Name Geoffrey Parker | ||
Citizenship United States of America Fields Management Science
Economics of Information Institutions Tulane University
MIT Center for Digital Business Known for Two-sided markets
Network economics/strategy Alma mater Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
Geoffrey G Parker (born Dayton, Ohio) is Professor of management science at Tulane University and is a Faculty Fellow at MIT and the MIT Center for Digital Business. Parker received a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University, M.S. in electrical engineering (Technology and Policy Program) from MIT, and Ph.D. in management science from MIT. His work focuses on distributed innovation, energy markets, and the economics of information. Parker also serves as Director of the Tulane Energy Institute [3].
Contents
Work
With Marshall Van Alstyne, Parker has made contributions to the field of network economics and strategy as co-developer of the theory of two-sided markets. That theory explains how firms can profitably price information at zero. and two-sided network effects can cause markets to concentrate in the hands of a few firms. These properties inform the strategies and antitrust law approaches at all firms involved in the network.
Parker’s research has appeared in journals such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Energy Economics, Management Science, Production and Operations Management, and Strategic Management Journal. Parker's work has also been featured on business news publications such as "MarketWatch" and "Wired".
His research includes studies of distributed innovation, business platform strategy, and platforms to integrate intermittent energy
He serves or has served as a National Science Foundation panelist from 2009-2011, associate or senior editor at two operations and management journals, and as President of the Industry Studies Association.
In 2014, he chaired the U.S.-Israel Energy Summit (sponsored by Mary Landrieu - Chair, U.S. Senate Energy Committee).
Personal
Before attending MIT, Parker held multiple positions in engineering and finance at General Electric in North Carolina and Wisconsin. He is a frequent invited speaker at international industry and academic conferences where he speaks about platform shifts in higher education, healthcare, media and energy. He was the business keynote speaker at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual practice management meeting in January 2015.
Teaching, Research Experience
Parker has taught undergraduate and full-time MBA courses as well as professional MBA and executive MBA programs. Much of his full-time teaching experience has involved rigorous technical courses garnering highly scored student course evaluations and university recognition.
As a researcher, Parker is interested in network effects that create highly non-linear systems with strong feedback loops. His research can be categorized into three major themes: (1) Distributed Innovation and the Integration of Complex Knowledge Work, (2) Network and Platform Economics, and (3) / Energy Markets and Policy.