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.
The Iowa caucuses still have a great claim to retain first-in-nation status
Feb 07, 2020 05:58 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The most notable thing about this years Iowa (Democratic) caucuses was the debacle where results could not be reported on the night and indeed for a good while after. Some combination of new reporting requirements, a...
Climate-linked financial crises loom, but the fix isn't up to central banks
Jan 24, 2020 05:35 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
The Bank for International Settlements the central bank for central banks made headlines this week with a report outlining how the next major financial crisis may come from unexpected climate risks. The book calls...
The end of the checkout signals a dire future for those without the right skills
Jan 18, 2020 04:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
There has already been a fair number of jobs lost to automation over recent decades from factory workers to bank tellers. In the coming decade we might see radically larger numbers of jobs lost to automation, thanks to...
Australia's nation-building opportunity held hostage by the deficit daleks
Dec 22, 2019 14:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
As anticipated, the Australian government downsized a number of its economic forecasts in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) released this week. Also as anticipated, the federal government did everything...
Vital Signs: let's not weep for Westpac's board, but directors do need help
Dec 01, 2019 03:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
There are many reactions one can have to the shocking revelations of Westpacs failure to comply with Australias anti-money-laundering requirements. One reaction is its not that big a deal along the lines of now-ousted...
Untaxing childcare is a bold idea that seems unfair, but might benefit us all
Nov 24, 2019 14:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Australias system of childcare support is pretty good. It ensures high-quality care is provided to a large number of children, it is targeted through income-based subsidies, and it is attentive to the needs of...
Vital signs. Our compulsory super system is broken. We ought to axe it, or completely reform it
Oct 20, 2019 10:16 am UTC| Insights & Views
The just-announced inquiry into Australias retirement income system ought to be anything but run-of-the-mill. Taking place 25 years after the introduction of compulsory superannuation, it provides an opportunity to...
Trade War Escalates: China Strikes Back