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David Starkie
The Economist
David specialises in the application of micro-economics to public policy issues, in which he has outstanding international and domestic experience and is known for his frequent iconoclastic viewpoints.
Over a quarter of a century, he advised numerous House of Commons Select Committees for inquiries covering a broad range of subjects, including the redevelopment of London Docklands, expenditure on transport, the motor vehicle industry, together with a number focused on aviation. During the 1970s, he was asked by the UK ODA to advise the governments of Argentina and Chile and later became adviser for the World Bank-funded Argentine National Transport Plan. In 1975, he was appointed Deputy Director General of Transport for the State of Western Australia and, later in Australia, Professorial Fellow at the University of Adelaide’s economics department during which time he advised state and Federal government inquiries. His private sector career since 1985 has encompassed executive directorships of UK and US economic consultancies.
David has given expert testimony in a number of court proceedings, including the New Zealand High Court, and in the UK and Ireland. Reflecting his earlier research in environmental economics, during much of the 1990s he advised the European Commission prior to ICAO’s CAEP III and CAEP IV meetings, determining worldwide aircraft noise standards. David also assisted the European Commission and New Zealand Commerce Commission on competition-related issues. In the UK, he was appointed to the CAA’s panel of experts for a NATS price cap review and for assessing the framework used to analyse airport competition.
He was appointed to act on behalf of the British Government in remedial proceedings following the dispute between the US and British governments over access to Heathrow Airport. David also played a significant role in the initial UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI), assisting project bidders. Following seminal writings on rail privatisation, he advised the UK Treasury and Department of Transport on strategic options for privatising British Rail. For OFTEL the regulator, he worked on telecom interconnection issues. He also developed niche expertise in competition issues associated with private education, advising the UK OFT on its schools’ cartel case. His most recent appointment was to the UK Airports Commission’s Expert Advisory Panel.
David has held visiting scholar or professorial positions at universities in Canada, Australia, Germany and lectured at the World Bank. He has also been external examiner for numerous universities including Oxford and LBS. He is a former Associate of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and American Bar Association, former editor of the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy and member of the Royal Economics Society.
Airport Enterprises: An Economic Analysis
Airport Enterprises offers a fresh perspective on understanding airports from an economic and policy standpoint. Rather than relying solely on traditional welfare economics – where the beneficiaries and cost bearers are assumed to be of the same jurisdiction – the book questions whether this framework fits an industry with an international customer base.
The author presents the airport not simply as infrastructure or a regulated utility, but as a complex business platform supporting a wide range of commercial activities. Many of these activities resemble two-sided markets, challenging conventional ideas about pricing strategies, competition, and regulatory oversight.
The book also re-examines the common view that airports are natural monopolies. It explores how capacity is often expanded incrementally, how cost structures may not always support monopoly assumptions, and how market entry can occur through long-term commercial agreements and negotiated pricing models.
In addition, the work takes a critical look at current public policy – including EU airport charging regulations, prevailing interpretations of economic rents at congested airports, and plans for future expansion at major hubs such as Heathrow Airport.
Thought-provoking and analytical, this book is aimed at readers interested in aviation economics, transport policy, and the evolving future of airports in an increasingly competitive global market.
A Brief History of the Motorway Age: How post-war governments responded to rapid traffic growth
In spite of the controversy now generated by new road building, Britain during the early post-war decades witnessed a huge and, to some, impressive investment in roads, tunnels and bridges, including the new ‘technology’ of motorways. But why were elaborate road schemes then thought necessary? Why the early concentration on building roads between cities? How did cities cope in the meantime with a rising tide of traffic? How did they continue to cope once road plans were abandoned? How did policies translate into decisions to build particular roads, and when to build them? And did political considerations dominate?
The book focuses on these and similar issues, highlighting the most important events and personalities involved, and provides a valuable insight into how and why road policies changed during the forty years following the Second World War. This ebook is a text summary of the illustrated, referenced and indexed flexi-edition: The Motorway Age: How Post-War Governments Reacted to Rapid Traffic Growth, published by Riverside Publishing Solutions.
An earlier edition was published in Japanese. ISBN: 4-7615-2079-5 (Japanese edition).
Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform
Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform is a collection of 17 papers selected from David Starkie’s extensive writings over the last 25 years. Previously published material has been extensively edited and adapted, and combined with new material published here for the first time.
The book is divided into five sections, each featuring an original overview chapter designed to establish context and explain the wider significance of the papers, including, where appropriate, their relevance to current policy issues.
These papers illustrate a significant theme that has been relatively neglected in both aviation and industrial economics: the role of the market and its interaction with economic policy in the context of a dynamic but partly price-regulated industry. The result provides a strong illustration of how market mechanisms — particularly competition — can successfully help resolve policy issues.
The book will be of interest to academics and to those involved in the formulation of aviation policy, including public administrators and consultants, as well as professionals working within the aviation industry. It is also relevant to broader economic studies, especially for students and practitioners of industrial organisation economics, including those researching public utility industries.
