The Geoffrey Brooke Prize in Regulatory and Competition Economics

The Geoffrey Brooke Prize is an award to honour the memory of Geoffrey Thomas Fewsdale Brooke (1977-2025).

Geoffrey Brooke completed a Masters in Finance at the University of Cape Town and then went on to finish a PhD in economic history at the University of Auckland. It was a superb thesis on which the examiners bestowed high praise. He lectured at the University of Auckland and at AUT prior to joining the New Zealand Commerce Commission as the Principal Economist for Infrastructure Regulation. He served as the Joint Editor of History of Economics Review between 2016 and 2021.

Geoff joined the Commerce Commission in 2021. He immediately contributed to early thinking on the retail payment systems regulation as the commission was developing its regime. Geoff’s main role was the strong stewardship of the commission’s important cost of capital work, most notably the 2023 review of the Cost of Capital Input Methodologies, for which he was accountable. The work around estimating the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is critical for determining regulatory revenue allowances and is key for delivering consumer outcomes in both reliability and price and for ensuring efficient investments by regulated suppliers. Geoff’s portfolio was subject to very strong processes, rigorous debate and substantive expert opinion. Geoff guided this work adeptly with deep technical mastery, drawing on his strong knowledge of financial economics. Since the Input Methodologies Review, a key focus of Geoff’s work was on sharing his knowledge to build the commission’s capacity in cost of capital, setting the team up for success and leadership in this area for the future. 

It is impossible to overstate Geoff’s contributions to the commission’s economics team. Geoff shared his broad interests across economic history and methodology to lead and engage with presentations and debates. He was a leading champion for economics at the commission and was always looking to how he could positively contribute to tackling the most challenging issues. He was dedicated to nurturing and mentoring junior members across the commission as well as supporting his peers with his considerable and unique expertise. Always upbeat and insightful, Geoff was a favourite for many at the Commission to work with.

The prize is for the paper providing the best contribution to regulatory and competition economics defined broadly, with preference to applications of methodology to public policy—areas that Geoff was working in at the Commerce Commission. The award for the written paper will be judged according to its clarity of presentation and communication, its critical application of economics to a topic in public policy, and the appropriate selection of empirical, experimental and/or theoretical tools for addressing the policy question at hand. Preference will also be given to students and early career economists.
 
The prize recipient may also be invited to present the work at a colloquium hosted by the Commerce Commission.
 
The prize is $1,000.

Prize Sponsors

Te Komihana Tauhokohoko – New Zealand Commerce Commission

Ananish Chadhuri