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Profile

Dr Grega Smrkolj

Lecturer in Economics

  • Email: grega.smrkolj@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: Newcastle University Business School
    Room 7.24
    5 Barrack Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4SE
    United Kingdom
Background

Profile

Grega is a Lecturer in Economics at Newcastle University Business School. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Amsterdam (Tinbergen Institute). His research focuses on Industrial Organization, with an emphasis on the dynamic aspects of competition.

Roles and responsibilities

  • Lecturer in Economics
  • Elected Member of the University Senate (2024 – Present)

Qualifications and certificates

  • PhD in Economics, University of Amsterdam (Tinbergen Institute)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • Certificate in Advanced Studies in Academic Practice (CASAP), Newcastle University (2016)

Previous positions

  • Academic Lead for Education, Enhancement and Employability in Economics (2018 - 2021)

CV

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]  

Bibliographic links

Google Scholar, ORCID iD, Scopus, ResearchGate

Teaching

Module Leader 2025/26

Other Modules Taught 2025/26

Visiting Scholar 

School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana

Consultation hours 

By appointment or as announced on Canvas.

Past teaching

Introductory Econometrics (MSc), Applied Econometrics (MSc), Topics in Microeconomics (MSc), Statistical Methods for Economics (BSc), Analysing Economic Data (BSc), Economic Modelling (BSc), Economic Analysis (BSc)

Selected workshops and short courses

  • Python for Economists — School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana (2023, 2024, 2025)
  • Python for Data-Driven Business and Economics — Winter School, Audencia Business School (January 2026)

Innovative, industry-relevant teaching in economics

My teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate modules in industrial organization, econometrics, microeconomics, mathematics, and computational methods. Across these areas, I place particular emphasis on helping economics students develop industry-relevant, data-driven skills, especially in Python programming, applied data analysis, and computational methods. Drawing on over a decade of teaching experience, I aim to make my modules clear, practical, and relevant to students’ future study and careers.

A central strand of my teaching is the integration of programming and applied data analysis into economics education. I created and lead ECO2018: Python Programming for Economists, developed in response to the growing importance of Python skills in economics, business, analytics, and policy-related careers. The module emphasises hands-on learning, transparent and well-documented data analysis, and real-world economic applications, helping students develop practical skills valued by employers and postgraduate programmes.

Building on ECO2018, I developed Python for Data-Driven Business and Economics, an intensive short course adapted for international and professional audiences. I have been invited to deliver this teaching internationally, including at the University of Ljubljana and Audencia Business School.

Alongside curriculum development, I have extensive experience in educational leadership and enhancement. As Academic Lead for Education, Enhancement and Employability in Economics, I led initiatives to strengthen student engagement and feedback in large classes. This included the early and systematic use of mobile phones as classroom response systems, enabling students to participate in quizzes and interactive activities during large lectures, as well as mentoring colleagues in adopting and adapting these methods in their own modules.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have a sustained commitment to effective assessment and feedback practices. I also led the introduction of Bloomberg within the School, including the establishment of the Bloomberg Financial Lab and the organisation of the Bloomberg e-module, helping to secure the School’s recognition as a Bloomberg Experiential Learning Partner.

My wider teaching and enhancement activity includes leading employability initiatives, such as the annual employability programme and the Future Focus Conference, mentoring students in international competitions, and serving as a judge and interviewer at student events. These activities reflect my commitment to high-quality, engaging, and forward-looking economics education.

Research

Main expertise

My main research interests are in Industrial Organization, Applied Microeconomics, and Computational Economics, with a particular emphasis on computational approaches to strategic behaviour. I am especially interested in dynamic models of innovation and imitation and in how they influence competition and market outcomes.

I am a member of the Department of Economics.

Current Research

R&D Competition and Cooperation with Distance-Dependent Spillovers (with Florian Wagener; working paper)

From Prototype to Production: Global Dynamics of Product and Process Innovation (research in progress)

Product Compatibility and Innovation in Network Markets (research in progress)

Innovation and Planned Obsolescence in Durable Goods Markets (research in progress)

Interactive Visualization Tool

Restaurant Clustering and Quality Differentiation

This interactive MATLAB application accompanies the paper “Quality Differentiation and Spatial Clustering among Restaurants” (Mossay, Shin, and Smrkolj, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2022). The tool allows users to explore the spatial distribution of top- and bottom-quality restaurants across 96 cities in England and Wales, as discussed in Figure 1 of the paper. Users can select a city and adjust the quality percentile to visualise clustering patterns, centroids, and dispersion for each group.

Access the application: Launch App

(A MathWorks account is required to use MATLAB Online.)

Peer Review Activity

I have served as a referee for International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Automatica, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Dynamic Games and Applications, Singapore Economic Review, and Bulletin of Economic Research.

Selected Conference Presentations

I have presented my research at international conferences across economics, particularly in industrial organization, game theory, innovation, and computational economics. These include the 19th International Industrial Organization Conference (virtual, 2021); the Annual Conference of the Royal Economic Society (virtual, 2021); the 53rd Annual Conference of the Canadian Economic Association (Banff, Alberta, 2019); the 9th International Research Meeting in Business and Management (Nice, 2018); the 28th International Conference on Game Theory (Stony Brook, NY, 2017); the 13th European Meeting on Game Theory (Paris, 2017); the 50th Annual Conference of the Canadian Economic Association (Ottawa, 2016); the 42nd Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (Munich, 2015); the Australian Conference of Economists (Brisbane, 2015); the 49th Annual Conference of the Canadian Economic Association (Toronto, 2015); the Annual Conference of the Royal Economic Society (Manchester, 2015); the 68th European Meeting of the Econometric Society (Toulouse, 2014); the 16th International Symposium on Dynamic Games and Applications (Amsterdam, 2014); the 19th International Conference of the Society for Computational Economics: Computing in Economics and Finance (Vancouver, 2013); the 11th International Industrial Organization Conference (Boston, 2013); the 14th International Schumpeter Society Conference (Brisbane, 2012); the 9th International Industrial Organization Conference (Boston, 2011); the 26th Annual Congress of the European Economic Association (Oslo, 2011); the 38th Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (Stockholm, 2011); and the 37th Annual Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (Istanbul, 2010).

Publications