He has more than twenty years’ experience in the analysis of government policy.
He is an expert in using quantitative and qualitative evidence to understand and evaluate the impact of policy reforms. He joined Frontier in 2013.
Andrew works widely on projects related to productivity, innovation and industrial policy. He directs much of Frontier’s policy evaluation work for BEIS and UK Research and Innovation, including in major investments such as Catapults and Challenge Funds. His evaluation work regularly uses business-level administrative data to understand the impact of innovation policy on firm-level performance using robust econometric methods.
Andrew also leads much of Frontier’s work relating to tax policy. For HMRC, he led the team which derived new estimates of price elasticities of demand in the UK gambling market, including the first estimates of elasticities for online gambling. He has also recently concluded an econometric evaluation of the impact of changes to investment tax incentives for HMRC. He is leading Frontier’s ongoing evaluation of the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol in Scotland on the alcoholic drinks industry for Public Health Scotland. He also leads projects around indirect tax reform for clients in the private sector.
Prior to joining Frontier, Andrew was a Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. His work there focused on policies designed to influence the demand for alcohol, tobacco and transport, the application of behavioural economics to tax policy, and microeconomic analysis of environmental policy. He led many projects for government departments, charitable bodies and third sector organisations, publishing a large number of peer-reviewed journal articles and policy briefings.
Q&A
Describe your job to a child
I look at a lot of numbers and try and help people make sense of them.
What was the last book you read?
The Entrepreneurial State, by Mariana Mazzucato. A persuasive guide to the idea that the public sector can be a positive force for shaping innovation.
Are aliens real?
I can’t believe we’re alone in the universe, but I don’t think we’ve ever encountered other intelligent life.
