The Lasting Impact of Steve Berry’s Work — Through the Eyes of Colleagues and Students
Earlier this year, Steve Berry was named Sterling Professor of Economics, the highest academic honor a Yale professor can receive.
A leading scholar of industrial organization and applied microeconomics, he is among the most cited and influential figures in economics over the last two decades. From the lecture hall to the FTC’s courtrooms, from tech giants to housing markets, his work has left a deep imprint on the field.
Widely credited with continually moving the field forward, his models—in particular the BLP model he developed in the mid-1990s—have given researchers new tools for studying markets and changed how policy is evaluated.
But Berry’s influence has extended beyond research. As a teacher and mentor, his impact on the field has extended to universities and companies around the world, changing how economists evaluate policies, advise businesses, and develop tools for new and better analysis.
To celebrate Professor Berry and his lifetime of accomplishments, here are five ways his work has created lasting impact, in the words of those who know him best.
“Steve Berry's research has fundamentally shaped the toolkit of Industrial Organization in key areas including demand estimation, entry models, and dynamic models of firm behavior. His work strikes a rare balance—it is at the same time highly technical and sophisticated (particularly his contributions to identification) and eminently practical, as shown by his own applied work and the extensive use of his tools by other researchers.”
- Lorenzo Magnolfi, assistant professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
1. His work transformed demand estimation into a foundational tool
Many colleagues and students noted how the Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (BLP) model revolutionized how economists estimate demand for differentiated products. By addressing the endogeneity of prices and allowing for rich substitution patterns, BLP became the backbone of modern empirical industrial organization.
“BLP grounds modern empirical IO studies in rigorous demand estimation,” says current student Zhichun Wang, “which is essential for understanding competition, market power, and market outcomes.”
“Steve’s contributions—most notably the BLP model—have been transformative for industrial organization and applied economics,” said Giovanni Compiani, Associate Professor at Chicago Booth. Compiani calls the model “a tractable, theoretically grounded framework” that reshaped merger simulation, policy analysis, and welfare evaluation across industries. From autos to telecoms, the approach has become standard for both academic research and policy evaluation.
2. He brought economic models into the real world
Berry’s work isn’t just a technical achievement, it has direct, high-stakes applications in antitrust, trade, and regulation.
Ying Fan, Professor of Economics at University of Michigan, notes that “competition authorities routinely use BLP-based structural models” to simulate the effects of proposed mergers, making policy analysis far more credible.
NYU Associate Professor of Economics Chris Conlon points out that the FTC’s ability to challenge hospital mergers in the 2010s “was inspired by Berry’s work,” saving consumers billions. In the private sector, Conlon adds, “firms like Amazon, Airbnb, and Wayfair all have large teams of economists who use the same differentiated products demand toolkit to measure substitution among products, calculate demand elasticities, and optimize prices. It is not a coincidence that each of those teams is led by an empirical IO economist.”
3. He advanced dynamic models of firm behavior
Berry’s impact also extends to dynamic models which are crucial for understanding how markets evolve over time.
Current student Jingyi Cui points to the “foundational” 2007 paper with Pakes and Ostrovsky on firm entry and exit, and more recent work with Compiani on handling persistent unobserved shocks. These methods “exemplify Steve’s remarkable ability to devise creative, practical solutions to deep problems,” she says.
By embedding tools like instrumental variables into dynamic estimation, Berry has opened new ways to analyze how market structure, profitability, and competition shift over time.
4. He expanded the boundaries of IO and pushed its tools into new fields
Berry’s empirical frameworks have migrated far beyond traditional IO into health, environmental, education, labor, and urban economics.
As Lorenzo Magnolfi explains, “Policy effects must be analyzed through equilibrium models where demand and supply responses jointly shape outcomes.” Berry’s methods make that possible in healthcare markets, school choice systems, and environmental policy.
His students have gone on to study an incredibly wide array of topics. Conlon highlights students like Adam Kapor and Christopher Nielson, “who have taken Berry's IO toolkit and approach and completely changed the way we think about competition across schools.”
5. He mentored generations of students, multiplying his impact for decades to come
Perhaps Berry’s most enduring contribution is the vast network of scholars he has taught and advised.
“He often seemed to see the bigger picture of my project long before I could,” says Cui. “At the same time, he never hesitated to get into the weeds with me.”
Conlon credits Berry’s openness to innovation, rather than guarding old methods, for pushing the field forward. “He’s incredibly constructive,” he says. “He really pushes junior scholars toward continuous improvement and innovation. Berry has been an incredible teacher at all levels from introductory undergraduate micro through advanced PhD courses, and has advised a who's who list of empirical IO scholars”
Magnolfi calls him “an exemplary mentor” whose guidance is “many steps ahead, yet delivered with kindness, grace, and genuine joy.”
“Beyond being a brilliant researcher, he is an exceptional human being,” he added. “Steve has been a model for me in establishing productive, long-standing collaborations with other researchers. Witnessing his approach to research and advising has shaped my own understanding of how scholarship can be both more enjoyable and more productive when pursued with trusted, complementary coauthors.”