Professor James Reade is Professor of Economics at the University of Reading, where his research specialises in applied econometrics and the economics of sport. He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford before joining the University of Birmingham and subsequently the University of Reading in 2013.

Professor Reade's research has particular relevance to gambling policy. He has studied betting and prediction markets, market efficiency and the way bookmakers and individuals process information, and has published academic research on prediction markets and information efficiency. His wider research uses the unusually rich datasets generated by sport to investigate economic behaviour, decision-making, labour markets and the consequences of regulatory change. More recently, he co-authored an economic impact study showing Ascot Racecourse contributes more than £260 million to the UK economy. His research has achieved impact inside the football industry, notably contributing methodologically to the Independent Football Regulator’s State of the Game Report.

As Chief Economist of the Gambling Policy Committee, Professor Reade will help shape and scrutinise the Committee's economic research programme, ensuring its recommendations are supported by robust empirical analysis and a rigorous understanding of gambling and betting markets.