Michael Spence

Michael Spencer, who received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1972, is currently a professor at both Harvard and Stanford universities, President of the University of Sydney, and Emeritus Professor at Qingdao University. Professor Spencer was born on November 7, 1943 in Montclair, New Jersey, USA, and studied at Princeton University from 1962 to 1966 where he received a Bachelor's degree in philosophy. In 1968, he received a Master's degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford, where he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship. He received his doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1972. From 1972 to 1975, Spencer was an associate professor of economics at Stanford University. Since then, he has been engaged in research and teaching work at Harvard University, as professor of economics and Professor of business administration of the school, and served as director of the doctoral department of Business Economics at Harvard University, chairman of the Department of Economics, Dean of the Harvard University Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1983, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Spencer returned to Stanford in 1990 as dean of the Graduate School of Business, and served as chairman of the National Council on Science, Technology and Economic Policy Research from 1991 to 1997. In addition, Spencer serves on the board of directors of seven companies. In 2001, he shared the Nobel Prize in Economics with George Akerlof and Joseph Stiglitz for his pioneering work on the analysis of markets with asymmetric information. Many markets have the characteristics of information asymmetry, so they show specific market rules and phenomena. Their research in this field forms the core of modern information economics. Professor John Roberts, a colleague of Michael Spencer, said that Michael's insights in economics lead us to a deeper understanding of real-world phenomena, from the accumulation of capital through price competition to the apparent lack of information in advertising, and these insights are extremely rare. Asymmetric information theory focuses on the risks faced by lenders in the absence of information about the creditworthiness of borrowers. It also explains how those who know the workings of technology capital gain an advantage over other investors, as well as the bubble in tech stocks in recent years. Spencer's research shows the absolute importance of information in the modern economy, that is, in certain circumstances, a well-informed businessman can make more market gains than those who lack the industry information. For example, a car dealer can provide a product guarantee to show that his car is better, and a company can use the extra tax on dividends to show its high returns. Professor David Kropes of Stanford Graduate School of Business believes that Spencer's theory is a milestone in the field of economics over the past 50 years. Michael Spencer believes that if employers can't distinguish between high-ability and low-ability labor ability, then the labor market will employ low-ability people at low wages, resulting in the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money in the labor market. Michael Spencer also found a phenomenon that highly capable men are expected to obtain higher educational qualifications than similarly capable women. Under this equilibrium, the return on education between men and women varies depending on the investment in education. In addition, Spence's signaling model has had a profound impact on game theory, and his specialized market equilibrium model under competition has influenced other fields, such as growth theory and international trade.