David Brown has received the 2024 Martha Cook Piper Research Prize

The award recognizes two early-career faculty members in the university for their reputation in original research and for showing outstanding promise as researchers. The Martha Cook Piper Research Prize was established to commemorate the significant contribution Martha Piper made to the research community while vice-president research, and vice-president research and external affairs, at the University of Alberta between 1993 and 1996.

David Brown is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Alberta, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Energy Economics & Policy. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2014 and joined the University of Alberta's Economics Department shortly thereafter. Professor Brown serves as the President of the Canadian Association for Energy Economists and is affiliated with Stanford University's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development. He also plays key editorial roles, including Co-Editor of Resource and Energy Economics and Senior Associate Editor of The Electricity Journal, while contributing to the editorial boards of Utilities Policy and Competition and Regulation in Network Industries.

Dr. David Brown’s research lies at the intersection of energy economics, industrial organization, and regulatory policy, with a strong focus on the electricity sector. His recent work explores critical questions in the electricity sector ranging from market design, market power, and pricing mechanisms for demand-side management, alongside the adoption of emerging technologies such as rooftop solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles. Dr. Brown’s research aims to design regulatory policies that enhance electricity market operations, particularly in the context of decarbonization. With an extensive publication record in leading outlets like American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Public Economics, Energy Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Review of Industrial Organization, Energy Policy, International Journal of Industrial Organization, and the Journal of Industrial Economics, his work has contributed significantly to the international energy regulatory framework.

For more information on David Brown’s research, please visit his website.