Professor Colin Wren
Professor of Applied Microeconomics

  • Email: colin.wren@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 1644
  • Address: Floor 7, Room 7.18
    Economics,
    Newcastle University Business School
    5 Barrack Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 4SE, UK.

 

My research is in the area of microeconomics with applications to regional and industrial economics. It is concerned with examining the impacts and effects of Government interventions on private-sector behaviour, mainly through firm-based initiatives, with implications for regional and national economic development. Issues have a strong policy dimension and are analyzed from both applied and theoretical perspectives. Results are disseminated to academics and practitioners, with impacts on the policy process. Recent work has focused on the regional impacts of foreign direct investment.

Qualifications

BA (Hons), Pure Mathematics and Economics, University of Sheffield.
MSc (Econ) with distinction, University of York.
PhD, Department of Economics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

 

Current Papers under submission / preparation

“Informative Brand Advertising and Pricing Strategies in Internet Markets with Heterogeneous Consumer Search” (with Stephen McDonald). 

“Search Ability and Price Dispersion in an Internet Insurance Market” (with Stephen McDonald).

“Geographic Concentration and the Temporal Scope of Agglomerative Forces”.

“The Location of FDI across British Regions: A Markov Analysis” (with Jonathan Jones).                 

“Political Risk and the Foreign Ownership Structure of Equity Joint Venture Projects” (with Abdulaziz Almahmood and Jonathan Jones).

“Industrial Location, Agglomeration Economies and the Relative Effect of Intermediate and Non-Intermediate Goods”, (with Jonathan Jones).

Postgraduate Supervision

Current / recent supervised PhD students:

Stephen McDonald: Price Dispersion and Search Costs: The Internet Car Insurance Market.

Addulaziz Almahmood: Inward FDI and Saudi Arabia.

Ilona Serwicka: FDI Location across EU Regiosn and Enlargement (Peter and Norah Lomas Scholarship student).

Qianyi Zhou: FDI and Growth: Panel Data Evidence. 

Esteem Indicators

In recent years presentations at numerous international conferences. Invited presentations to HM Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry and World Bank. Evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee of the House of Commons. Policy-related work, including papers to the Alliance for Regional Aid and consultant to the National Audit Office on regional grants.

Current / recent responsibilities:

Project leader on FDI, ESRC Spatial Economics Research Centre.
www.spatialeconomics.ac.uk
Member, Editorial Board, Regional Studies.
Director, PhD Programme, EconomicsChairman, Board of Examiners, Economics.
Drafting Committee, Handbook on Prior Assessment, OECD, Paris.
Steering Committee, UK Evaluation of Regional Grants, DTI, London.
Steering Committee, Evaluation of Global Entrepreneur Programme, UK Trade and Industry, London
Economic Analysis Training, ONE North East.
External examiner: University of Strathclyde, 2000-03; Lancaster University, 2004-07; University of Cambridge, 2008-2010.

Undergraduate Teaching

Current and Recent:
Microeconomic Analysis (ECO2001).
Economic Appraisal (ECO2010).
Public Sector Economics (ECO3013).