PhD Candidate
BA, MPhil (University of Cambridge)
Year of entry: 2023
I’m a PhD student in Economics at the University of Cambridge, supervised by Christos Genakos, Michael Pollitt and Kamiar Mohaddes. My research interests are in empirical IO, and I’m currently researching the effect of quality ratings on consumer search in the healthcare sector. Future research ideas intend to investigate the application and effect of vertical restraints.
Research topic
Empirical Effects of Competition Policies
Research interests
Applied econometrics; competition economics; industrial organisation; health economics.
Pathway
Supervisor
Biography
As a Director of the Workshop Series at the King’s Entrepreneurship Lab, an ecosystem designed to educate and inform future entrepreneurs, Rhys is involved in organising and facilitating workshops covering a range of entrepreneurial skills such as developing a pitch, marketing, hiring a team and exit options.
Rhys has over 5 years’ experience working in an economics consultancy, advising the EU, UK Government, and other organisations on matters of public policy. In particular, he was heavily involved in the EU DG Comp’s evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemptions Regulation, taking an empirical look at the effects of resale price maintenance in the book sector, and building a theoretical framework to consider the state of competition in the professional business services sector.
Publications and papers
Journal articles
- Williams, R.J. (2022) “The effect of casual teaching on student satisfaction: evidence from the UK.” Education Economics, 30(1): 91-111 (DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2021.1958168)
- Mohaddes, K. and Williams, R.J. (2020) “The adaptive investment effect: evidence from Chinese provinces.” Economics Letters, 193: 109332 (DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109332)
Blog posts
- LearnEconomicsOnline.com: Economic thoughts and essays
- Williams, R. (2020) “An unintended consequence of staff casualisation: the effect on student satisfaction.” The HEPI Blog, 17 July 2020
News and insights
Governance, economics and policy
How fixed book pricing can benefit consumers and the economy
Europe-wide research by Rhys Williams, a PhD candidate at Cambridge Judge, finds that countries with fixed book price policies see higher sales with no effect on the average price of books.
An essay on how musician Jay-Z learned from failure wins inaugural King’s Entrepreneurship Lab Essay Competition for Sixth Form students, which has several connections to Cambridge Judge Business School.
Media coverage
Times Literary Supplement (TLS) | 21 June 2024
The price isn’t right
A recent study by PhD Candidate Rhys J Williams is quoted in an article about fixed book price policies in the UK.