Dr. Sean Ennis
Professor & expert
Professor Sean F. Ennis is an expert on management, strategy and economic policy with a focus on the nexus of business and government.
He develops rigorous product analysis and strategy for academia, the public sector and the private sector. This builds on more than two decades of work focusing on economic and regulatory topics. He served at the OECD, the European Commission and the US Department of Justice. His work follows an economics education at UC Berkeley (PhD) and King's College, Cambridge (BA Hons).
He is now a Professor at the Norwich Business School of the University of East Anglia in England. Other roles include acting as an extramural fellow of TILEC at Tilburg University (Netherlands), adjunct professor at Sciences Po (France), and the board of CERRE (Belgium). He has advised government officials and given seminars in more than 25 countries.
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At the University of East Anglia, he runs an internationally recognized research centre on markets, regulation and business. As part of this role, he was instrumental in the development, launch and implementation of innovative postgraduate courses and professional education.
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His research focuses on innovative sectors and economic impacts of incentives and contracts.
Alongside his academic career, he has consulted for the United Nations, OECD, Inter-American Development Bank and companies including General Mills, Mercado Libre, National Economic Research Associates (NERA) and Strategy&. He co-authored and oversaw reports for regulatory agencies in Australia, EC, Greece, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. He has been involved in antitrust and regulatory proceedings with the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal. Such activities have both enriched his practice knowledge and ensured research relevance and impact.
He engages with energy and passion in communication. With an uncanny skill for translating difficult economic concepts into easy-to-apply principles, he has spoken at more than 100 events. These include the Arab Competition Forum, COMESA, the OECD, the European Parliament and the United Nations. His talks combine enthusiasm, pragmatic logic, and originality.​
Background
& CV
Dr. Ennis specializes in competition, governance and innovation. He has developed strategy and economic analyses spanning a range of sectors and business practices. At the OECD, he led the development and application of the flagship Competition Assessment Toolkit, an international reference for identifying and revising regulations that impact competition.
His years at the OECD as a Senior Economist spanned 2003-2018. For two years during this time, he served as the chief executive of the Competition Commission of Mauritius, where he reported to the Prime Minister’s Office. Prior to 2003 he worked as an economist at the European Commission’s DG Competition and at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. He developed analyses for investigations involving business mergers and contracting. Dr. Ennis has provided expert views to US District Court, the FCC, and other regulators, as well as to the European Parliament and UK Parliament.
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His roles include substantial management and board experience. In addition to his current role as Director of a research centre, he has served as a CEO of a small country regulator, on the board of a reputed European policy think tank, and as a fellow and board member of the Mauritian Institute of Directors.
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He has lived in Washington, D.C, Paris, Mauritius and London. His interests include European history, running, and minimalist travel. He is married and has four children.
Research & writings
Dr. Ennis' research focuses on innovative sectors and economic impacts of incentives and contracts. He applies social science methods to business practices to understand and improve how private companies and the state interact. His publications include significant studies related to digital economy, energy, financial services, communications, media, and health care.
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​His work has been published in journals like the Journal of Industrial Economics, the Journal of Law and Economics, the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, and the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, among others. Sean has also written technical reports released by government institutions, and, most recently, the non-academic book Internet Empire: The Hidden Digital War, a lively examination of the political economy of the expansion of US digital companies.
Contact
Information
s.ennis at uea.ac.uk