can be expressed as a function of the covariance of unobserved shocks. The function is estimated efficiently by the output of ordinary least squares regression. Thus, with a covariance restriction on unobservable shocks, structural parameters can be point identified. Further, it can be possible to place bounds on the structural parameters without imposing a covariance restriction. We illustrate the methodology with applications to ready-to-eat cereal, cement, and airlines.

    Keywords: demand estimation; identification; endogeneity bias; covariance restrictions; ordinary least squares;

    Citation:

    MacKay, Alexander, and Nathan H. Miller. "Demand Estimation in Models of Imperfect Competition." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-051, October 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsSSRN Read Now Related
  2. Working Paper

    The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation

    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 natural experiment: the introduction of an Illinois policy that enabled communities to select electricity suppliers on behalf of their residents. Using a flexible difference-in-differences matching approach, we estimate a one-year price elasticity of -0.16 and three-year elasticity of -0.27. We also present evidence that consumers increased usage ahead of these announced price changes. Finally, we project that the price elasticity converges to a value between -0.30 and -0.35 after ten years. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for consumption dynamics when evaluating energy policy.

    Keywords: Energy; Demand and Consumers; Price; Policy; Mathematical Methods;

    Citation:

    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.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Read Now Related
  3. Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2017

    Transaction Costs and the Duration of Contracts

    Alexander MacKay

    The duration of a vertical relationship depends on two types of costs: (i) the transaction costs of re-selecting a supplier and (ii) the cost of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the relationship lasts too long. For commodified goods and services, this tradeoff can be the primary determinant of the duration of supply contracts. I develop a model of optimal contract duration that captures this tradeoff, and I provide conditions that identify underlying costs. Latent transaction costs are identified even when the exact supplier selection mechanism is unknown. I estimate the model using federal supply contracts and find that transaction costs are a significant portion of total buyer costs. I use the structural model to estimate the value of the right to determine duration to the buyer, compared to a standard duration. Finally, a counterfactual analysis illustrates why quantifying transaction costs is important for the accurate analysis of welfare.

    Keywords: vertical relationships; transaction costs; contract duration; auctions; identification; Supply Chain; Cost; Contracts; Auctions; Mathematical Methods;

    Citation:

    MacKay, Alexander. "Transaction Costs and the Duration of Contracts." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-058, December 2017.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsSSRN Read Now Related

Cases and Teaching Materials

  1. Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018

    Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters

    Alexander MacKay and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

    Citation:

    MacKay, Alexander, and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell. "Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters." Harvard Business School Case 719-451, December 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchaseRelated
Search all publications by Alexander J. MacKay »
ǁ
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
  • HBS Facebook
  • Alumni Facebook
  • Executive Education Facebook
  • Michael Porter Facebook
  • Working Knowledge Facebook
  • HBS Twitter
  • Executive Education Twitter
  • HBS Alumni Twitter
  • Michael Porter Twitter
  • Recruiting Twitter
  • Rock Center Twitter
  • Working Knowledge Twitter
  • Jobs Twitter
  • HBS Youtube
  • Michael Porter Youtube
  • Executive Education Youtube
  • HBS Linkedin
  • Alumni Linkedin
  • Executive Education Linkedin
  • MBA Linkedin
  • Linkedin
  • HBS Instagram
  • Alumni Instagram
  • Executive Education Instagram
  • Michael Porter Instagram
  • HBS iTunes
  • Executive Education iTunes
  • HBS Tumblr
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College