Professor of Economics and PLuS Alliance Fellow, UNSW
Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at the UNSW Australia Business School and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow from 2013-2017.
Prior to that he was on the faculty at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a PhD from Harvard University in 2006, where he was a Frank Knox Scholar.
His research focuses on contract theory, law and economics, and political economy. He has written on topics including: political districting, the boundary of the firm, incentives in organizations, mechanism design, and voting rules.
Professor Holden has published in top general interest journals such as the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
He is currently editor of the Journal of Law and Economics, and is the founding director of the Herbert Smith Freehills Inititative on Law & Economics at UNSW.
He has been a Visiting Professor of Economics at the MIT Department of Economics and Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.
His research has been featured in press articles in such outlets as: The New York Times, The Financial Times, the New Republic, and the Daily Kos.
Shorter meetings but longer days: how COVID-19 has changed the way we work
Aug 09, 2020 22:42 pm UTC| Life
One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this new reality and it certainly has been...
The COVID-19 crisis in aged care shows elimination is the only effective strategy
Aug 01, 2020 14:48 pm UTC| Economy
As Victoria struggles to get its hotel-quarantine-debacle-driven COVID-19 outbreak under control, there has been renewed focus on the plight of those in aged-care facilities. The facts are these. Between March 26 and...
Government lockdown costs may be exaggerated over COVID-19's direct economic impact
Jul 21, 2020 14:55 pm UTC| Economy
As a second COVID-19 lockdown looms in New South Wales, there is much discussion about the economic costs of doing so. But since the start of this pandemic there has been profound confusion in many quarters about the...
Stamp duty is an economic drag. Here's how to move to a better system
Jul 03, 2020 12:57 pm UTC| Economy
For all the things we dont know about COVID-19 one thing is certain: our economic recovery will depend on boosting productivity. Everyone from the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe to Prime Minister Scott...
Vital Signs: COVID-19 recession is different – and we need more stimulus to deal with it.
Jun 21, 2020 03:30 am UTC| Economy
Australia has done well on the public health front during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to decisive action by the National Cabinet in March. Australia has done better than most countries on the economic front, too, thanks...
Why 'the marketplace for ideas' can fail – from an economist's perspective
Jun 13, 2020 11:02 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
There is no shortage of repugnant and dangerous ideas in the world. An age old question is whether free speech will see good ideas win out over bad. The proposition that good ideas eventually triumph in the marketplace...
Vital signs. Remembering Alberto Alesina, the father of political economy
Jun 06, 2020 04:41 am UTC| Economy
Harvard Universitys Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, there was no academic field of political economy....
Trade War Escalates: China Strikes Back