Simon Wilkie

Professor of Economics, Communication and LawUSC Gould School of Law

swilkie@college.usc.edu
Work: (213) 740-4595
Room: 300

last updated Fri, Feb 1, 2013

Professor Wilkie's research focuses on game theory, its application to business strategy, economic and regulatory policy design, and the economics of the communications industries. His most recent research is on the wholesale telecommunications market and the concept diversity in media markets. Wilkie serves as chair and professor of the USC Economics department and also serves as a co-director for the Center in Law, Economics and Organization with the USC Law School. Prior to joining USC, he was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the California Institute of Technology and a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Communications Research. He was also formerly a faculty member of Columbia University and the University of Rochester.

He served as Chief Economist at the Federal Communications Commission from July 2002 to December 2003, reporting to Chairman Michael Powell. The major proceedings during his tenure include: the Triennial Review of wireline competition policy; the Biennial Review of media ownership regulations; the regulatory framework for broadband; the creation of secondary markets for spectrum licenses; the EchoStar/Hughes (DirecTV) merger transaction; the ATT Broadband/Comcast merger; and News Corp's acquisition of a controlling interest in Hughes (DirecTV).

Wilkie is on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Economic Theory and the International Journal of Communication. His work has been widely published on subjects of spectrum auctions, game theory and telecommunications regulations in leading scholarly journals to include: Economic Theory, The Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Games and Economic Behavior, Journal of Regulatory Economics, The Review of Economic Studies and Social Choice and Welfare.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (Economics) University of Rochester, 1990
M.A. (Economics) University of Rochester, 1988
B.Comm. Honors. (Econ) University of New South Wales, 1984

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

California Institute of Technology Graduate Student Council: 1996-1997 Mentoring Award.
California Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering: "Social Economic and System Aspects of Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction," co-PI with James Beck, Caltech, and Anne Kiremidjian, Stanford, $400,000 for 1997-1999.
National Science Foundation, SES Grant "Applied Mechanism Design," $38,113 for 2000-2002.
National Science Foundation, PEER Grant "A Decision Theoretic Approach to Evaluating Building Specific Losses," $75,000 for 2000-2002.

APPOINTMENTS

Chair and Professor, Department of Economics, University of Southern California, April 2008-present
Executive Director, Center for Communication Law and Policy, USC Law School and: Professor of Communication, (Courtesy) Annenberg School, University of Southern California, August 2005-present
Senior Fellow, USC Annenberg Center for Communication, March 2006- 2007
Senior Research Associate, California Institute of Technology, July 2002- 2005
Chief Economist, Federal Communications Commission, Washington DC, 2002- 2003
Assistant Professor, California Institute of Technology, 1995-2002.
Lecturer, California Institute of Technology, 1994-1995.
Member of Technical Staff, Bell Communications Research,1990-1994.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Columbia University,1992-1993.
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Bell Communications Research,1989-1990.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

“Simple Economics of Price Floors,” joint with Preston McAfee, 2006.
"An Ordinal Egalitarian Bargaining Solution," with John Conley, revised 2006.
"Incremental Export Subsidies," with Martin Richardson, The Economic Record, March 1986, pp. 88-92.
"The Bargaining Problem Without Convexity: Extending The Egalitarian and Kalai-Smorodinsky Solutions," with John Conley, Economics Letters, 1991, Vol. 36, pp. 365-369.
A Generalization of Kaneko's Ratio Equilibrium," with Dimitrios Diamantaris, Journal Of Economic Theory, 1994, Vol. 62, No 2, pp. 499-512.
"Incremental R&D Subsidies," with Martin Richardson, The Journal of Regulatory Economics, 1995, Vol. 7, pp.161-175.
"Implementing the Nash-Extension Bargaining Solution," with John Conley, Economic Design, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 205-216.
"Auctioning the Airwaves: The Contest for Radio Spectrum," with Bhaskar Chakravorti, Yossef Spiegel and William Sharkey, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 1995, Vol. 4, pp. 344-373.
"On the Set of Pareto Efficient Allocations in Economies with Public Goods," with Dimitrios Diamantaris, Economic Theory, 1996, Vol. 7, pp. 371-379.
"An Extension of The Nash Bargaining Solution to Non-Convex Problems," with John Conley, Games and Economic Behavior, 1996, Vol. 13, pp. 26-38.
"Investment in New Technology as a Signal of Firm Value Under Regulatory Opportunism," with Yossef Spiegel, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 1996, Vol. 5, pp. 251-276.
"Comment on Spiller's `A Positive Political Theory of Regulatory Instruments: Contracts, Administrative Law or Regulatory Specificity?'" The Southern California Law Review, 1996, Vol. 69, pp. 517-519.
"Double Implementation of the Ratio Solution by a Market Game" with Luis Corchon, Economic Design, 1996, Vol. 2, pp. 325-337.
"Reference Functions and Possibility Theorems for Cardinal Social Choice Problems," with John Conley and Richard McLean, Social Choice and Welfare, 1997, Vol. 14, pp. 65-78.
“Implementation of the Walrasian Correspondence by Market Games,” with Carmen Beviá, and Luis C. Corchón, Review of Economic Design, 2003, Vol. 7, pp. 429-442.
“Current Regulatory Realities: Overcoming the Regulatory Quandary,” Michigan State DCL Law Review, 2003, Issue 3, pp. 599-605.
“Economic Analysis at the FCC,” with Mark Bykowsky, Jonathan Levy, William Sharkey and Tracy Waldon, Review of Industrial Organization, 2003,Vol. 23, pp. 157-174.
“Introduction to the Special Issue on Telecommunications,” Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2004,Vol. 6, pp. 537-539.
"Endogenous Games and Mechanisms: Side Payments Among Players," with Matt Jackson, Review of Economic Studies, 2005, Vol. 72, pp. 544-566.
“Sequencing Lifeline Repairs after an Earthquake,” with Marco Casari, The Journal of Regulatory Economics, 2005, Vol. 27, pp. 47-65.
"Credible Implementation," with Bhaskar Chakravorti and Luis Corchon, Games and Economic Behavior, 2006, Vol. 57, pp. 16-36.
"Axiomatic Foundations for Compromise Theory: The duality of Bargaining Theory and Multi-Objective Programming," with John Conley and Richard McLean, forthcoming, Games and Economic Behavior.
"Lies, Damned Lies and Political Campaigns," with Steve Callander, Games and Economic Behavior, 2007, Vol. 60, pp. 262-286.
“Introduction: The State of the Debate on Net Neutrality” with Jon Peha and William Lehr, International Journal of Communication, 2007, Vol. 1, pp. 709-716.

BOOK CHAPTERS

“The Greatest Auction in History,” with John McMillan and R. Preston McAfee, in Better Living Through Economics, John Sigfreid, editor. AEA and Harvard University Press, 2008.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

“Economic Policy In the Information Age,” Engineering and Science, Vol. LXIV, No 1. 2001, pp. 28-37.
“Memorial to Jeffrey Scott Banks,” Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2001, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 551-554.
"Local Competition and Universal Service," with Charles Plott, Jobs and Capital, 1995 Vol. 4, pp. 43-45
"Installment Payments and the FCC Spectrum Auctions." Jobs and Capital, 1996, Vol. 5, pp. 26-29.

NSF PROJECT REPORTS

"Decision Support Tools for Earthquake Recovery: Interim Report," with Jim Beck Anne Kiremidjian, and S. King, Y. Achkire, R. Olson, J. Goltz, K. Porter, A. Irfanoglu, M. Casari, J.M Legrue, F. Boehmke and A. Gonzales CUREe-Kajima Project Report 1999.
"Decision Support Tools for Earthquake Recovery: Final Report," with Jim Beck Anne Kiremidjian, and S. King, R. Olson, J. Goltz, T. Salmon, A Mason, K. Porter, and A. Irfanoglu CUREe- Kajima Project Report, 2000.

POLICY CENTER and THINK TANK REPORTS

Progress and Freedom Foundation “The Digital Age Communications Act Project” (member of the Universal Service Working Group) available at: http://www.pff.org/daca/
CCLP “Annenberg Center CCLP Principles on Net Neutrality”
New America Foundation, “Open Access for the 700 MHz Auction,” available at: http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/open_access_700_mhz_auction

INVITED TESTIMONY, EXPERT PANELS and GOVERNMNENT ADVICE

Australian Industry Assistance Commission: Design of Export Promotion Mechanisms.
Canadian Competition Bureau: Outside Expert Economist on Merger Reviews.
Germany, Wissenschaftliches Institu fur Infrasktruktur und Kommunikationsdienste (WIK): Invited Panelist “Net Neutrality — Implications for Europe”
Jamaican Office of Utilities Regulation: Broadband Policy and Universal Service (USAID Funded Project)
Mexican Ministry of Communications: Broadband Deployment Competition Policy and Spectrum Auction Design.
U.S. Congress Staff Briefing Session (sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein and Georgetown Law School): “Broadband Policy and Universal Service.”
U.S. Congress Staff Briefing Session (sponsored by Senator Mike DeWine and American Antitrust Institute): “Telecom Mergers.”
U.S. Congress Briefing Conference (sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein and CCLP USC Law School): “Wireless Broadband: Is the U.S. Lagging”
U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: Outside Expert Economist on Merger Reviews.
U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: Invited Panelist “2007 Telecommunications Symposium Voice, Video and Broadband: The Changing
Competitive Landscape and Its Impact on Consumers”
U.S. Federal Communications Commission: “Affirmative Action, Auction Design and Installment Payments” (presentation to FCC Chairman William Kennard and Senior Staff.)
U.S. Federal Communications Commission: Member of the “Localism Task Force”
U.S. Federal Communications Commission: “Staff Advanced Course: Bargaining Theory”
U.S. Federal Trade Commission: Invited Panelist “Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy Workshop.” Video, transcripts and the FTC Report to Congress at http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/broadband/index.shtml
U.S. National Academy of Sciences and National Telecommunications & Information Administration: “Improving Spectrum Management Through Economic and Other Incentives: A Workshop”
New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee: “Statewide versus Local Cable TV Franchising”
City of Los Angeles Board of Information Technology Commissioners: “Impact of new State Legislation AB 2987 (The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006) on the City of Los Angeles”

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITES

Editorial Board Member: Journal of Public Economic Theory, 1997- 2006.
Editorial Board Member: International Journal of Communication, 2006- .
Guest Editor, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Vol. 6. No. 4., October 2004.
Guest Editor, Review of Network Economics, “Net Neutrality Issue.” 2008.
Referee: National Science Foundation, The American Economic Review, Econometrica, Economic Design, Economic Theory, European Transactions on Telecommunications, Games and Economic Behavior, The International Economic Review, The International Journal of Game Theory, The Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, The Journal of Economic Theory, The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, The Journal of Industrial Economics, The Journal of Regulatory Economics, Telecommunication Systems, and Theory and Decision.
Committee Memberships: Program Committee, Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC): 2006-2008. Organizer of CCLP Conferences: “Wireless Broadband: is the U.S. Lagging,” Washington DC, 2005, “Symposium on Net Neutrality” USC, 2006, “Summit on U.S. Telecommunications Policy,” USC, 2006, Symposium on International Approaches to Telecommunication regulation and Competition,” Las Vegas 2007. Local Committee: 2002 Social Choice and Welfare Society Meetings, Pasadena. Session Chair: 1997 Summer Meetings of the Econometric Society. Member of the Organizing Committee: “Workshop on Computer Science and Game Theory,” section of the Fourth International Conference on Game Theory, SUNY Stony Brook, July 28-30, 1993. “Workshop on Implementation,” section of the Third International Conference on Game Theory, SUNY Stony Brook, July 8-10, 1992. “Workshop on Cost Allocation and Transfer Pricing,” section of the Second International Conference on Game Theory, SUNY Stony Brook, July 8-10, 1991.

May 2008

Download Curriculum Vitae