Michael Sinkinson

PhD Candidate, Business Economics, Harvard University.

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- Mailing Address
  Wyss Hall, Harvard Business School
  Soldiers Field Road, Boston MA 02163
  
  Contact Information
  Email: msinkins at fas.harvard.edu
About Me

About Me
- I am a PhD Candidate in the Business Economics joint program between Harvard University's Economics department and Harvard Business School.
  
  Mailing Address
  Wyss Hall, Harvard Business School
  Soldiers Field Road, Boston MA 02163
  
  Contact Information
  Email: msinkins at fas.harvard.edu
  
  Research Interests
  Industrial Organization, Econometrics, Applied Microeconomics
CV

CV
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Research Papers

Research Papers
- Research Papers
  Pricing and Entry Incentives with Exclusive Contracts: Evidence from Smartphones
  Abstract: I study the motivations for and implications of exclusive contracts, with an application to smartphones. Why would Apple choose to distribute its smartphone through only one carrier, and why would AT&T bid the most for exclusivity? I develop a model which shows that if upstream handset manufacturers face a relatively low price elasticity for their good compared to downstream wireless carriers, exclusive contracts can maximize their joint profits. An exclusive contract reduces price competition in the final good market but also increases returns to innovation for parties outside the contract, such as Google's Android. Different price elasticities among downstream firms due to network quality differences lead to different valuations of the exclusive contract. I estimate the relative elasticities of smartphone and carrier demand using simulation and MCMC methods on a detailed monthly dataset of consumer decisions over 2008-2010. Counterfactual simulations show the importance of recomputing the price equilibrium to understanding the observed market structure. Accounting for price effects, AT&T had the highest value of exclusivity with Apple, and was willing to compensate Apple $148 per unit sale foregone. Apple's exclusivity increased entry incentives for Android handset makers by approximately $1B.
  Competition and Ideological Diversity: Historical Evidence from US Newspapers. (with Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro)
  We use data on US newspapers from the early 20th century to study the economic incentives that shape ideological diversity in the media. We show that households prefer newspapers whose political content agrees with their own ideology, that newspapers with the same political content are closer substitutes than newspapers with different political content, and that newspapers seek both to cater to household tastes and to differentiate from their competitors. We estimate a model of newspaper demand, entry, and afﬁliation choice that captures these forces. We show that competitive incentives greatly enhance the extent of ideological diversity in local news markets, and we evaluate the impact of policies designed to increase such diversity. Online Appendix
  Published Papers
  The Effect of Newspaper Entry and Exit on Electoral Politics. (with Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro). American Economic Review, Forthcoming. Online Appendix