Phil Simmons is an Australian development economist. He obtained his Doctorate from Duke University in 1986 and publishes within the development literature, with more than 1000 citations of his work. He is an academic at the University of New England, tenured from 1990 until 2014 and now holding an honorary position. He has worked in Pakistan on major World Bank projects, with the Food and Agricultural Organisation in Thailand and Indonesia during the avian flu crisis, and other projects.
Other work includes many years leading projects on contract farming and, later, avian flu in Indonesia, funded by the Australian Centre for International Economics and, also, various consultancies. Currently, he reviews research papers for the International Food Policy Research Institute for their Discussion Paper series and is employed as an economist on a cocoa rehabilitation project managed by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government.