Anindya Sen

Professor
sen in front of hagey hall

asen@uwaterloo.ca

519-888-4567, X. 42123
Office: HH 206

CV: Anindya Sen

BA (Delhi); MA (Concordia); PhD (Toronto)

Recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award

Areas of specialization: Pricing and firm strategy in imperfectly competitive markets such as retail gasoline; Deregulation of retail alcohol and marijuana; Smoking and cigarette taxes;  Poverty and the minimum wage; Government policy in electricity markets; Border effects and trade flows

Research interests

I am deeply interested in understanding the effects of government intervention and policy on the efficiency of markets and overall societal welfare. I have attempted to evaluate the effects of market structure and competition on retail prices in the gasoline and electricity markets. My published research has also focused on assessing the empirical impacts of a wide variety of policies, such as stricter impaired driving laws, mandatory seatbelt legislation, cigarette taxes, and the minimum wage. I am currently studying the effects of deregulating retail alcohol and marijuana markets. 

I believe strongly in the necessity of sharing and communicating research findings with policymakers and the public. Here are some examples of op-eds I have written for different media.   

“Evidence shows immigrants will get fewer jobs as Ontario ratchets up minimum wage to $15” commentary published by the Financial Post and available at this link.

“Ontario makes a hash of marijuana retail distribution”, with Rosalie Wyonch, published by the Globe and Mail and available at this link. 

“Ottawa, provinces must not let marijuana tax debate overshadow policy priorities”, with Rosalie Wyonch, published by the Globe and Mail and available at this link.

 “Federal pot report still leaves a lot of haze in the air”, commentary published by the Financial Post and available at this link. 

‘Deep-6 the High-5 Ontario electricity program’, by Ben Dachis and Anindya Sen, published by the Financial Post, July 24, 2015, available at this link. 

‘Changes to Beer Store won't help consumers’, by Anindya Sen, published by the Toronto Star,  Wed Apr 22 2015, available at this link. 

‘Time for Queen’s Park to open up beer and wine sales’, by Paul Masson and Anindya Sen, published by The Toronto Star, Wed Aug 20 2014, available at this link. 

Biography

I was born in Saskatoon and grew up in Calgary and Montreal. However, I spent my teens and young adult life in Nigeria and India. As a result I was exposed to rather extreme differences in economic conditions and material comforts. I became interested in why people in prosperous countries like Canada could obtain their groceries and household needs from large and clean stores while individuals in less developed countries, had to access tumultuous (and vibrant) bazaars. The acute and chronic poverty I also encountered impacted me, and I began to wonder on what a government could and should do in terms of policy intervention. I saw economics as a natural outlet to answer these questions.

Selected publications

  • Sen A, Stevens NT, Tran NK, Agarwal RR, Zhang Q, Dubin JA. “Forecasting daily COVID-19 cases with gradient boosted regression trees and other methods: evidence from U.S. cities.” Frontiers of Public Health. 2023 11;11:1259410. 

  • Xu, Y., Sen, A., Chen, T. et al. “The Impact of JUUL Market Entry on Cigarette Sales: Evidence from a Major Chain Retailer in Canada". Harm Reduction Journal 20, 65 (2023). 

  • Sen, Anindya, Rishav Raj Agarwal, Jean-Paul Lam, John David Baker, Qihuang Zhang. “Do More Stringent Policies Reduce Daily COVID-19 Case Counts? Evidence from Canadian Provinces.” Economic Analysis and Policy 78, 2023, pp. 225-242.

  • Sen, Mahdiyeh Entezarkheir and Anindya Sen. “Productivity, Innovation Spillovers, and Mergers: Evidence from a Panel of U.S. Firms.”, BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 23(2), 2023, pp. 397-422. 

  • Sen, Anindya (2022). “Are Data Markets a Solution to Big Tech Market Power? A Competitive Analysis.” Journal of Government and Economics, 7, 100052, ISSN 2667-3193. 

  • Jalali N., Tran N.K., Sen A., and P.P. Morita (2022). “Identifying the Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Political Determinants of Social Mobility and Their Effects on COVID-19 Cases and Deaths: Evidence from US Counties.” JMIR Infodemiology 2(1):e31813.

  • Stevens, Nathaniel T., Sen, Anindya, Kiwon, Francis, Morita, Plinio P., Steiner, Stefan H., and Qihuang Zhang (2022). “Estimating the Effects of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Population Mobility on Daily COVID-19 Cases: Evidence from Ontario.” Canadian Public Policy 48(1), March 2022, pp. 144-161.

  • Mahdiyeh Entezarkheir and Anindya Sen. "Market value, market share, and mergers: Evidence from a panel of U.S. firms." Managerial and Decision Economics, 2018; 39 (4): 498.

  • Sen, Anindya and Kate Rybczynski, “Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage: Panel Data Evidence from Canadian Provinces”, Contemporary Economic Policy, 2018, vol. 36, issue 1, 116-135 

  • Sen, Anindya, “Peak power problems: How Ontario’s industrial electricity pricing system hurts consumers”, The Electricity Journal, Volume 30, Issue 1, January–February 2017, Pages 62–67.

  • Sen, Anindya, "Is Retail Alcohol Deregulation Correlated with More Crime and Traffic Injuries? Evidence from Canadian Provinces", Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice (2016), 58(2):251

  • Zhiqi Chen, Horatiu A. Rus and Anindya Sen, "Border Effects Before and After 9/11: Panel Data Evidence Across Industries", The World Economy, Volume 39, Issue 10, pp. 1455–1672(pages 1456–1481)

  • Curry, Philip A. and Anindya Sen and George Orlov, "Crime, apprehension and clearance rates: Panel data evidence from Canadian provinces", Canadian Journal of Economics, Volume 49, Number 2, 1 May 2016, pp. 481-514(34) DOI: 

  • Bauer, Andrew M. and Macnaughton, Alan and Sen, Anindya, “Income Splitting and Anti-Avoidance Legislation: Evidence from the Canadian 'Kiddie Tax' “ (October 20, 2014). Forthcoming, International Tax and Public Finance.

  • Anindya Sen, Hideki Ariizumi, and Natasha DeSousa: Evaluating the Relationship between Pay and Research Productivity: Panel Data Evidence from Ontario Universities, 40(1), Canadian Public Policy, March 2014, pp. 1-14.

  • Packelen, Mikko and Anindya Sen, “Static and Dynamic Merger Effects: A Market Share Based Empirical Analysis”,  International Review of Law and Economics, 2013, 36(1), pp. 12–24.

  • Sen, Anindya & Hideki Ariizumi, “Teen Families, Welfare Transfers, and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Canada”, Canadian Journal of Economics, 2013, 46(1), pp. 338-360.
  • Sen, Anindya & Rybczynski, Kathleen & Van De Waal, Corey, 2011. "Teen employment, poverty, and the minimum wage: Evidence from Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 36-47, January.
  • Anindya Sen, Anthony Clemente, and Linda Jonker, 2011. “Retail Gasoline Price Ceilings and Regulatory Capture: Evidence from Canada:" American Law & Economics Review", vol. 13(2), pages 532-564.
  • Wai Choi & Anindya Sen & Adam White, 2011. "Response of industrial customers to hourly pricing in Ontario’s deregulated electricity market," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 303-323, December.
  • Anindya Sen & Tony Wirjanto, 2010. "Estimating the impacts of cigarette taxes on youth smoking participation, initiation, and persistence: empirical evidence from Canada," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(11), pages 1264-1280.
  • Sen, Anindya & Clemente, Anthony, 2010. "Intergenerational correlations in educational attainment: Birth order and family size effects using Canadian data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 147-155, February.
  • Anindya Sen & Peter G.C. Townley, 2010. "Estimating the Impacts of Outlet Rationalization on Retail Prices, Industry Concentration, and Sales: Empirical Evidence from Canadian Gasoline Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 605-633, 09.
  • Anindya Sen, 2007. "Does Increased Abortion Lead to Lower Crime? Evaluating the Relationship between Crime, Abortion, and Fertility," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 7(1), pages 48.
  • Gruber, Jonathan & Sen, Anindya & Stabile, Mark, 2003. "Estimating price elasticities when there is smuggling: the sensitivity of smoking to price in Canada," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 821-842, September.
  • Sen, Anindya, 2001. "An Empirical Test of the Offset Hypothesis," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(2), pages 481-510, October.
  • Anindya Sen, 2001. "Do stricter penalties deter drinking and driving? An empirical investigation of Canadian impaired driving laws," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 149-164, February.