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Personal profile

Career

Dr. Sean Ennis is a Professor at the University of East Anglia’s business school and Director of its Centre for Competition Policy. He has extensive experience in management, strategy, and economic policy focused on the interface between the private sector and government. At the University of East Anglia, he runs an internationally recognized research centre on markets, regulation and consumers. As part of this role, he was instrumental in the development, launch and implementation of innovative postgraduate programs. He founded a successful international course on regulatory economics and industrial organization for professionals and initiated a bespoke course on digital markets for ministries and regulators in the UK.

His research focuses on innovative sectors and economic impacts of incentives and contracts. He applies social science methods to business practices to understand how private companies and the state interact. His work has been published in journals like Applied Economics, the Journal of Industrial Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics, and the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, among others. He has published significant studies related to digital economy, energy, financial services, communications, and health care. He has presented expert views to the European Parliament and the UK Parliament. His studies and statements have been published by organisations such as the G20, the European Parliament, the OECD and the World Bank.

Alongside his academic career, he has consulted for the United Nations, OECD, Inter-American Development Bank and private companies. He co-authored and oversaw reports for regulatory agencies in Australia, EC, Greece, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. He has been involved in antitrust and regulatory proceedings with the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the U.K.’s Competition & Appeals Tribunal. Such activities have both enriched his practice knowledge and ensured research relevance and impact.

From 2003-2018, he was a Senior Economist at the OECD. For two years during this time, he served as Executive Director of the Competition Commission of Mauritius, where he reported to the Prime Minister’s Office. At the OECD, he developed and led the competition assessment of regulations program to assess market impacts of government regulation. Prior to 2003 he worked as an economist at the European Commission’s DG Competition and at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, developing economic analyses for investigations involving business mergers and contracting.

He obtained an undergraduate degree in economics from King’s College at Cambridge University and a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Key Research Interests

My research deals with business contracting, innovation, and organizational structure in response to market developments and policy changes. The substantive areas include economic and organisational analysis of markets, with a focus on the digital, energy, health, and communications sectors. As a result of my focus on markets undergoing transformation, the research focuses on the underlying microeconomic and organisational mechanisms that drive economic growth, inequality and societal change.

Areas of Expertise

business strategy, contractual incentives, innovation, competition economics, antitrust law and economics, regulated industries, digital, telecommunications, financial products, health economics, professions 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley

Award Date: 31 Jul 1996

Bachelor of Arts, University of Cambridge

Award Date: 31 Jul 1990

External positions

Board Member, Centre on Regulation in Europe

1 Jun 2022 → …

Senior Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Apr 2013Dec 2018

Executive Director, Competition Commission of Mauritius

Mar 2011Mar 2013

Senior Economist, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Apr 2003Mar 2011

Economist, Directorate-General for Competition

Sept 2002Mar 2003

Economist, U.S. Department of Justice

Jul 1996Sept 2002

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or