Rate My Professor Riko Stevens

Riko Stevens is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus, part of the School of Law and Business. He concurrently holds an Adjunct Research Fellow position at the University of Western Australia’s Business School. Stevens earned his PhD in Economics from UWA in 2022, with a thesis titled “The Theory of Speculation in the Marshallian Tradition: Marshall, Pigou, Lavington, and Keynes on the Microeconomics of Speculation,” which was awarded the History of Economic Thought Society of Australia (HETSA) Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis in 2022. Prior to this, he completed a Master of Commerce with First Class Honours in Economics at the University of Auckland in 2017, focusing on “The Theory of Speculation in the History of Economic Thought: The Contributions of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Alfred Marshall Revisited,” earning the 2017 HETSA Prize for Best Masters Thesis. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honours and a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Finance from Auckland in 2015. Stevens received scholarships including the Australian Government Research Training Program PhD Scholarship and Kelliher Charitable Trust scholarships for masters and honours studies.

His research specializations center on the history of economic thought, particularly the intersection of economics and finance. Key publications include his 2023 article “The Theory of Speculation in the Marshallian Tradition: Marshall, Pigou, Lavington, and Keynes on the Microeconomics of Speculation” in History of Economics Review; co-authored with Michael McLure, “The Speculator and Equilibrium: Pareto and Pigou” in Revue Européenne des Sciences Sociales (2023); and a contribution to “More Than $1 Billion Needed Annually to Secure Africa’s Protected Areas with Lions” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Recently, he authored an editorial appreciation “Australia’s Champion of Public Choice: An Appreciation of the Life and Works of Geoffrey Brennan” in History of Economics Review (2024). Stevens teaches economics, supervises honours and higher degree research students, and serves as Treasurer of the Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch). He is a member of HETSA and founding member of research networks at UWA focused on economic and business history and history and philosophy of social sciences.