Economics for Business Leaders

Hybrid format

40+ hours of teaching

Oxford faculty

Global alumni network

In a world defined by uncertainty and rapid change, leaders need more than intuition, they need the frameworks that explain how markets behave, how people make decisions, and how global forces shape organisational success.

This flagship programme gives senior leaders the tools to anticipate change, evaluate risk, and make confident, data-driven decisions.

 

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Economics provides the essential language for understanding the forces that shape markets, influence organisational outcomes, and drive global change.

Over three months, this programme equips senior decision-makers with the clarity and confidence to navigate complexity — combining online learning with an immersive residential week in Oxford.

Through interactive tutorials, case-based discussion, and access to Oxford’s world-class economists, participants learn to apply economic principles to real-world business challenges. The result is sharper strategic thinking, stronger leadership, and a deeper understanding of how to make decisions that stand up to uncertainty.

 

What You Will Gain

 

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World-Class Learning Experience

Learn directly from Oxford University professors and leading economists. The programme blends academic excellence with practical insight, ensuring you build a deep understanding of key economic principles and how they shape modern markets.

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Enhanced Strategic Thinking

Strengthen your ability to interpret data, anticipate competitor behaviour, and evaluate risk. The frameworks you learn will help you make decisions grounded in evidence, not instinct.

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Immediately Actionable Insights

From pricing strategy to market design, every topic connects directly to real business challenges. You will leave with clear, applicable tools to take back to your organisation.

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A Global, Connected Network

Join a community of senior leaders from across industries and continents. Delegates build lasting professional relationships and gain access to a network that continues long after the programme ends.

 

Key Dates

  • May 2026: Online programme begins

  • 12–17 July 2026: Residential Week, Oxford

About the Programme

Oxford Elevate's Economics for Business Leaders programme offers senior leaders a rare opportunity to master the principles of economics and apply them to solve real-world business challenges. Rooted in more than 70 years of academic excellence, the programme combines the flexibility of online learning with the depth and intensity of Oxford’s tutorial-style teaching.

Elevate is more than a course, it is a learning community. Guided by a Steering Committee of senior executives and top economists, the programme brings together leaders from every sector and region. Delegates explore cutting-edge ideas, debate emerging challenges, and learn from each other’s experience, building a network that endures long after the programme concludes.

This is a space to step back from the day-to-day, rethink assumptions, and develop the clarity to lead in an increasingly interconnected world.

The course gave me space to step back and consider the bigger picture. It will challenge the way you think and equip you with the tools to find solutions to the biggest issues facing business today.”

— Tom Rogers, Accenture, 2023 Delegate

“Have you ever wondered why consumers act the way they do or why some countries or companies experience huge growth? Well, it’s all to do with macro and microeconomics which we have been learning about this week. What can businesses do to grow their market share? What levers can governments pull to manage the balance of payments? We learned about all this and more with a group of like-minded individuals, intellectually curious and fantastic teaching all week.”

- Briony Krikorian-Slade, Principle, Payments, Innovation & Resilience, UK Finance, 2023 Delegate

impact
impact

 

Academic Overview

1. Why Markets Fail & Succeed

Why do some markets flourish while others struggle or collapse? Market failures, such as those linked to environmental crises, often arise when market mechanisms don’t account for the “true” social costs. This session explores the fundamental principles of market success and failure and examines strategies to address such challenges effectively.

Lectures:

  • The basics of supply and demand
  • Missing markets and saving the planet

2. What Pricing Strategies Are Most Profitable?

How can businesses strike a balance between scale and profit? This session delves into the critical trade-offs in pricing strategy, exploring how competition, differentiation, and market positioning influence outcomes across varying economic landscapes.

Lectures:

  • Exploiting market power
  • Pricing, product differentiation, and market positioning

3. How to reason and respond strategically

Anticipating competitor behaviour is essential in today’s competitive markets. Learn the fundamentals of game theory to navigate strategic decisions and understand how to adapt when rivals respond aggressively.

Lectures:

  • Basics of game theory
  • Future play and market entry

4. Capitalising on market information

What happens when information is unevenly distributed among market participants? This session introduces strategies to overcome information asymmetry and demonstrates how to design contracts that optimise outcomes.

Lectures:

  • Screening and signalling
  • Corporate finance and contract design

5. How to Bid to Win

Are there times when losing in an auction is more beneficial than winning? Learn how auction design impacts bidder behaviour and discover how to maximise revenue across diverse contexts, from procurement to digital advertising.

Lectures:

  • Auction design

6. Leveraging market psychology

Behavioural biases shape decision-making in surprising ways. Explore how behavioural economics can optimise pricing strategies, refine marketing approaches, and enhance employee motivation.

Lectures:

  • The basics of behavioural economics

7. Using data for competitive advantage

Economic indicators such as GDP provide critical insights for strategic planning. Learn how to interpret macroeconomic data to drive informed business decisions in competitive markets.

Lectures:

  • GDP and beyond
  • The role of the financial sector

8. Responding to volatility

What tools do central banks and governments use to stabilise economies during turbulent times? Gain an understanding of monetary policies, fiscal interventions, and how they impact business resilience.

Lectures:

  • Central banks, inflation targeting, and quantitative easing
  • Fiscal policy and debt sustainability

9. Managing risks of an interconnected economy

Global trade brings opportunity and risk. Explore how supply chain disruptions, trade liberalisations, and nationalistic policies reshape the balance of global markets.

Lectures:

  • The basics of international trade
  • Globalisation and supply chain disruptions
  • Winners and losers of trade liberalisation

10. Creative destruction as an engine for growth

Inequality and innovation are deeply intertwined. Understand the role of automation, startups, and capital flows in driving economic growth while addressing disparities across industries and nations.

Lectures:

  • Growth within and across countries
  • Entrepreneurs, startups, and the macroeconomy

Partnerships

Members of UK Finance receive an exclusive £2,000 discount on the Economics for Business Leaders programme - a partnership designed to support financial-sector leaders navigating some of the most complex economic and regulatory conditions in decades.

For UK Finance professionals, economic understanding is more than a useful skill; it is a strategic imperative. Whether you’re responding to inflationary pressures, interpreting central bank signals, evaluating regulatory change, managing risk, or steering digital transformation, your decisions depend on clear analytical frameworks and a confident grasp of how markets behave.

This programme delivers that clarity. With Oxford’s world-class economists, UK Finance members gain rigorous insight into market dynamics, volatility, global trends and behavioural drivers, and learn how to apply these directly to financial-sector strategy. Combined with a cohort of senior leaders from across industries, the experience strengthens both sector-specific understanding and broader strategic perspective.

 

To take advantage of this exclusive offer, email us at oxfordelevate@economics.ox.ac.uk with:

• Your name

• Your role

• The UK Finance member company you represent

“A week at Oxford Elevate's Economics for Business Leaders Programme is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in some interesting economic and technical topics, be taught by world leading academics but most importantly to expand your professional network to people all around the world and in other industries. These benefits then accrue across the rest of your career.”

- Vis Nayar, Global CIO, Eastspring Investments, 2024 Delegate

Members of the Confederation of British Industry are eligible for an exclusive £2,000 discount on the Economics for Business Leaders programme — a partnership designed to strengthen leadership capability across the UK’s most influential companies and sectors.

For CBI members, economic understanding is central to shaping strategy, advocating for business interests and responding to the pressures of a fast-moving policy environment. From productivity and competitiveness to labour markets, investment decisions and the regulatory landscape, senior leaders need the ability to interpret economic signals and translate them into effective organisational action.

This programme equips CBI members with the tools to do exactly that. Through direct access to Oxford’s leading economists, participants deepen their understanding of how policy, markets and global forces interact — and how these dynamics influence business performance, supply chains, innovation and long-term growth. The programme offers a unique space to step back from day-to-day demands, pressure-test assumptions, and engage with peers who are shaping the future of UK industry.

To take advantage of this exclusive offer, email us at oxfordelevate@economics.ox.ac.uk with:

• Your name

• Your role

• The CBI member company you represent

Economics for Business Leaders creates rare space for business leaders to step outside their usual environments and connect with people who see the world differently. The conversations that start here often spark new ideas and collaborations long after the programme ends. For CBI members, it’s a powerful way to build connections across sectors and bring new economic insight back into their own organisations.

- Nomi Weir, Technology and Innovation Director at CBI, 2025 Delegate