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Seminars
The HEEDnet seminars are sponsored by Cambridge Econometrics, who fund the refreshments.
PRACTICAL POLICY MAKING SUPPORTED BY AGENT BASED MODELLING
- Wednesday, 16th November 2011DO WATER METERS REDUCE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION?
- 24th November 2010WELL-BEING: SHOULD GOVERNMENT AIM TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY?
- 26 March 2008AVOIDING DANGEROUS CLIMATE CHANGE
- Thursday 21 June 2007The implications of the psychology of decision-making under uncertainty
- Wednesday 1 March 2006Technology and Innovation Policy for Sustainability
- 14th April 2005The Psychology of Environmental Economic Instruments
- 19 October, 2004
Future seminars to be arranged - watch this space or join our list. Potential topics: Efficiency; Sustainable employment. Other suggestions welcomed.
PRACTICAL POLICY MAKING SUPPORTED BY AGENT BASED MODELLING
Seminar at DEFRA, Wednesday, 16th November 2011
Chair: Cathryn Ross (Executive Director of Railway Markets and Economics, Office of Rail Regulation)
Presentation – Paul Ormerod (presentation)
Discussant: – Scott Moss Associates (presentation)
Advice from mainstream economics is an important input into a lot of policy making. Vernon Smith, who won the Nobel prize in 2002 with Daniel Kahneman for their work on experimental and behavioural economics, argued in his Prize lecture that: ‘Within economics there is essentially only one model to be adapted to every application: optimization subject to constraints’. In other words, agents – decision makers – make the ‘optimal’ decision, subject to any constraints they might face at the time. This is the basis of behaviour in standard economics. What is known as Agent Based Modelling (ABM) allows a much wider range of possible types of behaviour to be built into a model of any particular problem. The relevant kinds of behaviour can be specified in consultation with the stakeholders. The mainstream assumption can still be used if it is thought to be relevant, but it is just one of a wide range of possible ways in which agents might behave. The basis of ABMs is therefore more realistic, customised for the particular application in conjunction with the stakeholders. Agents can make decisions in ways which stakeholders think they do, rather than in ways which economists theorise they do. There is now a very large literature on ABMs, and I will give some examples of practical policy-oriented ones we have built in areas such as water, telecoms and banking.
DO WATER METERS REDUCE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION?
Seminar at DEFRA, Rm 807, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square
5.30 (for 6.00) - 9.00 p.m., Wednesday, 24th November 2010
Chair: Henry Leveson-Gower (Head of Future Water Resource Management, DEFRA)
Presenter:
Dr. Chad Staddon, University of the West of England, Bristol & Bristol Group for Water Research
See http://www.bne.uwe.ac.uk/staff/staffDetails.asp?staffid=c-staddon
Largely out of concern for the combined effects of climate change and demographic change on water supply, the British government is currently exploring the idea of legislating for compulsory metering for the nation's 28 million households (currently about 35% of households in England and Wales are metered). However, there is much confusion as to the actual objectives to be served by such a policy, estimated to cost in excess of £3 billion. This paper presents the best available current research on water metering around the world, with a special emphasis on European, North American and Commonwealth comparator nations. In summary, the research suggests that there is little evidence that compulsory universal metering can achieve either the water conservation or social equity goals articulated by government. The author concludes that policymakers need to think much more carefully about metering technologies and the purposes they are intended to serve.
Discussants:
Robert Canning, Head of Water Charging and Economic Regulation Team, Defra
Darren Bentham, Director, Universal Metering Programme, Southern Water
Followed by discussion.
8.00 p.m. Wine and canapes
To register, e-mail dt@camecon.com
WELL-BEING: SHOULD GOVERNMENT AIM TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY?
Speaker:
Avner Offer, Chichele Professor in Economic history, University of Oxford,
and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
Prof Offer is an economic historian who specializes in international political
economy, law, the First World War and land tenure. Over the past decade his
main interest has been in post-war economic growth, particularly in affluent
societies, and the challenges that this affluence presents to well being.
He is a member of the British Academy.
See http://avoffer.googlepages.com/avneroffer
Discussants:
Prof Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development, Centre for Environmental
Strategy, University of Surrey
See University
of Surrey link
Richard Reeves, Research Associate (formerly Director of Futures),
Work Foundation
See http://www.richard-reeves.com/about.asp
Chair:
Henry Leveson-Gower, Principal, GHK International
Venue: DEFRA, Ministerial Conference Room 808, Nobel House,
17 Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1
Date: Wednesday 26 March 2008
Time: 5.30pm for 6.00pm (to be followed by refreshments provided by Cambridge
Econometrics at 8.00pm)
Please present yourself at the building reception on the ground floor. The staff will have a list of participants and will issue badges. You will be escorted to the room.
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com and I will confirm your place. There is no charge for attending. The HEEDnet website is http://www.heednet.info.
THE ORIGIN OF WEALTH: EVOLUTION, COMPLEXITY AND THE RADICAL REMAKING OF ECONOMICS
Chair:
Richard Price, Chief Economist, DEFRA
Presenter:
Eric Beinhocker, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute Eric has held research appointments at the Harvard Business School and the MIT Sloan School, been a visiting scholar at the Santa Fe Institute and an Executive Director of the Corporate Executive Board. Fortune magazine named him a 'Business Leader of the Next Century' and his writings no business and economics have appeared in a variety of publications, including the Financial Times. He is the author of the book 'The Origin of Wealth' - see www.originofwealth.com.
Discussants:
Dr Terry Barker, Director, Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research (4CMR), Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge See http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tbarker.htm
Dr Cameron Hepburn, Deputy Director, School of Enterprise and Environment, Oxford University See http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/members/cameron.hepburn/
Venue: Atrium, DEFRA, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1 (see map attached below)
Date: Monday 26 November 2007
Time: 5.30pm for 6.00pm (to be followed by refreshments at 8.00pm)
Please present yourself at the building reception on the ground floor. The staff will have a list of participants and will issue badges. You will be escorted to the room.
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com and I will confirm your place. There is no charge for attending. The HEEDnet website is http://www.heednet.info
AVOIDING DANGEROUS CLIMATE CHANGE
Chair:
Prashant Vaze, Head of Economics, Office of Climate Change
Presenters:
Dr Terry Barker, Director of 4CMR (the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research), Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tbarker.htm
Prof Scott Moss, Professor of Social Simulation and Director of the Centre for Policy Modelling in Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
http://cfpm.org/~scott/
Venue: Conference Room A & B, DEFRA, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1 (see map attached below)
Date: Thursday 21 June 2007
Time: 5.00 for 5.30pm (to be followed by refreshments at 8.00pm)
Please present yourself at the building reception on the ground floor. The staff will have a list of participants and will issue badges. You will be escorted to the room.
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com and I will confirm your place. There is no charge for attending. The HEEDnet website is http://www.heednet.info.
David Taylor
Administrative Director
Cambridge Econometrics
Covent Garden
Cambridge CB1 2HS
United Kingdom
tel 01223 460760
fax 01223 464378
'Trading Schemes, Risks and Costs: the Cases of the EUETS & Renewable Obligations'
Presenter: Dr David Toke, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Policy, Department of Sociology, University of Birmingham
Discussants: Steve Sorrell, SPRU (tbc) and Peter Roscoe, DTI (tbc)
DEFRA
Room LG4,5,6 (lower ground floor)
3-8 Whitehall Place, Westminster
Thursday 22 March 2007
5.30 for 6.00pm (to be followed by refreshments at 8.00pm)
Dr Toke is a member of the University of Birmingham's Institute for Energy Research and Policy. Over the last 20 years, he has written widely about energy-environmental policy approaches, especially on the financial and implementation issues of wind power and energy efficiency. He has published four books and dozens of papers in highly rated academic journals including Geoforum, Energy Policy, Public Administration, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and The Political Quarterly. He has most recently focused on the political economy of renewable procurement and pollution abatement regimes.
He has technical experience of the electricity industry through involvement in the wind power industry and also through a current EU-funded research project on the integration of fluctuating renewables into the grid using combined heat and power. He manages the British research contribution to this project and is responsible for evaluating the research outcomes.
Please present yourself at the building reception on the ground floor. The staff will have a list of participants and will issue badges. You will be escorted to the room.
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com and I will confirm your place. There is no charge for attending. The HEEDnet website is http://www.heednet.info.
David Taylor
Administrative Director
Cambridge Econometrics
Covent Garden
Cambridge CB1 2HS
United Kingdom
tel 01223 460760
fax 01223 464378
'Simulating the Adoption
of Organic Farming Practices in New EU Member States'
Venue: Environment Agency, floor 26, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank,
London 5.30pm for 6.00pm (to be followed by refreshments at 8.00pm) Thursday
18 January 2007
Presenter: Dr Sigrid Stagl, SPRU, University of Sussex http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/profile185233.html
Discussant: Professor Scott Moss, Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester
Metropolitan University Business School http://cfpm.org/~scott/
Please present yourself at the building reception on the ground floor. The staff will have a list of participants and will issue badges. Go up to floor 26 (not the Environment Agency's main entrance on floor 25).
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com and I will confirm your place. There is no charge for attending.
The implications of the psychology
of decision-making under uncertainty
Venue: DEFRA, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London
5.30 (for 6.00) - 9.00 p.m., Wednesday 1 March 2006
For security reasons, participants will be conducted
by DEFRA personnel from the building entrance to the meeting room, which is
Conference Room 7A/B/C on the second floor. It is important that they arrive
before 6.00pm because there will be no staff available to take them to the
room after that time and they may not be able to take part.
Presenter:
Sheetal Radia, DTI
To be followed by open discussion. There will be wine and canapes at 8.00pm.
To register, please e-mail me at dt@camecon.com
and I will confirm your place.
Extending the "rational man"
model of human behaviour: seven key principles
Seminar at the Home Office, Marsham St
5.30 (for 6.00) - 9.00 p.m., Thursday 22nd September 2005
Chair:
Professor Paul Wiles (Chief Scientific Advisor and Director of Strategy, Research
and Statistics, Home Office)
Presenters:
Emma Dawnay (New Economics Foundation) and Hetan Shah
Followed by discussion
8.00 p.m. Wine and canapes
To register, e-mail dt@camecon.com
Technology and
Innovation Policy for Sustainability
5.30 - 9.00 p.m., Thursday 14th April 2005
Location: the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Conference Centre, 1 Victoria St.
Programme
Chair: Adrian Gault (Director of Strategy Development, Energy Strategy Unit,
DTI)
Presenters:
Dr. Jonathan Kohler (Tyndall Centre and University of Cambridge) - 'New lessons
for technology policy and climate change: investment for innovation'
Dr. Tim Foxon (Imperial College London) - 'Transforming policy processes to
promote sustainable innovation: some guiding principles'
Discussant:
Michael Massey (Former Director of Sustainable Development, DTI)
Followed by discussion
8.00 p.m. WIne and canapes
To register, e-mail dt@camecon.com
The revolution in welfare economics and
the implications for environmental policyLaunch seminar: Sustainable Consumption
and Economics
12.00 to 13.30 13 December, 2004
Location: Environment Agency on floor 25, Millbank Tower,
21-24 Millbank, Westminster
Presenter:
Professor John Gowdy, Dept of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
Troy, US (for further info
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/economics/www/faculty/gowdy.html)
Psychology of Environmental
Economic Instruments Seminar
5.30 - 9.00pm, 19 October, 2004
Location: HM Treasury,
Programme
Chair:
Michael Jacobs (a member of the Council of Economic Advisers at HM Treasury)
Presenter:
Alan Lewis (Professor of Economic Psychology, University of Bath) - Designing
environmental economic instruments: learning from economic psychology
Discussants:
Dr Dieter Helm (New College, Oxford)
Professor Paul Ekins (Head of Environment Group, Policy Studies Institute)
Becky Willis (Associate Director, Green Alliance)
Followed by open discussion.
8.00pm - Wine and canapes
To register email dt@camecon.com
Launch Seminar
5.30 - 8.30pm, 27 May 2004
DEFRA, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria St
Programme
Introduction, Bob Davies (DEFRA)
What HEEDnet is about
Chair
Jonathon Porritt
(Chair, UK Sustainable Development Commission)
Speakers:
Peter Madden (Head of Environmental Policy, Environment Agency)
Richard Lewney (Managing Director, Cambridge Econometrics)
Starting the debate: Economics and Sustainable Consumption
Chair: Jonathon Porritt (Chair, UK Sustainable Development
Commission)
Presenter: Professor Tim Jackson (University of Surrey) -
Understanding Sustainable Consumption: challenges for economics
Discussants: Michael Jacobs(a member of the Council of Economic Advisers at
HM Treasury), Nick Hartley (OXERA), Professor Clive Spash (President of the
European Society of Ecological Economics and Head of the Socio-Economics Research
Programme, The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen)
Followed by open discussion and then refreshments.
Henry Leveson-Gower
Economics Policy Manager & HEEDnet facilitator
Environment Agency