Jackson's research concerns game theory, microeconomic theory, and the study of social and economic networks. Jackson was one of the founders of the study of networks in economics. His work has analyzed the formation of networks and the sources and effects of homophily in social relationships. He has also made important contributions to the study of how networks mediate access to jobs and information as well as the contagion of financial distress.[2]
He has served as co-editor of Games and Economic Behavior,[3] the Review of Economic Design,[4] and Econometrica.[5] Jackson co-teaches a popular game theory course on Coursera.org,[6] along with Kevin Leyton-Brown and Yoav Shoham.