Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Director of the Economics of Education Knowledge Hub at UNSW Business School, Co-director of the New Economic Policy Initiative, and President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Prior to that he was on the faculty at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received an AM and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

His research focuses on contract theory, organisational economics, law and economics, and political economy. He has written on topics including network capital, political districting, the boundary of the firm, incentives in organisations, mechanism design, voting rules, and blockchain.

His research has been featured in press articles in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, and The New Republic, and he appears regularly as a media commentator.