M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: Stephen Gibson
Monday, November 21, 4:00-5:30pm
M-RCBG Conference Room (B-503)
In April 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron wrote: “Today, there are over 21,000 statutory rules and regulations in force, and I want us to bring that number - and the burden it represents - down. Indeed, I want us to be the first government in modern history to leave office having reduced the overall burden of regulation, rather than increasing it.” After 12 years of Conservative government in the UK, Stephen Gibson M-RCBG Senior Fellow and Chair of the UK Regulatory Policy Committee will discuss the different frameworks and approaches that have been used to attempt to reduce the overall burden of government regulation, and what we can learn from the UK experience.
This study group / discussion is open to all. Registration is not required.
Stephen Gibson is an expert in UK regulation and regulatory economics with over 25 years’ experience of leading major economic and regulation projects across the aviation, rail, water, telecoms, postal, broadcasting and ports sectors. Stephen is Chair of the UK government’s Regulatory Policy Committee which independently scrutinises the evidence and analysis underpinning government regulatory measures and verifies the costs to business of government regulation. In 2011 he set up SLG Economics, an economics consultancy providing expert competition and regulatory economics advice to government, regulators and regulated companies. From 2011 until 2017 he ran the Regulators’ Forum to update UK economic regulators on developments in regulatory economics and regulatory policy. Stephen has been a member of the Civil Aviation Authority’s expert panel since 2019, providing advice on the regulation of Heathrow and NATS. He has regularly appeared on TV and Radio, being interviewed about regulatory developments particularly in the postal sector. Stephen has been Chief Economist and Director of Economic Policy at Postcomm, Interim Chief Economist at Ofwat, Principal Economist at Ofcom, Head of Economics at Network Rail, and a special advisor on regulation to the Office of Rail Regulation and the CAA. He was a lecturer at City University, London on their MSc in Competition and Regulation and has lectured for over 15 years at Birkbeck University on their MSc in Applied Economics. He has run training courses in regulatory and competition economics for Ofwat, ORR, the Northern Ireland Utility Regulator and the Department for Transport. Stephen has an MA in Economics and Management Studies from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and has postgraduate qualifications in Computer Science (Cambridge University), Accounting and Finance (ACCA), EU Competition Law (Kings College London), Health Economics (Middlesex University) and Corporate Finance (London Business School). He was the external supervisor for a PhD in rail regulation at Cambridge University and has published articles on regulation, rail charging and postal economics in leading academic books and journals. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, Stephen will be researching the regulatory framework used by Government departments and sectoral regulators to introduce new regulations in the UK. His faculty sponsor is Jason Furman, Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: stephengibson@hks.harvard.edu