Martin Gaynor, Director, FTC Bureau of Economics: A Review of His Recent Economic Research

Martin Gaynor joined the FTC as the Director of the Bureau of Economics on October 1, 2013, replacing Howard Shelanski, who left the FTC to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Gaynor is a professor of economics and public policy at Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University, and an affiliate of Analysis Group. He has been a Research Associate at NBER since 1990 and chair of the governing board of the Health Care Cost Institute since 2011. Since earning his Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University, Dr. Gaynor has published over 60 journal articles, received numerous research grants, and provided public testimony on competition in the health care industry. He has also provided consulting services to the FTC and DOJ and worked on several antitrust cases in the health care industry.1 Dr. Gaynor’s research is primarily in the health care area. His early work focused on how incentives for groups were derived and how they impact performance. His paper, Moral Hazard and Risk Spreading in Partnerships, won the Kenneth J. Arrow Award for the best published paper in health economics.2 More recent work has emphasized competition in health care markets. Dr. Gaynor frequently co-authors papers with other economists, including Dr. Deborah Haas-Wilson (now at Smith College) and Dr. William B. Vogt (now at University of Georgia). Dr. Gaynor is a careful, thoughtful researcher and applied econometrician. In his papers, he regularly makes use of statistical tools to address and control for identification issues that may affect the data and inference. His research generally relates to health care quality, uncertainty, and consolidation in the hospital industry. It is also common for him to consider social welfare rather than focusing solely on consumer welfare, a divergence from prevailing antitrust enforcement norms. Given the quantity of research output, this review focuses on selected writings published since 2000 where the techniques, insights, or opinions are noteworthy or generalizable to a larger set of industries. The review begins with a paper that highlights Dr. Gaynor’s views on competition, economics, and antitrust enforcement. It continues with a review of seven other papers covering a broad spectrum of issues in health care and competition. Interested readers are encouraged to review his academic CV for more information on his other publications.