Professor Sir David Hendry, Director of Economic Modelling for INET at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, has received the Economic and Social Research Council Celebrating Impact Lifetime Achievement Award. Over five decades Professor Hendry has developed macroeconomic models capturing how economies work, which are now embedded in software widely used by policymakers and decision-makers.

Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School, congratulated Professor Hendry on his award: “David has been path-breaking in improving the way models are used in decision-making across the globe. His work has made a lasting impact on public policy as well as in business. The Oxford Martin School is most fortunate to be able to draw on his leadership for our research on economic modelling”

Based on long-term consistent research rather than a single grant or programme, Professor Hendry has devoted 45 years of research to develop economic modelling that captures the key features of a rapidly changing economic environment.

His work has influenced high profile public bodies such as HM Treasury and Ofcom in the UK, the International Monetary Fund, and central banks including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. He has also shown a clear commitment to widening the impact of his work through tailored training courses, master classes and workshops.

In collaboration with a private sector partner, Professor Hendry has successfully commercialised his software through PcGive and Oxmetrics, and supported its take-up by practitioners in the private and public sector.

“The impact has been the interaction between developing vastly more powerful methods than when I started, that have a much higher chance of finding the causal relationships that operate in the economy, and embedding these models in software that is very easy to use and is massively labour-saving,” he explains.

Professor Sir David Hendry is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Director of the Programme in Economic Modelling, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School.

Watch the video below, produced by the ERSC, to find out more about Professor Hendry and his work.