Flavio Toxvaerd is Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. His research interests include industrial organisation, competition policy and economic epidemiology.

Unlike some academics who began their policy journey at the start of their careers, I arrived later to the policy sphere. As many academics will attest, what is prized in research is not always prized in policy, and there is often a difference between what is broadly policy relevant and what is practical to policy makers. This can lead academics to shy away from policy engagement.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to take on the role of Senior Economic Advisor to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, which was set up by the UK government in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust to understand and propose solutions to rising anti-microbial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is shaped in part by the behaviour and incentives created by economic structures which encourage the overuse of different medicines that weaken their effectiveness over time. Having specialised in industrial organisation and the economics of infectious diseases, working on the Review allowed me to combine both interests and to learn a lot about the policy process, including how to communicate the outcomes from the Review to the public and to policy makers.

My work on the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance also taught me that many public health issues are critically important to the economy. I was able to apply this lesson during the COVID-19 pandemic, and CSaP was very helpful to me during the height of the pandemic as I engaged with a significant number of policy makers. I found that there were not many economists involved in the discussions shaping policy decisions. Given my background in both economics and public health, I felt that I had something which I could contribute to shaping policy decisions during this unique crisis.

After speaking to CSaP about this interest, they drew on their network of contacts and arranged for me to speak to people at the Cabinet Office. This started a series of engagements, including speaking with HM Treasury about vaccine procurement, giving evidence to the Treasury Committee about integrated economic-epidemic modelling, and engaging with an MP who was working actively on the Parliament’s COVID-19 Review. These engagements were made possible through the support of CSaP and the lessons I had gained from my prior policy activities, which taught me how to be effective within these high-level policy settings.

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"To my delight, I have found CSaP’s Policy Fellows to be deeply engaged in their remit and to have a genuine desire to learn from and engage with academic research. For me, these meetings have been a learning experience, giving me a view ‘under the hood’ of the policy making process."

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Alongside these activities, I have met with a number of CSaP Policy Fellows, who have come from fields across the UK Civil Service, international institutions, and the private sector.

I have continued my policy engagement by serving as the inaugural UKRI Policy Fellow in Competition and Productivity Economics as well as serving on the Academic Panel for the UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority. I have also just joined the Economic Advisory Group on Competition Policy at the European Commission’s DG COMP, supporting the incoming Chief Competition Economist. Each of these experiences has taught me more about the policy process, and I look forward to continuing to learn more and contributing to public policy.