Sara Fisher Ellison

Sara Fisher Ellison is a Senior Lecturer in the MIT Department of Economics, with a career spanning over three decades at MIT. She holds editorial roles in three industrial organization journals (IJIO, JIE, RIO) and has contributed to MOOCs with over 100,000 learners. Her research focuses on industrial organization, e-commerce dynamics, and pharmaceutical markets, emphasizing topics like search obfuscation and regulatory impacts. Ellison’s work challenges assumptions about digital markets, revealing how internet technologies can serve retailers by enabling price obfuscation strategies. She has held visiting positions at institutions such as the Centre for Economic Studies in Munich and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

• Research Highlights: Pharmaceutical pricing strategies, digital market competition, and the socioeconomic implications of e-commerce.
• Awards: Levitan Teaching Prize (2021), Distinguished Science Award (2020), MITX Prize finalist (2017).

Ellison teaches introductory microeconomics to MIT undergraduates and leads the DEDP MicroMasters program. Her teaching innovations include award-winning courses on data analysis for social scientists. She also advises PhD students in industrial organization and provides litigation support and management guidance through consulting.