Zach Y. Brown
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Michigan

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at University of Michigan and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. My research interests are in industrial organization and applied microeconomics. I am particularly interested in healthcare and digital markets.

Curriculum Vitae

[email protected]
266 Lorch Hall, 611 Tappan Ave
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Published and Forthcoming

Equilibrium Effects of Health Care Price Information

Review of Economics and Statistics, October 2019, 101(4): 699–712.
Media: The Conversation, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal

Product Proliferation under Rational Inattention: Application to Health Insurance

with Jihye Jeon
AEA Papers and Proceedings, May 2021, 111: 554-59.

Competition in Pricing Algorithms

with Alexander MacKay
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, May 2023, 15(2): 109-56.
AEJ Best Paper Award
Media: Brookings, NPR, Financial Times, HBS, New Statesman, Fortune

Hospital Facility Prices Declined As A Result Of Oregon’s Hospital Payment Cap

with Roslyn Murray, Sarah Miller, Edward Norton, & Andrew Ryan
Health Affairs, March 2024, 43(3): 424-432.

Endogenous Information and Simplifying Insurance Choice

with Jihye Jeon
Econometrica, May 2024, 92(3): 881-911.

Broadband Internet Access and Health Outcomes: Patient and Provider Responses in Medicare

with Jessica Van Parys
International Journal of Industrial Organization, July 2024, 95.

Market Structure and Extortion: Evidence from 50,000 Extortion Payments

with Eduardo Montero, Carlos Schmidt-Padilla, & Maria Micaela Sviatschi
Review of Economic Studies, May 2025, 92(3): 1595-1624.
Media: The Guardian, ProMarket, El Diario de Hoy

Working Papers

Information and Disparities in Health Care Quality: Evidence from GP Choice in England

with Chris Hansman, Jordan Keener, & Andre Veiga
Reject & resubmit, American Economic Review
Media: VoxEU, Forbes

Why Do Index Funds Have Market Power? Quantifying Frictions in the Index Fund Market

with Mark Egan, Jihye Jeon, Chuqing Jin, & Alex Wu

An Empirical Model of Price Transparency and Markups in Health Care

Revise & resubmit, Journal of Political Economy

Algorithmic Coercion with Faster Pricing

with Alexander MacKay
Revise & resubmit, Quarterly Journal of Economics

Zach Y. Brown Associate Professor of Economics, University of Michigan

Published and Forthcoming

Working Papers

Teaching

Zach Y. Brown
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Michigan