
Greg Taylor's research focuses on the economics of competition policy and regulation for digital and technology markets.
Professor Greg Taylor
Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, Director of Graduate Studies
- greg.taylor@oii.ox.ac.uk
- +44 (0)1865 287201
- My papers
- Website
Profile
Greg Taylor is an economist whose research focuses on the economics of online markets and of markets for technology goods more generally. His research spans the domains of industrial organisation, information economics, network economics, game theory, and auctions theory. Special topics of interest include the search engine and online advertising industries, platform markets, consumer search behaviour and price comparison services, the attention economy, and online intermediary bias.
Although primarily theoretical in nature, Dr Taylor’s research deals with some of the most pressing issues facing practitioners and policy makers—with a special focus on issues in industrial regulation and competition policy for technology industries. He has played important advisory roles for government and regulators in these areas.
Besides his research, Greg takes great pleasure in introducing economics to new audiences and teaches a course in Internet Economics for MSc students at the OII. Prior to joining the OII, Greg obtained a PhD in economics from the University of Southampton.
Areas of Interest for Doctoral Supervision
Economic theory, economic modelling, game theory, information economics, competition policy, regulation, markets.
Research interests
Economics, economics of the Internet and digitisation, microeconomic theory, industrial organisation, game theory, auction theory, competition policy, regulation.
Positions held at the OII
- Director of Graduate Studies, July 2018 –
- MSc Programme Director, October 2016 – July 2018
- Senior Research Fellow, May 2017 –
- Research Fellow, October 2009 – May 2017
- MSc Interim Programme Director, Hilary Term 2016
Students supervised at the OII
Past students
Featured
- (2019) "A Model of Biased Intermediation", RAND Journal of Economics. 50 (4) 854-882.
- (2017) "Raising search costs to deter window shopping can increase profits and welfare", The RAND Journal of Economics. 48 (2) 387-408.
- (2014) "Integration and search engine bias", The RAND Journal of Economics. 45 (3) 576-597.
Chapters
- (2014) "Scarcity of Attention for a Medium of Abundance: An Economic Perspective" In: Society and the Internet: How Information and Social Networks are Changing Our Lives Graham, M. and Dutton, W.H. (eds.). Oxford University Press.
Conference papers
- (2015) "When the Winning Move is Not to Play: Games of Deterrence in Cyber Security", Proceedings of GameSec 2015. Springer International Publishing. 9406 250-269.
Journal articles
- (2019) "A Model of Biased Intermediation", RAND Journal of Economics. 50 (4) 854-882.
- (2018) "Information-Seeking Strategies in Medicine Queries: A Clinical Eye-Tracking Study with Gaze-Cued Retrospective Think-Aloud Protocol", International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. 34 (6) 506-518.
- (2017) "Raising search costs to deter window shopping can increase profits and welfare", The RAND Journal of Economics. 48 (2) 387-408.
- (2014) "Integration and search engine bias", The RAND Journal of Economics. 45 (3) 576-597.
- (2013) "Search Quality and Revenue Cannibalization by Competing Search Engines", Journal of Economics & Management Strategy. 22 (3) 445-467.
- (2013) "Re: Search", New Media and Society. 15 (8) 1366-1373.
- (2012) "Defensive sniping and efficiency in simultaneous hard-close proxy auctions", Journal of Mathematical Economics. 48 (1) 51-58.
- (2011) "The informativeness of on-line advertising", International Journal of Industrial Organization. 29 (6) 668-677.
Reports
- (2014) Quality Provision in the Presence of a Biased Intermediary.
- (2014) Data-driven business models: Challenges and opportunities of big data. Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
Working papers
- (2018) Upstream Bundling and Leverage of Market Power.
Teaching
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Digital Social Research: Methods Core
This course provides students with the opportunity to engage with the methodological, ethical and philosophical underpinnings of quantitative and qualitative social science research practices.
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Internet Economics
A general introduction to the economics of the Internet, and to economics as a tool for social research more generally, emphasising issues such as competition, asymmetric information, trust and privacy, auctions, and network economics.
Videos
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Reflections on the tenth anniversary of the MSc Social Science of the Internet
Recorded: 16 September 2019
Duration: 04:51:00
OII academics Professor Victoria Nash, Professor Ralph Schroeder and Professor Greg Taylor share their reflections on the origins of the MSc programme and its successes.
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Internet Economics: OII MSc Option Course
Recorded: 2 June 2015
Duration: 00:05:51
This option course for the OII MSc in "Social Science of the Internet" provides an introduction to the economics of the Internet and to economics as a tool for social research more generally.
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Behind the White Curtain: Search Engine Economics
Recorded: 28 February 2011
Duration: 00:11:23
Greg Taylor discusses the main themes of his lecture in the OII's "Society and the Internet" lecture series; how economics can be used as a powerful tool for understanding social and commercial interactions online.
News
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Oxford University Teaching Awards for OII Faculty
3 November 2011
We are extremely pleased to announce that three members of the OII teaching faculty are to receive awards from the University of Oxford, in recognition of their excellent contributions to the department's teaching over the past year.
Events
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Book Launch: Virtual Economies: Design and Analysis
26 June 2014
Early cyberspace theorists predicted that the digital world would be a world of plenty. But today's Internet users are faced with many kinds of artificially scarce virtual markers.
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Modernizing and Inspiring a “Startup Mentality” in Legacy Information Technology Organizations
19 June 2014
Dr. David Bray will discuss the opportunities and challenges with inspiring a “startup mentality” in legacy information technology organizations.
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The Attention Economy and the Economics of Search (Society and the Internet Lecture Series, Part 13)
14 February 2012
This talk will examine the central role of attention in online markets and its economic implications for businesses and consumers.
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OII Executive and Professional Education: Business in the Digital Economy
9 September 2011
A new one-day course for leaders, strategists and consultants, exploring the fundamental economics of business strategy for digitally enabled and online enterprises.
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Undergraduate Lecture Series (H7): Behind the White Curtain: Search Engine Economics
28 February 2011
Economics is a powerful tool for understanding social and commercial interactions. Peeling away Google's sterile white facade reveals a hive of economic activity and along with it a battery of interesting questions for social scientists to address.
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Consumers and Internet Studies: a Workshop
10 January 2011
This workshop aims to facilitate further exploration of the fields and standing of Internet Studies focused on aspects of the consumer and consumer behaviour, and of providing direction for enhancing its substance, significance and impact.
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The Informativeness of Online Advertising
13 October 2010
This paper examines the relationship between the information content of advertisements and the fee structure used to price them.
Press
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UK to create regulator to police big tech companies
19 December 2019 Financial Times
The UK government will create a technology regulator next year to police companies such as Facebook and Google after Brexit, according to several people who were involved in the process.
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Online searches for future linked to economic success
5 April 2012 New Scientist
A study of 45 billion Google search enquiries by researchers at UCK reveals that the citizens of wealthy nations are more likely to seek information online about the future than those of poorer states. Greg Taylor comments.
Integrity Statement
My work has been financially supported by UK taxpayers, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John Fell Fund, the NET Institute, Research Councils UK, and the Rockefeller Foundation. As part of my policy outreach, I have served in an unpaid advisory capacity to HM Government’s Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills and the Competition and Markets Authority. I have also undertaken paid consultancy work for the Competition and Markets Authority.