Michael Spence: Difference between revisions

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| name = Michael Spence
| name = Michael Spence
| birth_name = Andrew Michael Spence
| birth_name = Andrew Michael Spence
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|11|7}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|11|7}}
| birth_place = Montclair, New Jersey, United States
| birth_place = Montclair, New Jersey, United States
| nationality = Canadian, American
| nationality = Canadian, American
| occupation = Economist, academic
| occupation = Economist, academic
| known_for = [[Signaling theory]], analyses of markets with asymmetric information
| known_for = [[Signaling theory]], analyses of markets with asymmetric information
| education = Ph.D., Harvard University
| education = Harvard University (Ph.D.)<br>University of Oxford (B.A.)<br>Princeton University (B.A.)
| employer = New York University (Stern School of Business), Stanford University (emeritus)
| employer = New York University, Stanford University
| awards = [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] (2001), [[John Bates Clark Medal]] (1981)
| title = William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business (NYU Stern); Philip H. Knight Professor of Management, Emeritus, and Dean, Emeritus (Stanford GSB)
| awards = Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001)<br>John Bates Clark Medal (1981)
| website =  
| website =  
}}
}}


'''Andrew Michael Spence''' (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American economist and Nobel laureate whose foundational work on signaling in markets with asymmetric information reshaped the field of microeconomics. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Spence developed a theory of market signaling — first articulated in his 1972 doctoral dissertation at Harvard University — that demonstrated how better-informed parties in a transaction can credibly convey information to less-informed parties, with labor markets serving as a central example. For this contribution, he was awarded the 2001 [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]], shared with [[George A. Akerlof]] and [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]], "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information."<ref name="nobel_facts">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/ |publisher=The Nobel Prize |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> Spence also received the [[John Bates Clark Medal]] in 1981, awarded to the most promising American economist under the age of forty. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has held senior academic positions at Harvard University and Stanford University, where he served as dean of the Graduate School of Business, and currently holds the William R. Berkley Professorship in Economics and Business at the Stern School of Business at New York University. In recent years, Spence has become a prominent public intellectual on topics including artificial intelligence, global economic growth, and emerging-market development, contributing regularly to outlets such as [[Project Syndicate]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref name="imf_ai">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2024-09 |title=AI's Promise for the Global Economy |url=https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2024/09/ais-promise-for-the-global-economy-michael-spence |work=Finance & Development, International Monetary Fund |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
'''Andrew Michael Spence''' (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American economist whose work on how individuals and firms use observable actions to convey private information reshaped the understanding of markets operating under conditions of asymmetric information. His doctoral dissertation, ''Market Signalling'' (1972), introduced the concept of signaling in economics — the idea that in a market where one party possesses more information than another, the better-informed party may undertake costly actions to credibly communicate that information. The classic example Spence developed involved job applicants using educational credentials to signal their productivity to potential employers, a framework that has since been applied across fields ranging from finance and insurance to biology and political science.<ref name="nobel_facts">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/ |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |date=2001 |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
 
In 2001, Spence was awarded the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]], jointly with [[George A. Akerlof]] and [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]], "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information."<ref name="nobel_facts" /> He had previously received the [[John Bates Clark Medal]] in 1981, given to the American economist under the age of forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.<ref name="econlib">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Spence.html |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> Spence has held faculty positions at [[Harvard University]] and [[Stanford University]], where he served as dean of the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]], and is currently the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business at the [[Stern School of Business]] at [[New York University]].<ref name="stern">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence Joins NYU Stern |url=http://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/news-events/uat_024046 |publisher=New York University Stern School of Business |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> In more recent years, Spence has become a prominent commentator on global economic growth, digital transformation, and the economic implications of artificial intelligence.


== Early Life ==
== Early Life ==


Andrew Michael Spence was born on November 7, 1943, in Montclair, New Jersey, in the United States.<ref name="nobel_facts" /> Despite his American birthplace, Spence holds Canadian citizenship in addition to American citizenship, reflecting his family's cross-border ties. According to his Nobel autobiography, Spence grew up in a household that valued education and intellectual inquiry.<ref name="nobel_auto">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Autobiography |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/auto-biography/ |publisher=The Nobel Prize |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Andrew Michael Spence was born on November 7, 1943, in [[Montclair, New Jersey]], in the United States.<ref name="nobel_auto">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Autobiography |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/auto-biography/ |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |date=2001 |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> Despite his American birthplace, Spence holds Canadian citizenship alongside his American citizenship. Details about his parents and upbringing, as recounted in his Nobel autobiography, indicate that his early years shaped an intellectual curiosity that would eventually draw him toward the study of economics and the functioning of markets.<ref name="nobel_auto" />


Details about Spence's childhood and family background prior to his university education are drawn primarily from his own autobiographical account provided to the Nobel Foundation. He spent formative years in Canada before pursuing undergraduate studies in the United States and the United Kingdom. His early intellectual development was shaped by a broad liberal arts education, and he did not initially set out to become an economist. His path toward economics emerged gradually through exposure to philosophy, mathematics, and the social sciences during his undergraduate years.<ref name="nobel_auto" />
Spence grew up during a period of significant postwar economic expansion in North America, a context that informed the questions he would later pursue in academic research about how markets operate efficiently — or fail to do so — when participants have differing levels of information. His path to economics was not immediate; his undergraduate studies first led him to philosophy and mathematics before he turned to the discipline that would define his career.<ref name="nobel_auto" />


== Education ==
== Education ==


Spence's academic training was exceptionally broad and took place at three of the English-speaking world's most distinguished universities. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from [[Princeton University]], where he studied philosophy and was elected to [[Phi Beta Kappa]].<ref name="nobel_auto" /> He then attended the [[University of Oxford]] as a [[Rhodes Scholar]], studying at [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]], where he earned a second bachelor's degree (B.A.) in mathematics.<ref name="magdalen">{{cite web |title=People at Magdalen |url=http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/people-at-magdalen/ |publisher=Magdalen College, University of Oxford |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Spence's academic training spanned three distinguished institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. He earned his undergraduate [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Princeton University]], where he studied philosophy.<ref name="econlib" /> He then attended the [[University of Oxford]] as a [[Rhodes Scholar]], earning a second B.A. degree from [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]].<ref name="magdalen">{{cite web |title=People at Magdalen |url=http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/people-at-magdalen/ |publisher=Magdalen College, University of Oxford |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> His time at Oxford broadened his intellectual foundations and exposed him to the traditions of British analytical philosophy and economics.


Returning to the United States, Spence entered [[Harvard University]] for doctoral work in economics. His doctoral dissertation, titled "Market Signalling," was completed in 1972 under the influence of economist [[Richard Zeckhauser]], among other faculty members.<ref name="thesis">{{cite web |title=Market Signalling (Doctoral dissertation) |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302682411/ |publisher=ProQuest |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> The dissertation introduced the concept of signaling in labor markets — specifically, the idea that job applicants use educational credentials not solely for the human capital they acquire but as a signal to potential employers about their underlying abilities. This work became the foundation of signaling theory and would ultimately form the basis of his Nobel Prize–winning contribution to economics.<ref name="nobel_facts" />
Spence subsequently returned to the United States to pursue graduate work at [[Harvard University]], where he earned his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in economics. His doctoral dissertation, completed in 1972 and titled ''Market Signalling'', was supervised with the influence of [[Richard Zeckhauser]] and laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most influential contributions to the economics of information.<ref name="nobel_auto" /><ref name="thesis">{{cite web |title=Market Signalling (Dissertation) |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302682411/ |publisher=ProQuest |date=1972 |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> The dissertation examined how individuals in labor markets could use educational attainment as a signal of their underlying ability, a model that had far-reaching implications beyond the labor market context in which it was originally formulated.


== Career ==
== Career ==
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=== Early Academic Career at Harvard ===
=== Early Academic Career at Harvard ===


Following the completion of his Ph.D., Spence joined the faculty of Harvard University, where he would spend a significant portion of his early career. His 1973 article "Job Market Signaling," which drew directly from his dissertation, became one of the most cited papers in the history of economics. In it, Spence modeled the labor market as a game of incomplete information in which job candidates invest in education partly to signal their productivity to employers who cannot directly observe it.<ref name="econlib">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – Biography |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Spence.html |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> The model demonstrated that even if education did not increase a worker's actual productivity, it could still serve as an effective sorting mechanism, provided that the cost of acquiring education was negatively correlated with ability. This insight had broad implications for understanding information asymmetries in markets ranging from insurance to finance to product quality.
Following the completion of his Ph.D., Spence joined the faculty at Harvard University, where he began developing and extending the ideas from his doctoral work. His 1973 paper, derived from his dissertation, formally introduced the job-market signaling model, which demonstrated how education could serve as a credible signal of worker productivity even if education itself did not enhance productivity. The key insight was that if higher-ability workers found it less costly to acquire education than lower-ability workers, then the act of obtaining a degree could serve as a reliable mechanism for sorting workers in a market where employers could not directly observe individual ability.<ref name="nobel_lecture">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Prize Lecture: Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economics/2001/spence/lecture/ |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |date=2001 |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


At Harvard, Spence rose through the academic ranks and also served in administrative roles. He became a professor of economics and business administration and was recognized as one of the leading theorists of his generation in the field of information economics. His research during this period extended beyond labor markets to include work on competitive market structure, entry barriers, and the economics of information more broadly.<ref name="econlib" />
This framework introduced the concept of a "signaling equilibrium," in which the choices made by informed agents (such as job applicants) and the inferences drawn by uninformed agents (such as employers) are mutually consistent. Spence's signaling model became a cornerstone of [[information economics]] and was recognized with the John Bates Clark Medal in 1981, an award that identified him as one of the most important young economists in the United States at that time.<ref name="econlib" />


In 1981, Spence received the [[John Bates Clark Medal]], awarded by the [[American Economic Association]] to an American economist under the age of forty who has made significant contributions to economic thought and knowledge. At the time of his award, Spence was recognized primarily for his work on market signaling and information economics.<ref name="nobel_facts" />
At Harvard, Spence held positions as a professor of economics and business administration. His research during this period extended beyond labor markets to examine signaling and screening phenomena in a range of economic contexts, including insurance markets, financial markets, and product quality assurance. The generality of the signaling framework — its applicability to any situation where one party has private information and can take costly, observable actions to convey it — made it one of the most widely adopted models in microeconomic theory.<ref name="econlib" />


=== Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business ===
=== Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business ===


Spence subsequently moved to [[Stanford University]], where he was appointed the Philip H. Knight Professor of Management and served as Dean of the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]]. His tenure as dean was marked by efforts to strengthen the school's position in the areas of economics, finance, and organizational behavior, and to integrate global perspectives into the business school curriculum.<ref name="hoover">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – Biography |url=http://www.hoover.org/bios/spence.html |publisher=Hoover Institution, Stanford University |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Spence moved to [[Stanford University]], where he was appointed the Philip H. Knight Professor of Management and served as Dean of the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]].<ref name="hoover">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence |url=http://www.hoover.org/bios/spence.html |publisher=Hoover Institution, Stanford University |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> In this role, Spence oversaw the academic and administrative direction of one of the most prominent business schools in the world. His tenure as dean involved navigating the rapidly changing landscape of business education during the late twentieth century, a period in which globalization, technology, and financial innovation were transforming both the curriculum and the research agenda of leading business schools.
 
As a faculty member at Stanford, Spence continued his research in microeconomics and labor economics, the fields identified as his primary areas of specialization.<ref name="repec">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – IDEAS/RePEc |url=https://ideas.repec.org/e/psp7.html |publisher=RePEc |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> He also became increasingly engaged with questions of economic growth, industrial organization, and the dynamics of competition in markets characterized by increasing returns to scale and network effects — themes that would become central to the digital economy.
 
=== New York University and International Engagements ===


After stepping down as dean, Spence retained his emeritus titles at Stanford — Philip H. Knight Professor of Management, Emeritus, and Dean, Emeritus — and continued to be affiliated with the university's research community, including the Hoover Institution.<ref name="hoover" />
Spence subsequently joined the faculty of the [[Stern School of Business]] at [[New York University]] as the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business.<ref name="stern" /> This appointment placed him at a major academic institution in a global financial center, providing a platform for engagement with both academic research and policy debates.


=== New York University and SDA Bocconi ===
In addition to his role at NYU Stern, Spence joined the faculty of [[SDA Bocconi School of Management]] in Milan, Italy, further extending his international academic presence.<ref name="bocconi">{{cite news |last= |first= |date= |title=Nobel Economist Michael Spence Joins SDA Bocconi Faculty |url=http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-faculty/919/nobel-economist-michael-spence-joins-sda-bocconi-faculty |work=BusinessBecause |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> This dual affiliation reflected the increasingly global nature of economic research and business education in the twenty-first century.


Spence later joined the faculty of the [[Stern School of Business]] at [[New York University]], where he holds the William R. Berkley Professorship in Economics and Business. In this role, he has continued to teach and conduct research in economics while also engaging with policy and business communities.<ref name="nyu">{{cite web |title=Nobel Prize–Winning Economist A. Michael Spence Joins NYU Stern |url=http://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/news-events/uat_024046 |publisher=New York University, Stern School of Business |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Spence has also been active in international policy advisory roles. He served as a member of the 21st Century Council of the [[Berggruen Institute]], a think tank focused on governance and geopolitical issues.<ref name="berggruen">{{cite web |title=21st Century Council – Members |url=http://governance.berggruen.org/councils/21st-century-council/members |publisher=Berggruen Institute |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> He was also a member of the Global Commission on Internet Governance, which addressed questions about the regulation and future of the internet as a global public resource.<ref name="internet">{{cite web |title=Our Internet – Commission Members |url=https://www.ourinternet.org/#commission |publisher=Global Commission on Internet Governance |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


In addition to his position at NYU, Spence joined the faculty of the [[SDA Bocconi School of Management]] in Milan, Italy, further expanding his international academic engagement.<ref name="bocconi">{{cite news |last= |first= |date= |title=Nobel Economist Michael Spence Joins SDA Bocconi Faculty |url=http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-faculty/919/nobel-economist-michael-spence-joins-sda-bocconi-faculty |work=BusinessBecause |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> These dual appointments reflected his growing emphasis on globalization and the economics of developing countries, themes that would come to dominate much of his later work.
=== Research on Growth and Development ===


=== Signaling Theory and Contributions to Information Economics ===
Beyond his foundational work on signaling, Spence has made significant contributions to the study of economic growth, particularly in developing economies. His research has examined the conditions under which sustained high-growth episodes occur and the role of government policy, investment, and institutional design in facilitating economic development. This work has drawn on the experiences of countries in East Asia and other rapidly growing regions, and it has informed debates at international institutions about the determinants of long-term prosperity.


Spence's most enduring intellectual contribution is the development of [[signaling theory]], which forms part of the broader economics of information. The core insight of his work is that in markets characterized by asymmetric information — where one party to a transaction knows more than the other — the better-informed party can take costly actions to credibly reveal (or "signal") private information.
Spence chaired the Commission on Growth and Development (also known as the Growth Commission), an independent body that brought together leading policymakers, academics, and business leaders to examine strategies for sustainable economic growth in developing countries. The Commission's work resulted in a widely cited report that synthesized lessons from decades of growth experiences across countries and identified common features of successful growth strategies.<ref name="econlib" />


In the canonical example from Spence's model, a job applicant's decision to obtain a university degree serves as a signal of ability. The crucial assumption is that the cost of obtaining the degree (in terms of effort, time, or financial resources) is lower for higher-ability individuals than for lower-ability individuals. Under this condition, a "separating equilibrium" can exist in which high-ability workers choose to acquire education and low-ability workers do not, allowing employers to distinguish between the two groups even without directly observing ability.<ref name="nobel_lecture">{{cite web |title=A. Michael Spence – Prize Lecture: Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economics/2001/spence/lecture/ |publisher=The Nobel Prize |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
=== Commentary on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Economy ===


In his Nobel Prize lecture, delivered in December 2001, Spence reflected on the development of signaling theory and its broader implications for understanding the informational structure of markets. He discussed how the model had been extended and applied across many domains, including corporate finance (where firms signal profitability through dividend policy), insurance (where policyholders signal risk type through deductible choices), and product markets (where warranties signal quality).<ref name="nobel_lecture" />
In more recent years, Spence has become a prominent voice on the economic implications of [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) and digital technology. Writing for the [[International Monetary Fund]]'s ''Finance & Development'' magazine, Spence has argued that AI, if properly deployed, could significantly accelerate economic growth and help productivity growth rebound after a period of stagnation in many advanced economies.<ref name="imf_ai">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2024-09 |title=AI's Promise for the Global Economy |url=https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2024/09/ais-promise-for-the-global-economy-michael-spence |work=Finance & Development, International Monetary Fund |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


The signaling framework, together with Akerlof's model of adverse selection (the "market for lemons") and Stiglitz's work on screening, formed the trio of contributions recognized by the 2001 Nobel Prize. The Nobel Committee noted that these three economists' work, taken together, had fundamentally altered the way economists think about markets where information is imperfect or unevenly distributed.<ref name="nobel_facts" />
Spence has also contributed analysis on how emerging economies can harness AI to advance their social and economic goals. In a November 2025 commentary for [[Project Syndicate]], he explained that countries do not need to be at the frontier of building AI models to benefit from the technology; rather, adoption and adaptation of existing AI tools can deliver substantial gains in productivity and service delivery.<ref name="ps_emerging">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-11 |title=Why Emerging Economies Are Embracing AI |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/emerging-economies-can-use-ai-to-advance-social-economic-goals-by-michael-spence-2025-11 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


=== Policy Work and Global Economic Analysis ===
In December 2025, Spence published a further commentary on what he termed "The AI Diffusion Challenge," arguing that the returns on current massive investments in AI infrastructure depend critically on economy-wide adoption rather than merely on frontier development. He emphasized the importance of policy support in facilitating the broad diffusion of AI technologies across sectors and firm sizes.<ref name="ps_diffusion">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-12 |title=The AI Diffusion Challenge |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/whether-ai-meets-expectations-depends-on-diffusion-and-policy-support-by-michael-spence-2025-12 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


Beyond his purely academic contributions, Spence has been active in economic policy analysis and advisory roles. He chaired the Commission on Growth and Development (also known as the Growth Commission), an independent body of policymakers, business leaders, and economists that studied patterns of sustained high economic growth in developing countries. The commission's 2008 report identified common features of economies that had achieved sustained growth rates of 7 percent or more for 25 years or longer, and offered policy recommendations for other developing nations.<ref name="econlib" />
Spence has also engaged with broader questions of economic theory in light of technological change. In an August 2025 commentary marking the 250th anniversary of [[Adam Smith]]'s ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'', Spence examined how classic and emerging challenges — including the effects of AI — are complicating the canonical theory of economic specialization and comparative advantage.<ref name="ps_smith">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-08 |title=Adam Smith at 250 |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/adam-smith-economic-specialization-being-reversed-and-challenged-by-ai-by-michael-spence-2025-08 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


Spence has also served as a member of the 21st Century Council, an initiative of the [[Berggruen Institute]] that brings together leaders from politics, business, and academia to address governance challenges in an era of globalization.<ref name="berggruen">{{cite web |title=21st Century Council – Members |url=http://governance.berggruen.org/councils/21st-century-council/members |publisher=Berggruen Institute |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
=== Commentary on China and Global Trade ===


He has been a regular columnist for [[Project Syndicate]], where he writes on topics ranging from global economic growth and trade to technology and inequality.<ref name="project_syndicate">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – Columnist |url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/michael-spence |publisher=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> His more recent commentary has focused substantially on the economic implications of artificial intelligence. In a 2024 article for the International Monetary Fund's ''Finance & Development'' magazine, Spence argued that AI, if properly deployed, could significantly accelerate economic growth and help productivity growth rebound across both advanced and developing economies.<ref name="imf_ai" />
Spence has been an active commentator on the Chinese economy and its relationship to the global economic system. Speaking at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai in November 2025, he stressed the importance of addressing problems in China's property sector and restoring household confidence, arguing that these domestic issues were more consequential for China's economic trajectory than external tariff pressures.<ref name="scmp_china">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-11-08 |title=Michael Spence on China: fix property, boost confidence – tariffs are secondary |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3331956/nobel-laureate-spence-china-fix-property-restore-confidence-tariffs-are-secondary |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


In November 2025, writing for Project Syndicate, Spence discussed why emerging economies were increasingly embracing AI, explaining that countries did not need to be building frontier AI models themselves to benefit substantially from the technology.<ref name="ps_emerging">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-11 |title=Why Emerging Economies Are Embracing AI |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/emerging-economies-can-use-ai-to-advance-social-economic-goals-by-michael-spence-2025-11 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> In December 2025, he published a further analysis on "The AI Diffusion Challenge," arguing that the returns on current AI investments depend more on economy-wide adoption and supportive policy frameworks than on frontier model development.<ref name="ps_diffusion">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-12 |title=The AI Diffusion Challenge |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/whether-ai-meets-expectations-depends-on-diffusion-and-policy-support-by-michael-spence-2025-12 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
=== Public Commentary and Columns ===


In August 2025, Spence also contributed a commentary titled "Adam Smith at 250," in which he examined classical and emerging challenges to the canonical theory of economic specialization, including disruptions posed by AI.<ref name="ps_smith">{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Michael |date=2025-08 |title=Adam Smith at 250 |url=https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/adam-smith-economic-specialization-being-reversed-and-challenged-by-ai-by-michael-spence-2025-08 |work=Project Syndicate |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Spence is a regular columnist for [[Project Syndicate]], where he has published commentary on a wide range of economic and policy topics including globalization, financial regulation, growth strategies, technology, and inequality.<ref name="ps_column">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – Project Syndicate Columnist |url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/michael-spence |publisher=Project Syndicate |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref> His columns reach a global audience of policymakers, academics, and business leaders and reflect the application of economic analysis to contemporary policy challenges.


Spence has also commented on China's economic challenges. Speaking at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai in November 2025, he emphasized the importance of addressing China's property market and restoring household confidence, describing these as more pressing priorities than navigating tariff disputes.<ref name="scmp">{{cite news |date=2025-11-08 |title=Michael Spence on China: fix property, boost confidence – tariffs are secondary |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3331956/nobel-laureate-spence-china-fix-property-restore-confidence-tariffs-are-secondary |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
In a 2011 discussion covered by the ''Freakonomics'' blog, Spence weighed in on the debate over high-frequency trading, contributing to the public discourse on financial market structure and regulation.<ref name="freakonomics">{{cite web |title=Should High-Frequency Trading Be Banned? One Nobel Winner Thinks So |url=http://freakonomics.com/2011/03/28/should-high-frequency-trading-be-banned-one-nobel-winner-thinks-so/ |publisher=Freakonomics |date=2011-03-28 |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


== Personal Life ==
== Personal Life ==


Spence maintains a relatively private personal life. He holds dual Canadian and American citizenship.<ref name="nobel_auto" /> His autobiographical statement to the Nobel Foundation provides some personal details but remains focused primarily on his intellectual development and career. Beyond his academic positions, Spence has been involved in various advisory and board roles connecting academia, policy, and the private sector.
Spence was born in Montclair, New Jersey, and holds both Canadian and American citizenship.<ref name="nobel_auto" /> Beyond these publicly documented facts, Spence has maintained a relatively private personal life. His Nobel autobiography provides some personal reflections on his intellectual development and the influences that shaped his career, but detailed information about his family life is not extensively documented in public sources.<ref name="nobel_auto" />
 
Spence has maintained affiliations with several academic institutions across multiple countries, reflecting a career characterized by international engagement. His connections to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, have remained part of his academic identity.<ref name="magdalen" />


== Recognition ==
== Recognition ==


Spence's contributions to economics have been recognized with several of the discipline's highest honors. The two most significant awards he has received are:
Spence's contributions to economics have been recognized with some of the most significant honors in the discipline. In 1981, he received the [[John Bates Clark Medal]], awarded by the [[American Economic Association]] to the American economist under forty who has made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.<ref name="econlib" /> The award recognized the importance of his work on signaling and information economics at a relatively early stage of his career.


* '''John Bates Clark Medal (1981)''': Awarded by the American Economic Association to an economist under the age of forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. Spence was recognized for his pioneering work on market signaling and information economics.<ref name="nobel_facts" />
In 2001, Spence was awarded the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]], jointly with [[George A. Akerlof]] and [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]]. The [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] cited the three economists "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information."<ref name="nobel_facts" /> Spence's specific contribution, as described by the Nobel committee, was the development of the theory of market signaling, which demonstrated how better-informed market participants can use costly, observable actions to credibly transmit information to less-informed participants, thereby improving market outcomes.<ref name="nobel_lecture" />


* '''Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001)''': Spence shared the prize with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited their collective "analyses of markets with asymmetric information." Spence's specific contribution was his development of signaling theory, demonstrating how informed market participants can use costly signals to resolve information asymmetries.<ref name="nobel_facts" /><ref name="nobel_lecture" />
In his Nobel Prize lecture, titled "Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets," Spence reflected on the development of signaling theory, its extensions and applications, and its place within the broader economics of information.<ref name="nobel_lecture" />


Spence's research output is documented in the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) database, which tracks his publications and their citations within the economics literature.<ref name="repec">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – Research Papers in Economics |url=https://ideas.repec.org/e/psp7.html |publisher=RePEc |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref><ref name="repec2">{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – EconPapers |url=http://econpapers.repec.org/RAS/psp7.htm |publisher=EconPapers, RePEc |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
Spence's academic reputation is also reflected in his institutional affiliations. He has held named professorships at both Stanford University (the Philip H. Knight Professor of Management) and New York University (the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business), and served as a fellow at the [[Hoover Institution]] at Stanford.<ref name="hoover" /><ref name="stern" />


He has been affiliated with the [[Hoover Institution]] at Stanford University<ref name="hoover" /> and has participated in the [[World Economic Forum]]'s initiatives on global governance and economic policy.<ref name="wef">{{cite news |date=2025-08-22 |title=In a world of growing divisions, how can we learn to disagree well? |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/08/disagree-well-world-growing-divisions/ |work=World Economic Forum |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>
== Legacy ==


== Legacy ==
Michael Spence's signaling model, first presented in his 1972 doctoral dissertation and published in subsequent papers, stands as one of the foundational contributions to the field of [[information economics]]. The concept of signaling — the idea that informed parties can take costly actions to credibly convey private information — has been adopted and extended across virtually every subfield of economics and has found applications in disciplines as diverse as evolutionary biology, political science, sociology, and organizational theory.


Michael Spence's primary intellectual legacy lies in the establishment of signaling theory as a central concept in economics. Prior to the work of Spence, Akerlof, and Stiglitz in the 1970s, mainstream economic theory largely assumed that market participants had access to the same information. The introduction of information asymmetries into formal economic models fundamentally changed the discipline, opening up new subfields and providing explanatory power for a wide range of real-world phenomena that had previously been difficult to analyze within standard frameworks.
The job-market signaling model, in particular, transformed the way economists think about the role of education. By demonstrating that educational credentials could serve as a signal of ability rather than (or in addition to) a direct enhancer of productivity, Spence's work opened a new line of inquiry into the social returns to education and the efficiency of educational investment. This insight remains central to debates in labor economics and education policy.<ref name="nobel_lecture" />


Signaling theory, in particular, has had applications far beyond the labor market context in which Spence originally developed it. The concept has been adopted and extended across economics, finance, biology (through the handicap principle in evolutionary biology), and the social sciences more broadly. In corporate finance, the idea that firms' financial decisions can serve as signals about their prospects has become a standard part of the theoretical toolkit. In education policy, Spence's model continues to inform debates about the economic value of educational credentials versus the human capital acquired through education.<ref name="nobel_lecture" />
Together with Akerlof's model of adverse selection (the "market for lemons") and Stiglitz's work on screening, Spence's signaling theory constitutes one of the three pillars of the economics of asymmetric information, a body of work that the Nobel committee recognized as having fundamentally altered the understanding of how markets function when participants have access to different information.<ref name="nobel_facts" /> These three complementary frameworks provided a rigorous theoretical basis for understanding phenomena such as the structure of insurance contracts, the design of warranties, the pricing of financial securities, and the organization of labor markets.


As a policy commentator, Spence's work on growth in developing economies through the Commission on Growth and Development has contributed to debates about what institutional and policy conditions facilitate sustained economic development. His more recent work on artificial intelligence and its potential to transform productivity and economic growth positions him as one of the leading economic voices on the implications of emerging technologies for global economic welfare.<ref name="imf_ai" /><ref name="ps_diffusion" />
Spence's more recent work on economic growth, development, and the economics of artificial intelligence has extended his influence beyond pure theory into the realm of applied policy analysis. His engagement with international institutions and public commentary through platforms such as Project Syndicate and the International Monetary Fund has ensured that his analytical perspective continues to inform global economic discourse.<ref name="imf_ai" /><ref name="ps_column" />


Spence's career trajectory — from foundational theoretical work in his twenties and thirties, through academic leadership at two of the world's leading business schools, to engagement with global economic policy in his later career — illustrates a pattern of sustained influence across both the academy and the policy world. His signaling model remains a standard component of graduate economics curricula worldwide, and the 2001 Nobel Prize affirmed the lasting significance of his contribution to the understanding of how markets function under conditions of imperfect information.<ref name="nobel_facts" />
His contributions to [[RePEc]] and his extensive publication record document a career spanning more than five decades of research and public engagement in economics.<ref name="repec" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Spence – EconPapers |url=http://econpapers.repec.org/RAS/psp7.htm |publisher=EconPapers, RePEc |date= |access-date=2026-02-24}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
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Michael Spence
BornAndrew Michael Spence
7 11, 1943
BirthplaceMontclair, New Jersey, United States
NationalityCanadian, American
OccupationEconomist, academic
TitleWilliam R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business (NYU Stern); Philip H. Knight Professor of Management, Emeritus, and Dean, Emeritus (Stanford GSB)
EmployerNew York University, Stanford University
Known forSignaling theory, analyses of markets with asymmetric information
EducationHarvard University (Ph.D.)
University of Oxford (B.A.)
Princeton University (B.A.)
AwardsNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001)
John Bates Clark Medal (1981)

Andrew Michael Spence (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American economist whose work on how individuals and firms use observable actions to convey private information reshaped the understanding of markets operating under conditions of asymmetric information. His doctoral dissertation, Market Signalling (1972), introduced the concept of signaling in economics — the idea that in a market where one party possesses more information than another, the better-informed party may undertake costly actions to credibly communicate that information. The classic example Spence developed involved job applicants using educational credentials to signal their productivity to potential employers, a framework that has since been applied across fields ranging from finance and insurance to biology and political science.[1]

In 2001, Spence was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz, "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information."[1] He had previously received the John Bates Clark Medal in 1981, given to the American economist under the age of forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.[2] Spence has held faculty positions at Harvard University and Stanford University, where he served as dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is currently the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business at the Stern School of Business at New York University.[3] In more recent years, Spence has become a prominent commentator on global economic growth, digital transformation, and the economic implications of artificial intelligence.

Early Life

Andrew Michael Spence was born on November 7, 1943, in Montclair, New Jersey, in the United States.[4] Despite his American birthplace, Spence holds Canadian citizenship alongside his American citizenship. Details about his parents and upbringing, as recounted in his Nobel autobiography, indicate that his early years shaped an intellectual curiosity that would eventually draw him toward the study of economics and the functioning of markets.[4]

Spence grew up during a period of significant postwar economic expansion in North America, a context that informed the questions he would later pursue in academic research about how markets operate efficiently — or fail to do so — when participants have differing levels of information. His path to economics was not immediate; his undergraduate studies first led him to philosophy and mathematics before he turned to the discipline that would define his career.[4]

Education

Spence's academic training spanned three distinguished institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. He earned his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, where he studied philosophy.[2] He then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a second B.A. degree from Magdalen College.[5] His time at Oxford broadened his intellectual foundations and exposed him to the traditions of British analytical philosophy and economics.

Spence subsequently returned to the United States to pursue graduate work at Harvard University, where he earned his Ph.D. in economics. His doctoral dissertation, completed in 1972 and titled Market Signalling, was supervised with the influence of Richard Zeckhauser and laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most influential contributions to the economics of information.[4][6] The dissertation examined how individuals in labor markets could use educational attainment as a signal of their underlying ability, a model that had far-reaching implications beyond the labor market context in which it was originally formulated.

Career

Early Academic Career at Harvard

Following the completion of his Ph.D., Spence joined the faculty at Harvard University, where he began developing and extending the ideas from his doctoral work. His 1973 paper, derived from his dissertation, formally introduced the job-market signaling model, which demonstrated how education could serve as a credible signal of worker productivity even if education itself did not enhance productivity. The key insight was that if higher-ability workers found it less costly to acquire education than lower-ability workers, then the act of obtaining a degree could serve as a reliable mechanism for sorting workers in a market where employers could not directly observe individual ability.[7]

This framework introduced the concept of a "signaling equilibrium," in which the choices made by informed agents (such as job applicants) and the inferences drawn by uninformed agents (such as employers) are mutually consistent. Spence's signaling model became a cornerstone of information economics and was recognized with the John Bates Clark Medal in 1981, an award that identified him as one of the most important young economists in the United States at that time.[2]

At Harvard, Spence held positions as a professor of economics and business administration. His research during this period extended beyond labor markets to examine signaling and screening phenomena in a range of economic contexts, including insurance markets, financial markets, and product quality assurance. The generality of the signaling framework — its applicability to any situation where one party has private information and can take costly, observable actions to convey it — made it one of the most widely adopted models in microeconomic theory.[2]

Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business

Spence moved to Stanford University, where he was appointed the Philip H. Knight Professor of Management and served as Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[8] In this role, Spence oversaw the academic and administrative direction of one of the most prominent business schools in the world. His tenure as dean involved navigating the rapidly changing landscape of business education during the late twentieth century, a period in which globalization, technology, and financial innovation were transforming both the curriculum and the research agenda of leading business schools.

As a faculty member at Stanford, Spence continued his research in microeconomics and labor economics, the fields identified as his primary areas of specialization.[9] He also became increasingly engaged with questions of economic growth, industrial organization, and the dynamics of competition in markets characterized by increasing returns to scale and network effects — themes that would become central to the digital economy.

New York University and International Engagements

Spence subsequently joined the faculty of the Stern School of Business at New York University as the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business.[3] This appointment placed him at a major academic institution in a global financial center, providing a platform for engagement with both academic research and policy debates.

In addition to his role at NYU Stern, Spence joined the faculty of SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy, further extending his international academic presence.[10] This dual affiliation reflected the increasingly global nature of economic research and business education in the twenty-first century.

Spence has also been active in international policy advisory roles. He served as a member of the 21st Century Council of the Berggruen Institute, a think tank focused on governance and geopolitical issues.[11] He was also a member of the Global Commission on Internet Governance, which addressed questions about the regulation and future of the internet as a global public resource.[12]

Research on Growth and Development

Beyond his foundational work on signaling, Spence has made significant contributions to the study of economic growth, particularly in developing economies. His research has examined the conditions under which sustained high-growth episodes occur and the role of government policy, investment, and institutional design in facilitating economic development. This work has drawn on the experiences of countries in East Asia and other rapidly growing regions, and it has informed debates at international institutions about the determinants of long-term prosperity.

Spence chaired the Commission on Growth and Development (also known as the Growth Commission), an independent body that brought together leading policymakers, academics, and business leaders to examine strategies for sustainable economic growth in developing countries. The Commission's work resulted in a widely cited report that synthesized lessons from decades of growth experiences across countries and identified common features of successful growth strategies.[2]

Commentary on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Economy

In more recent years, Spence has become a prominent voice on the economic implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology. Writing for the International Monetary Fund's Finance & Development magazine, Spence has argued that AI, if properly deployed, could significantly accelerate economic growth and help productivity growth rebound after a period of stagnation in many advanced economies.[13]

Spence has also contributed analysis on how emerging economies can harness AI to advance their social and economic goals. In a November 2025 commentary for Project Syndicate, he explained that countries do not need to be at the frontier of building AI models to benefit from the technology; rather, adoption and adaptation of existing AI tools can deliver substantial gains in productivity and service delivery.[14]

In December 2025, Spence published a further commentary on what he termed "The AI Diffusion Challenge," arguing that the returns on current massive investments in AI infrastructure depend critically on economy-wide adoption rather than merely on frontier development. He emphasized the importance of policy support in facilitating the broad diffusion of AI technologies across sectors and firm sizes.[15]

Spence has also engaged with broader questions of economic theory in light of technological change. In an August 2025 commentary marking the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Spence examined how classic and emerging challenges — including the effects of AI — are complicating the canonical theory of economic specialization and comparative advantage.[16]

Commentary on China and Global Trade

Spence has been an active commentator on the Chinese economy and its relationship to the global economic system. Speaking at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai in November 2025, he stressed the importance of addressing problems in China's property sector and restoring household confidence, arguing that these domestic issues were more consequential for China's economic trajectory than external tariff pressures.[17]

Public Commentary and Columns

Spence is a regular columnist for Project Syndicate, where he has published commentary on a wide range of economic and policy topics including globalization, financial regulation, growth strategies, technology, and inequality.[18] His columns reach a global audience of policymakers, academics, and business leaders and reflect the application of economic analysis to contemporary policy challenges.

In a 2011 discussion covered by the Freakonomics blog, Spence weighed in on the debate over high-frequency trading, contributing to the public discourse on financial market structure and regulation.[19]

Personal Life

Spence was born in Montclair, New Jersey, and holds both Canadian and American citizenship.[4] Beyond these publicly documented facts, Spence has maintained a relatively private personal life. His Nobel autobiography provides some personal reflections on his intellectual development and the influences that shaped his career, but detailed information about his family life is not extensively documented in public sources.[4]

Spence has maintained affiliations with several academic institutions across multiple countries, reflecting a career characterized by international engagement. His connections to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, have remained part of his academic identity.[5]

Recognition

Spence's contributions to economics have been recognized with some of the most significant honors in the discipline. In 1981, he received the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded by the American Economic Association to the American economist under forty who has made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.[2] The award recognized the importance of his work on signaling and information economics at a relatively early stage of his career.

In 2001, Spence was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the three economists "for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information."[1] Spence's specific contribution, as described by the Nobel committee, was the development of the theory of market signaling, which demonstrated how better-informed market participants can use costly, observable actions to credibly transmit information to less-informed participants, thereby improving market outcomes.[7]

In his Nobel Prize lecture, titled "Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets," Spence reflected on the development of signaling theory, its extensions and applications, and its place within the broader economics of information.[7]

Spence's academic reputation is also reflected in his institutional affiliations. He has held named professorships at both Stanford University (the Philip H. Knight Professor of Management) and New York University (the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics and Business), and served as a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.[8][3]

Legacy

Michael Spence's signaling model, first presented in his 1972 doctoral dissertation and published in subsequent papers, stands as one of the foundational contributions to the field of information economics. The concept of signaling — the idea that informed parties can take costly actions to credibly convey private information — has been adopted and extended across virtually every subfield of economics and has found applications in disciplines as diverse as evolutionary biology, political science, sociology, and organizational theory.

The job-market signaling model, in particular, transformed the way economists think about the role of education. By demonstrating that educational credentials could serve as a signal of ability rather than (or in addition to) a direct enhancer of productivity, Spence's work opened a new line of inquiry into the social returns to education and the efficiency of educational investment. This insight remains central to debates in labor economics and education policy.[7]

Together with Akerlof's model of adverse selection (the "market for lemons") and Stiglitz's work on screening, Spence's signaling theory constitutes one of the three pillars of the economics of asymmetric information, a body of work that the Nobel committee recognized as having fundamentally altered the understanding of how markets function when participants have access to different information.[1] These three complementary frameworks provided a rigorous theoretical basis for understanding phenomena such as the structure of insurance contracts, the design of warranties, the pricing of financial securities, and the organization of labor markets.

Spence's more recent work on economic growth, development, and the economics of artificial intelligence has extended his influence beyond pure theory into the realm of applied policy analysis. His engagement with international institutions and public commentary through platforms such as Project Syndicate and the International Monetary Fund has ensured that his analytical perspective continues to inform global economic discourse.[13][18]

His contributions to RePEc and his extensive publication record document a career spanning more than five decades of research and public engagement in economics.[9][20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "A. Michael Spence – Facts".The Nobel Foundation.2001.https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/facts/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Michael Spence".Library of Economics and Liberty.http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Spence.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Michael Spence Joins NYU Stern".New York University Stern School of Business.http://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/news-events/uat_024046.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "A. Michael Spence – Autobiography".The Nobel Foundation.2001.https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2001/spence/auto-biography/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "People at Magdalen".Magdalen College, University of Oxford.http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/people-at-magdalen/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  6. ↑ "Market Signalling (Dissertation)".ProQuest.1972.https://www.proquest.com/docview/302682411/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "A. Michael Spence – Prize Lecture: Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets".The Nobel Foundation.2001.https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economics/2001/spence/lecture/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Michael Spence".Hoover Institution, Stanford University.http://www.hoover.org/bios/spence.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Michael Spence – IDEAS/RePEc".RePEc.https://ideas.repec.org/e/psp7.html.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  10. ↑ "Nobel Economist Michael Spence Joins SDA Bocconi Faculty".BusinessBecause.http://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba-faculty/919/nobel-economist-michael-spence-joins-sda-bocconi-faculty.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  11. ↑ "21st Century Council – Members".Berggruen Institute.http://governance.berggruen.org/councils/21st-century-council/members.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  12. ↑ "Our Internet – Commission Members".Global Commission on Internet Governance.https://www.ourinternet.org/#commission.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 SpenceMichaelMichael"AI's Promise for the Global Economy".Finance & Development, International Monetary Fund.2024-09.https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2024/09/ais-promise-for-the-global-economy-michael-spence.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  14. ↑ SpenceMichaelMichael"Why Emerging Economies Are Embracing AI".Project Syndicate.2025-11.https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/emerging-economies-can-use-ai-to-advance-social-economic-goals-by-michael-spence-2025-11.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  15. ↑ SpenceMichaelMichael"The AI Diffusion Challenge".Project Syndicate.2025-12.https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/whether-ai-meets-expectations-depends-on-diffusion-and-policy-support-by-michael-spence-2025-12.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  16. ↑ SpenceMichaelMichael"Adam Smith at 250".Project Syndicate.2025-08.https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/adam-smith-economic-specialization-being-reversed-and-challenged-by-ai-by-michael-spence-2025-08.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  17. ↑ "Michael Spence on China: fix property, boost confidence – tariffs are secondary".South China Morning Post.2025-11-08.https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3331956/nobel-laureate-spence-china-fix-property-restore-confidence-tariffs-are-secondary.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Michael Spence – Project Syndicate Columnist".Project Syndicate.http://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/michael-spence.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  19. ↑ "Should High-Frequency Trading Be Banned? One Nobel Winner Thinks So".Freakonomics.2011-03-28.http://freakonomics.com/2011/03/28/should-high-frequency-trading-be-banned-one-nobel-winner-thinks-so/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
  20. ↑ "Michael Spence – EconPapers".EconPapers, RePEc.http://econpapers.repec.org/RAS/psp7.htm.Retrieved 2026-02-24.

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