University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor Matthew Gentzkow has been awarded the 2014 John Bates Clark Medal by The American Economic Association. The annual prize is awarded to an American economist under the age of 40 who has made significant contributions to economics over the course of a single calendar year. Named after the American economist John Bates Clark, the Clark Medal is considered one of the two most prestigious awards in the field of economics, along with the Nobel Prize in economic science.“Matt is an exceptional researcher, and it’s great to see him receive this well-deserved recognition,” said Sunil Kumar, Dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Operations Management at Chicago Booth. “Matt is the most accomplished of a set of rising stars at Booth who are truly outstanding economists. We have the greatest expectations of him going forward.”
Gentzkow, The Richard O. Ryan Professor of Economics and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow, studies empirical industrial organization and political economy, with a specific focus on media industries. His most recent studies include a set of papers that examines political bias in the news media. Another second study of Gentzkow’s examines the impact that television has on society from several perspectives, while a third study of his explores questions of persuasion.
“Matthew Gentzkow has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the economic forces driving the creation of media products, the changing nature and role of media in the digital environment, and the effect of media on education and civic engagement,” according to the American Economic Association’s Honors and Awards Committee.
“He has been a pioneer in the area of media economics, defining questions appropriate to the changing media landscape. His work is creative without sacrificing quality. He has established himself as a role model in both substance and execution.”
Other members of the University of Chicago community to win the award include Kevin Murphy, Gary Becker, Jim Heckman and Steve Levitt. About 40-percent of Clark Medal winners go on to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences– with Gary Becker, Milton Friedman, Paul Krugman, and Kenneth Arrow making up a list of past Clark Medalists who also won the Nobel Prize.
