Our people

Meet our Economic Policy Centre members.

Our director

Associate Professor Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy is the founding director of the Economic Policy Centre and heads its Urban and Spatial Economics research hub. His policy-focussed research examines the impact of land use and transportation policies on housing and urban development.

Ryan is enthusiastic about translating economic research into practical advice for policymakers and has counselled domestic and foreign Ministers and Government Departments on land use and housing policy.

Prior to joining the University of Auckland in 2014, Ryan was a Research Economist in the Office of the Chief Statistician at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in Washington, D.C. In this capacity he served on the United Nations London Group on Environmental Accounting.

Academic staff

  • Dr Alexandre Dmitriev, EPC Deputy Director
  • Professor Henk Berkman
  • Dr Claire Dale
  • Professor Prasanna Gai
  • Professor Emeritus Tim Hazledine
  • Associate Professor John Hillas
  • Associate Professor Susan St John
  • Dr Steffen Lippert
  • Professor Robert MacCulloch
  • Professor Dimitris Margaritis
  • Professor Peter Phillips
  • Dr Erwann Sbai
  • Associate Professor Rob Scollay
  • Professor Basil Sharp
  • Dr Asha Sundaram

Research fellow

James Allan Jones, BEng (Hons), BCom (Hons), PhD

James is a Research Fellow at the Economic Policy Centre with a background in Economics and Engineering. His research aims to facilitate evidence-based policy making and employs a diverse toolkit including applied econometrics, spatial modelling, economic simulation, and machine learning.

He has applied this skillset to a wide range of critical issues including: urban development, congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions; house prices, heritage protections, and housing affordability; and the influence of social norms and gender dynamics on crime. His current projects focus on how transportation and housing policy can be used to encourage economic growth while transitioning the economy to more sustainable forms of production.

James holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (with honours) from Durham University (UK), a Bachelor of Commerce (with first class honours) from the University of Auckland and a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland.

Yun So, BA, BCom (Hons), PhD

After receiving her PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland, Yun joined the Economic Policy Centre as a Research Fellow.

Her research interests include urban economics and social mobility, in particular, understanding how inequality of opportunity can hinder social mobility, especially for children from low-income families. Additionally, her research focuses on measuring geographical polarization of economic outcomes, including income inequality and income mobility.

She has experience working with de-identified microdata about people and households, utilizing the integrated data infrastructure (IDI), and investigating the impact of neighbourhood effects on later life outcomes.

Yun's current research project, funded by the Royal Society under a Marsden Grant, aims to assess the impact of zoning reforms on neighbourhood composition and economic outcomes. 

Oversight board members

Gary Blick

Gary is the Chief Economist at Auckland Council, where he advises on the trade-offs around land use and infrastructure investment choices. His prior experience includes time at the Treasury and as a consulting economist, where he advised central and local government clients on the welfare impacts of policy options.

John Small

John is the Chair of the Commerce Commission.

Lynda Sanderson

Lynda is a Principal Advisor at the New Zealand Productivity Commission. Her primary research interest is the link between firm and employee characteristics, firm performance, and employee outcomes. She has published in areas including trans-Tasman migration, the dynamics of exporting and firm performance, and the impacts of foreign direct investment. She has previously worked as an economist and researcher at the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, the OECD, the Treasury, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Snejina Michaelova

Snejina joined the University of Auckland's department of Management and International Business as a professor, and was later appointed as the Associate Dean for Research and for the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). She has also held editorial positions in prestigious academic journals such as the Journal of World Business and Critical Perspectives on International Business, and currently serves as a Consulting Editor at the Journal of International Management.

Contact us

For more information please contact:

Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy
EPC Director
Phone: +64 9 923 7943
Email: r.mcgrevy@auckland.ac.nz