Christopher Hoy is an applied microeconomist whose research focuses on development economics, political economy, and public finance. He is the founder and director of the Policy Preferences Lab. His work has been published in leading journals and featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Economist, and the BBC. His research has been cited around 2,500 times. Chris received the 2025 Sir Tony Atkinson Prize from the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality and the 2026 Paul Bourke Award for Exceptional Early Career Research from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

He is currently a McKenzie Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne (based in the Melbourne Institute). He is affiliated with J-PAL, the World Bank Tax Data Lab, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He previously worked at the World Bank through the Young Professionals Program, and for UNICEF, ADB, ODI Global, JPAL/IPA, and the Australian Government.