Steven Berry, a leading figure in the fields of industrial organization and applied microeconomics, was recently appointed the Sterling Professor of Economics, effective immediately.
A Sterling Professorship is considered the highest academic honor a Yale professor can receive.
Berry, who joined Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in 1988. In 2014 he was named the inaugural David Swensen Professor of Economics.
His research is among the most cited and influential work in economics in the last two decades and is frequently incorporated into merger and other policy decisions by public and private sector agencies. One of his most significant contributions to his field is the Berry-Levinsohn Pakes (BLP) model, which offers a powerful tool for understanding demand and supply in various competitive environments, helping both private companies and public policymakers make better decisions. The BLP model was introduced in 1995 in the oft-cited paper "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," coauthored with Yale economist James Levinsohn (now dean of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs) and then Yale (now Harvard) economist Ariel Pakes. That paper and its multiple sequels have had a profound impact on the field of industrial organization.
Beyond that, Berry's 50-plus papers - published in top journals including Econometrica, the American Economic Review. and The Review of Economic Studies - have shaped our understanding of markets from airlines to media and of policy issues in antitrust, environmental policy, and international trade.
Berry's career has been marked by distinguished service both within and beyond academia. In recognition of the far-reaching impact of his work, he was awarded the Frisch Medal of the Econometric Society and is an elected Fellow of that society. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014 and of the National Academy of Sciences in 2025. He was named the 2017 Distinguished Fellow of the Industrial Organization Society and he is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has served as a consultant for governments, policy institutes, and the private sector.
At Yale, Berry has served as chair of the Department of Economics and as director of the Division of Social Sciences in the FAS. In addition, he has served on numerous committees including the Presidential Search Committee, the Provost Budget Committee, and the executive committee of the Jackson Institute (now the Jackson School). He served as chair of the 2012-2014 Academic Review Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Berry is affiliated with the Cowles Foundation and the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and he has a secondary appointment as Professor at the Yale School of Management.
In his role as the inaugural director of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale, Berry oversaw the creation of the Tobin Center and the establishment of policy-oriented research programs in areas such as health, environment, education, consumer finance, and market competition. Under his leadership, the Tobin Center's nonpartisan, evidence-based approach has enabled it to assemble and work with policymakers and to contribute significantly to local and national conversations on Medicare policy, electric vehicle efficiency, the care economy, evictions, zoning, regulation of the digital economy, unemployment insurance, impediments to U.S. infrastructure development, and other policies.
In addition to his research and leadership contributions, Berry has been described by Yale colleagues as a "legendary" teacher and advisor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His "Introduction to Microeconomics" course is one of the most popular classes in Yale College. In 2015, he was awarded the Lex Hixon '63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences, and in 2018 he received the inaugural Merton J. Peck Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching in the Department of Economics.
He earned his bachelor's degree at Northwestern University and his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
