Professor Beth Webster is Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne. Her expertise centres on the economics of the way knowledge is created and diffused through the economy. She has a PhD in economics from the University of Cambridge and an MEc and BEc (hons) from Monash University. She is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia.
Professor Webster is responsible for providing advice and leadership on policies relating to the economic and social impact of research, public industry and innovation policies. She is also responsible for measuring university research engagement and impact.
Professor Webster has authored over 150 articles on the economics of innovation and firm performance and has been published in RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Law & Economics, the Journal of International Economics and Research Policy. She has been appointed to a number of committees including the Bracks’ review of the automotive industry, Lomax-Smith Base funding Review, CEDA Advisory Council, and the Advisory Council for Intellectual Property. She is a past President of the European Policy for Intellectual Property Association and the Asia Pacific Innovation Conference network. She was named the 2022 Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia.