 |
Richard Lewney Managing Director MA (Cantab) MA (Massachusetts) |
Richard Lewney specialises in the application of economic modelling to policy analysis, policy evaluation and forecasting, for government and private sector clients.
He has overall responsibility for CE's economic forecasting and analysis services, supervising the managers of the various services and acting as managing editor for the main reports. These currently comprise: UK Industrial, UK Regional, Local Economy, Energy and Environment, and European Regional Services, all of which provide quantitative analysis based on econometric models. He is also responsible for the analysis of the UK macroeconomy and government policy in CE's regular forecasts.
Recent projects that he has directed include: a feasibility study for, and subsequent implementation of, an integrated, spatial policy model for the West Midlands Regional Observatory; regular briefings for the Northwest Regional Economic Forecasting Panel to help it form its own view on prospects for the Northwest economy; a review of the evidence and lessons for sustainable consumption and production trends for the regions of England, based on an extensive collation and analysis of data (for the SCPnet consortium of RDAs and the Environment Agency); an analysis of the implications for productivity and employment rates among different demographic groups and local areas in the West Midlands of progress towards achieving the Leitch targets for improvements in skills (for the WMRO); an analysis of the economic and skills implications of an improvement in the UK's long-term labour productivity growth (for HM Treasury's Leitch Review of Skills); an analysis of the trends in commercial and industrial waste as a contribution to the review of waste policy undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; an analysis of the sustainability of employment and potential commuting patterns in the new Northstowe settlement to be built north of Cambridge (for English Partnerships); the development of projections of the numbers and characteristics of residents of Barking under a range of economic scenarios to inform projections of the demand for housing (for English Partnerships); the development of regional economy-energy-environment models (REEIO) for the Environment Agency and a consortium of development agencies to link economic development with indicators of sustainable development; the development of economic modelling capability for the government of Malta; an evaluation of statistical methods for analysing the impact of skills policy for the Sector Skills Development Agency; a study for the Department of Trade and Industry to produce a typology of the UK's medium-sized companies according to measures of performance; a study for the Director General of the Research Councils modelling the economic impact of information and communications technologies and biotechnology with a five-year forecast horizon; a study for the Department for Education and Skills using econometric modelling to assess the impact on performance of the Further Education Colleges Standards Fund; a study for DG XV and DG II of the European Commission, examining the impact of the Internal Market Programme on regional growth and convergence across the European Union; and an authoritative study of methods of forecasting the demand for water for the water industry's jointly supported research body and the Environment Agency.
Since 1992 he has had primary responsibility for the design of LEFM, a commercial software package developed jointly by CE and the Institute of Employment Research at the University of Warwick, which is used to model the economies of local areas. In 1994 he designed the analysis of the impact of Objective 1 spending on the Merseyside economy for the Task Force responsible for preparing Merseyside's submission to DG XVI, which was based on an application of LEFM. In 2003-04 he designed the development of the model to link economic development to indicators of environmental sustainability to support the strategies of Regional Development Agencies.
In his earlier work at the Henley Centre he undertook a variety of macroeconomic analysis and forecasting projects. He co-authored a major study for the Sports Council The Economic Impact and Importance of Sport in the UK (followed up a decade later by a study at Cambridge Econometrics of the regional economic importance of sport) and contributed to the methodology used to assess the economic impact of the Canary Wharf development in London's docklands.
Over 1999-2005 he undertook consultancy visits to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Malta, directing a project to develop the Ministry's economic modelling capability. In 1997-98 he undertook short-term consultancy visits to the Central Statistical Organization, Yemen to advise on the development of the country's national accounts statistics. Over 1992-96 he acted as a consultant to the Development Planning Advisory Branch of the United Nations, advising on the development of PSPMIS, a prototype database and modelling system intended to provide an integrated environment for financial, project and macroeconomic planning and analysis in developing countries. He participated in development work, including an implementation of the World Bank's RMSM model, based in New York. He also undertook feasibility missions to the Gambia and Saudi Arabia, in which he specified the modelling requirements of the client government ministries. Over 1987-96 he acted regularly as a consultant to the Ministry of Finance, Botswana on the development and application of its macroeconomic model (financed by ODA). During 1995-96 he undertook visits to Botswana to prepare the macroeconomic forecasts for the 8th National Development Plan. During 1990-91 he was engaged as consultant to the Office of Planning and Statistics in the Federated States of Micronesia (the FSM), responsible for developing a simple model for policy analysis (financed by UNDTCD).
He has a first class degree from the University of Cambridge and a Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts, both in Economics. His academic awards include an Open Scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the University of Massachusetts.
He is also a trustee of the Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics, a charitable organisation that owns the company.
Image scanned from photograph taken by Dorothy
 |
 |