Darcy Allen

I believe that a suite of frontier technologies are transitioning us to a more prosperous, decentralised and free digital economy. My work speeds up this transition by researching new technologies, working closely with the industry frontier, and directly shaping public policy. I’m an Associate Professor of economics at RMIT University and a Director of the Digital Economy Council of Australia.

I’ve published five books and 25+ peer reviewed journal articles on topics including cryptodemocracy, innovation policy, token airdrops, web3 governance and regulatory reform. My award-winning research has been published in leading journals including Research Policy, the Harvard Negotiation Law Review and the Journal of Business Research. My work has been cited over 2000 times and my papers on SSRN have been downloaded over 27,000 times (top 0.2% of authors). My next book with Cambridge University Press is Institutional Acceleration: The Consequences of Technological Change for a Digital Economy (with Berg and Potts) explores how technologies such as blockchains, artificial intelligence and low earth orbit satellites are transitioning us to a new digital economy.

My research is driven by applied problems and interesting questions. I advise on the design of web3 projects, and shape public policy around new technologies. I have appeared as an expert witness before seven parliamentary inquiries in Australia, and I have written over 50 opinion pieces and policy reports on a range of topics. I have an award-winning PhD in economics.