The Journal of Financial Economics has awarded Ernest Liu and his co-authors (Song Ma and Laura Veldkamp) first place for the 2025 Jensen Prize for their paper “Data Sales and Data Dilution.” 

Liu is an Associate Professor of Economics at Princeton University and an affiliated faculty member of the Bendheim Center for Finance, the International Economics Section, and the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance. His research focuses on networks, growth, trade, finance, and macro-development.

Each year, all papers published in the Journal in the areas of corporate finance and organizations are eligible for the Jensen Prize. First-place winner(s) receive $25,000 in prize money and an award plaque. The Journal published Data Sales and Data Dilution in its July 2025 edition, Volume 169.

In Data Sales and Data Dilution, Liu, Ma, and Veldkamp explore indicators of market power in a data market. “Evidence from online data markets supports the model’s insight that subscriptions indicate market power,” the authors share in the paper’s abstract. “Model and evidence reveal that data subscriptions are better for consumers because they sustain the incentive to invest in high-quality data.”