Simon Parker graduated with his PhD from the University of Durham in 1992. He became a Professor of Economics at Durham in 1999, and joined Ivey in 2008. Simon is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy and the Journal of Business Venturing. His main research interests are in the economics of entrepreneurship. The second edition of his book with the same title was published by Cambridge University Press in 2018.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in July 2005.