Economics research
Our internationally-renowned Economics subject group is known for its primarily applied research.
The Economics subject group is well-known internationally for its primarily applied research. This research informs and influences policymaking within the UK and throughout the world.
Our academics contribute to several research projects funded by research councils and international organisations. They collaborate widely within the University and externally.
The Economics subject group comprises:
- seven Professors
- two Readers
- six Senior Lecturers
- 21 Lecturers
- a small group of Postdoctoral Researchers
- between 10 and 20 PhD students
Our vibrant research environment is built around a range of activities. These include:
- weekly seminar series hosting academics from the UK and abroad
- internal brown-bag seminars
- a seminar series and annual conference for PhD students
- discussion paper series
Research areas
Our subject group covers several core research areas. These are:
- Economics of safety, health, environment, and risk
- Behavioural and experimental economics
- Labour, education, and health economics
- Macroeconomics, policies, and institutions in open economic systems
- Spatial, urban, regional, international, and industrial economics
- Applied time series econometrics
- Finance, financial economics, and financial econometrics
Key themes
People, markets and firms
The group has contributed significantly to interdisciplinary research with national and international reach. It leads the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and the University’s Centre of Research Excellence (NUCoRE) on Healthier Lives.
In applied microeconomics, our research has looked at the evaluation of benefit reforms, immigration, industrial relations, procurement, the impact of terrorism, education policies, labour, and development.
Research in macroeconomics has investigated the role of monetary and fiscal policy, banking and financial stability, and open economy macroeconomics.
Our international economics research has contributed to the debate on firm heterogeneity, trade policy and foreign direct investment location.
For further information, please contact Dr Smriti Sharma.
Economics of safety, health, environment, and risk (ESHER)
ESHER is an applied welfare economics research group. We focus on individual choices and behavioural changes in the context of public sector provision of public goods within the broad areas of environment, health, transport, and safety. The group’s research has a long-standing international reputation and a strong policy impact in mortality and morbidity risk valuation. The research provides the reference values for publicly funded project appraisals (HM Treasury; DEFRA – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).
Our research relies on the most up to date techniques (some of which we are personally responsible for developing) in terms of methodology, experimental design techniques and analysis. Care is taken to ensure that our data can be interrogated, analysed and interpreted for both academic and policy purposes. Ensuring methodological advancement is the guiding principle behind our research.
Publication in academic journals provides both us and user bodies with an independent quality assurance of the rigour, robustness and relevance of the research.
Impact
Much of this research has translational impact.
Perhaps the strongest example is the inclusion of the Newcastle approach in HM Treasury’s ‘Green Book’. Most recently, a new research report from the UK Health and Safety Executive (2016) outlines the updated method for valuing risks of cancer fatality, based on our research.
The impact has been extended internationally to the European Commission (air pollution), and more recently we have worked with the European Chemicals Agency and OECD.
In 2014-15, one of our group members was awarded a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Treasury, New Zealand. A current, ongoing initiative following on from this involves developing a new, theoretical framework for environmental risks.
Interdisciplinary research
Mixed method approaches have been applied in our mortality and morbidity valuations projects in which the team has often comprised psychologists as well as economists.
We also have a growing expertise in behavioural economics, of importance going forward, given the increasing interest in designing public health programs to incentivise behavioural change. Research into health and most recently oral health inequalities has been carried out in collaboration with medics.
Recent examples in the environmental domain include sustainable deltas through the GCRF Living Deltas Hub, a current application of water resilience to NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) and health effects of climate change in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care.
For further information about this theme, please contact:
Research facilities
The Newcastle Experimental and Behavioural Economics Lab is a state-of-the-art research facility.
The Lab is used to conduct studies in experimental economics and economic psychology. It allows for:
- testing economic theory
- measuring preferences
- pre-testing policy interventions
We offer weekly lab meetings in addition to our research facilities. These are attended by a multi-disciplinary group of researchers. They are based in different faculties across Newcastle University and conduct experimental research.
Our PhD programme
We have an enthusiastic group of PhD students.
Our PhD Programme includes advanced economics training in the first year. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences run more general research modules alongside this training.
Current projects
Dental Care Preference Elicitation: An Application to NHS Dental Contract Reform (DEPEND)
Funder: NIHR - National Institute for Health Research
Start date: May 2020
End date: April 2023
Co-investigators: Jytte Nielsen, John Wildman
Centre of Excellence for Policy and Evidence in the Creative Industries (CEPEC)
Funder: Arts & Humanities Research Council-AHRC (formerly AHRB)
Start date: September 2018
End date: July 2023
Co-investigators: Giorgio Fazio (Economics), Jonathan Jones (Economics), Sara Maioli (Economics), Jonathan Sapsed (Innovation, Enterprise and Digital Business)
GCRF Hub 'Living Deltas'
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Start date: February 2019
End date: February 2024
Co-investigators: Sue Chilton (Economics), Darren Duxbury (Accounting and Finance), Smriti Sharma (Economics)
Estimating the Influence of Headteachers
Funder: Nuffield Foundation
Start date: January 2020
End date: March 2023
Principal investigator: Nils Braakmann
Find out more about this project.
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Vocational Education in Vietnam
Funder: Danida Fellowship Centre
Start date: April 2021
End date: March 2023
Principal investigator: Smriti Sharma
Find out more about this project.
Empowering women’s craft collectives in Rajasthan (India)
Funder: International Initiative for Impact Evaluaiton
Start date: July 2021
End date: June 2024
Principal investigator: Smriti Sharma
Find out more about this project.
Public perceptions of the health risks of climate change and priorities for action
Funder: NIHR Public Health Policy Research Unit
Start date: April 2020
End date: September 2022, currently ongoing
Investigators: Susan Chilton and Jytte Nielsen
Find out more about the project.
The effect of terrorism on public attitudes and individual well-being in Great Britain
Funder: ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative
Start date: June 2021
End date: May 2023
Investigator: Harry Pickard
Internationalisation of rural firms
Funder: Research England (through the )
Start date: March 2021
End date: August 2023
Investigator: Sara Maioli
Public preferences for multi-cancer early detection tests (MCED)
Funder: NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria
Start date: December 2021
End date: December 2023
Investigator: Jytte Nielsen
Previous projects
ASEAN COP26 Policy Report
Funder: British High Commission Singapore
Start date: March 2021
End date: November 2021
Principle investigator: Atanu Ghoshray
Co-investigator: Marco Lorusso
Household economics in three-generation families. The role of intra-household altruism in the distribution of common resources for health care.
Funder: Polish Research Council
Start date: February 2017
End date: February 2020
Investigators: Susan Chilton and Jytte Nielsen
Fiscal Policy, Labour Market and Inequality: Diagnosing South Africa's Anomalies in the Shadow of Racial Discrimination
Funder: United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
Start date: April 2020
End date: November 2020
Investigators: Marco Lorusso
Find out more about this project.
The price of bogus self-employment: Analysing the impact of the individualisation of risks on working lives
Funder: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Start date: June 2021
End date: August 2021
Principal investigator: Sara Maioli
Mental Health Costs of Flooding (consultancy)
Funder: Environment Agency (Bristol)
Start date: January 2020
End date: January 2020
Principal investigator: Susan Chilton
Economics discussion papers
Offer Matching and Wage Dispersal (PDF: 0.5mb)
Francis Kiraly, Newcastle University, UK
October 2023
Marriage, Divorce, and Reservation Wages (PDF: 1.2mb)
Roberto Bonilla, Newcastle University, UK.
Francis Kiraly, Newcastle University, UK.
Miguel Á. Malo, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
Fernando Pinto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain.
September 2023
The Emotional Effect of Terrorism - Evidence from Twitter Data (PDF: 1.0MB)
Vincenzo Bove, University of Warwick, UK
Georgios Efthyvoulou, University of Sheffield, UK
Armine Ghazaryan, University of Sheffield, UK
Harry Pickard, Newcastle University Business School, UK
May 2023
Luck in a Flat Hierarchy: Wages, Bonuses and Noise (PDF: 1.2MB)
John G. Sessions, Newcastle University Business School, UK
John D. Skåtun, University of Aberdeen Business School, UK
April 2022
Marriage Wage Premium with Contract Type Heterogeneity (PDF: 0.5 MB)
Roberto Bonilla, Newcastle University, UK
Miguel Á. Malo, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
Fernando Pinto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
November 2021
Economic consequences of follow-up disasters: lessons from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake* (PDF: 1.7 MB)
Anastasios Evgenidis, Newcastle University
Masashige Hamano, Waseda University
Wessel N. Vermeulenx, Newcastle University
August 2020
A New Economic Framework: A DSGE Model with Cryptocurrency (PDF: 2.2 MB)
Stylianos Asimakopoulos, University of Bath
Marco Lorusso, Newcastle University Business School
Francesco Ravazzolo, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and CAMP, BI Norwegian Business School.
July 2020
Newcastle University Business School hosts second Experimental Economics Workshop
Newcastle University Business School recently hosted the second Newcastle Experimental Economics Workshop on 9 and 10 November 2023, attended by international academics.
2022/23
November
NUBS hosts inaugural Experimental Economics workshop
Newcastle University Business School hosted the inaugural Newcastle Experimental Economics Workshop on 10 and 11 November 2022.
The workshop featured keynote lectures by Friederike Mengel (University of Essex) and Matteo M. Galizzi (London School of Economics). It also featured fifteen submitted talks by researchers in the field of Behavioural and Experimental Economics.
The workshop was organised by the following academics in the Economics subject group:
- Irene Mussio
- Melanie Parravano
- Matt Walker
- Till Weber
August
Dr Matt Walker published in Management Science
Dr Matt Walker has published a paper titled 'Trust and Trustworthiness in Procurement Contracts with Retainage' in Management Science
Abstract: In complex procurement projects, it is difficult to write enforceable contracts that condition price upon quality. Supplier nonperformance becomes an acute risk, particularly when there is intense competition for the contract. An established incentive mechanism used to mitigate the problem of supplier nonperformance is retainage, in which the buyer sets aside a portion of the purchase price. After project completion, the buyer determines the amount of retainage that is released to the seller, considering any defects that arise. Although generally a feasible contract form to implement, the practical difficulties in assessing completion introduce a moral hazard for the buyer. We develop a structurally new game and experimental design to offer managerial insights on how retainage principles mediate trust and trustworthiness in competitive procurement settings with moral hazard. The experimental results suggest that if trust in the procurement relationship is strong enough, then retainage can mitigate the seller-side moral hazard problem and substitute for reputation in a fragmented supply chain at the cost of inflated tender prices. In high retainage structures, there is a tradeoff between trade efficiency and supplier participation in request for bids. We further develop a model of fair payment norms and offer managerial insights on how to design the retainage mechanism, conditional on prevailing levels of trust and beliefs about fairness.
Prof John Wildman joins Health Economics as Associate Editor
Professor John Wildman, Peter & Norah Lomas Chair in Economics, has recently joined Health Economics as an Associate Editor. The journal seeks articles related to the economics of health and medical care.
2021/22
July
Dr Irene Mussio joins Editorial Board of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Dr Irene Mussio, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Living Deltas Hub, has recently joined the Editorial Board of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.
The journal welcomes submissions that deal with various economic topics but also involve issues related to other social sciences, especially psychology, or use experimental methods of inquiry.
June
Smriti Sharma joins Bulletin of Economic Research as Associate Editor
Dr Smriti Sharma has joined the Bulletin of Economic Research as an Associate Editor. She will be mainly handling papers in development economics and applied microeconomics.
May
Economics academics recognised at NUBS Research and Scholarship Festival
Three academics from the Economics Research Community were awarded prizes at the NUBS Research and Scholarship Festival 2022.
Outstanding Researcher of the Year Economics: Early Career Researcher
Two researchers were awarded prizes in this category:
Bahadir Dursun has published in top journals in his field and is on a rising trajectory in terms of his publications and the quality of research. One of our colleagues praised his “particularly proactive approach when it comes to supporting postgraduate research students”, attending seminars given by doctoral students and supporting them through their doctoral journal.
Matt Walker has had two papers accepted in world-leading journals since joining us in September. He has embarked on several collaborative projects with colleagues in Economics and other subject groups; has successfully secured internal funds for research and impact activities; and has been working hard to rebuild the subject pool for the Experimental Lab after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. As one colleague put it: “Matt is an excellent academic citizen. We value his academic contributions to the group and the School as well as his collegial attitude, and look forward to seeing him flourish”.
Outstanding Researcher of the Year Economics: Established Researcher
Nils Braakmann is an outstanding researcher who has made hugely significant contributions to empirical microeconomics and has established a new applied micro research cluster. He investigates important, policy-relevant issues in labour economics, the economics of crime, health economics, international economics and urban economics – and has had some excellent publications in the last two years. Beyond his own research, Nils has acted as a research mentor to new members of staff, early career colleagues and PhD students – actively helping colleagues in both formal and informal settings to pursue their own research agendas. In the word of one of our colleagues: “We are lucky to have him. We must keep him."
The Newcastle Experimental and Behavioural Economics Lab is a state-of-the-art research facility.
The Lab is used to conduct studies in experimental economics and economic psychology. It allows for:
- testing economic theory
- measuring preferences
- pre-testing policy interventions
We offer weekly lab meetings in addition to our research facilities. These are attended by a multi-disciplinary group of researchers. They are based in different faculties across Newcastle University and conduct experimental research.
Our PhD programme
We have an enthusiastic group of PhD students.
Our PhD Programme includes advanced economics training in the first year. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences run more general research modules alongside this training.
Current projects
Dental Care Preference Elicitation: An Application to NHS Dental Contract Reform (DEPEND)
Funder: NIHR - National Institute for Health Research
Start date: May 2020
End date: April 2023
Co-investigators: Jytte Nielsen, John Wildman
Centre of Excellence for Policy and Evidence in the Creative Industries (CEPEC)
Funder: Arts & Humanities Research Council-AHRC (formerly AHRB)
Start date: September 2018
End date: July 2023
Co-investigators: Giorgio Fazio (Economics), Jonathan Jones (Economics), Sara Maioli (Economics), Jonathan Sapsed (Innovation, Enterprise and Digital Business)
GCRF Hub 'Living Deltas'
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Start date: February 2019
End date: February 2024
Co-investigators: Sue Chilton (Economics), Darren Duxbury (Accounting and Finance), Smriti Sharma (Economics)
Estimating the Influence of Headteachers
Funder: Nuffield Foundation
Start date: January 2020
End date: March 2023
Principal investigator: Nils Braakmann
Find out more about this project.
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Vocational Education in Vietnam
Funder: Danida Fellowship Centre
Start date: April 2021
End date: March 2023
Principal investigator: Smriti Sharma
Find out more about this project.
Empowering women’s craft collectives in Rajasthan (India)
Funder: International Initiative for Impact Evaluaiton
Start date: July 2021
End date: June 2024
Principal investigator: Smriti Sharma
Find out more about this project.
Public perceptions of the health risks of climate change and priorities for action
Funder: NIHR Public Health Policy Research Unit
Start date: April 2020
End date: September 2022, currently ongoing
Investigators: Susan Chilton and Jytte Nielsen
Find out more about the project.
The effect of terrorism on public attitudes and individual well-being in Great Britain
Funder: ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative
Start date: June 2021
End date: May 2023
Investigator: Harry Pickard
Internationalisation of rural firms
Funder: Research England (through the )
Start date: March 2021
End date: August 2023
Investigator: Sara Maioli
Public preferences for multi-cancer early detection tests (MCED)
Funder: NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria
Start date: December 2021
End date: December 2023
Investigator: Jytte Nielsen
Previous projects
ASEAN COP26 Policy Report
Funder: British High Commission Singapore
Start date: March 2021
End date: November 2021
Principle investigator: Atanu Ghoshray
Co-investigator: Marco Lorusso
Household economics in three-generation families. The role of intra-household altruism in the distribution of common resources for health care.
Funder: Polish Research Council
Start date: February 2017
End date: February 2020
Investigators: Susan Chilton and Jytte Nielsen
Fiscal Policy, Labour Market and Inequality: Diagnosing South Africa's Anomalies in the Shadow of Racial Discrimination
Funder: United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
Start date: April 2020
End date: November 2020
Investigators: Marco Lorusso
Find out more about this project.
The price of bogus self-employment: Analysing the impact of the individualisation of risks on working lives
Funder: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Start date: June 2021
End date: August 2021
Principal investigator: Sara Maioli
Mental Health Costs of Flooding (consultancy)
Funder: Environment Agency (Bristol)
Start date: January 2020
End date: January 2020
Principal investigator: Susan Chilton
Economics discussion papers
Offer Matching and Wage Dispersal (PDF: 0.5mb)
Francis Kiraly, Newcastle University, UK
October 2023
Marriage, Divorce, and Reservation Wages (PDF: 1.2mb)
Roberto Bonilla, Newcastle University, UK.
Francis Kiraly, Newcastle University, UK.
Miguel Á. Malo, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
Fernando Pinto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain.
September 2023
The Emotional Effect of Terrorism - Evidence from Twitter Data (PDF: 1.0MB)
Vincenzo Bove, University of Warwick, UK
Georgios Efthyvoulou, University of Sheffield, UK
Armine Ghazaryan, University of Sheffield, UK
Harry Pickard, Newcastle University Business School, UK
May 2023
Luck in a Flat Hierarchy: Wages, Bonuses and Noise (PDF: 1.2MB)
John G. Sessions, Newcastle University Business School, UK
John D. Skåtun, University of Aberdeen Business School, UK
April 2022
Marriage Wage Premium with Contract Type Heterogeneity (PDF: 0.5 MB)
Roberto Bonilla, Newcastle University, UK
Miguel Á. Malo, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain
Fernando Pinto, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
November 2021
Economic consequences of follow-up disasters: lessons from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake* (PDF: 1.7 MB)
Anastasios Evgenidis, Newcastle University
Masashige Hamano, Waseda University
Wessel N. Vermeulenx, Newcastle University
August 2020
A New Economic Framework: A DSGE Model with Cryptocurrency (PDF: 2.2 MB)
Stylianos Asimakopoulos, University of Bath
Marco Lorusso, Newcastle University Business School
Francesco Ravazzolo, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and CAMP, BI Norwegian Business School.
July 2020
Newcastle University Business School hosts second Experimental Economics Workshop
Newcastle University Business School recently hosted the second Newcastle Experimental Economics Workshop on 9 and 10 November 2023, attended by international academics.
2022/23
November
NUBS hosts inaugural Experimental Economics workshop
Newcastle University Business School hosted the inaugural Newcastle Experimental Economics Workshop on 10 and 11 November 2022.
The workshop featured keynote lectures by Friederike Mengel (University of Essex) and Matteo M. Galizzi (London School of Economics). It also featured fifteen submitted talks by researchers in the field of Behavioural and Experimental Economics.
The workshop was organised by the following academics in the Economics subject group:
- Irene Mussio
- Melanie Parravano
- Matt Walker
- Till Weber
August
Dr Matt Walker published in Management Science
Dr Matt Walker has published a paper titled 'Trust and Trustworthiness in Procurement Contracts with Retainage' in Management Science
Abstract: In complex procurement projects, it is difficult to write enforceable contracts that condition price upon quality. Supplier nonperformance becomes an acute risk, particularly when there is intense competition for the contract. An established incentive mechanism used to mitigate the problem of supplier nonperformance is retainage, in which the buyer sets aside a portion of the purchase price. After project completion, the buyer determines the amount of retainage that is released to the seller, considering any defects that arise. Although generally a feasible contract form to implement, the practical difficulties in assessing completion introduce a moral hazard for the buyer. We develop a structurally new game and experimental design to offer managerial insights on how retainage principles mediate trust and trustworthiness in competitive procurement settings with moral hazard. The experimental results suggest that if trust in the procurement relationship is strong enough, then retainage can mitigate the seller-side moral hazard problem and substitute for reputation in a fragmented supply chain at the cost of inflated tender prices. In high retainage structures, there is a tradeoff between trade efficiency and supplier participation in request for bids. We further develop a model of fair payment norms and offer managerial insights on how to design the retainage mechanism, conditional on prevailing levels of trust and beliefs about fairness.
Prof John Wildman joins Health Economics as Associate Editor
Professor John Wildman, Peter & Norah Lomas Chair in Economics, has recently joined Health Economics as an Associate Editor. The journal seeks articles related to the economics of health and medical care.
2021/22
July
Dr Irene Mussio joins Editorial Board of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Dr Irene Mussio, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Living Deltas Hub, has recently joined the Editorial Board of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.
The journal welcomes submissions that deal with various economic topics but also involve issues related to other social sciences, especially psychology, or use experimental methods of inquiry.
June
Smriti Sharma joins Bulletin of Economic Research as Associate Editor
Dr Smriti Sharma has joined the Bulletin of Economic Research as an Associate Editor. She will be mainly handling papers in development economics and applied microeconomics.
May
Economics academics recognised at NUBS Research and Scholarship Festival
Three academics from the Economics Research Community were awarded prizes at the NUBS Research and Scholarship Festival 2022.
Outstanding Researcher of the Year Economics: Early Career Researcher
Two researchers were awarded prizes in this category:
Bahadir Dursun has published in top journals in his field and is on a rising trajectory in terms of his publications and the quality of research. One of our colleagues praised his “particularly proactive approach when it comes to supporting postgraduate research students”, attending seminars given by doctoral students and supporting them through their doctoral journal.
Matt Walker has had two papers accepted in world-leading journals since joining us in September. He has embarked on several collaborative projects with colleagues in Economics and other subject groups; has successfully secured internal funds for research and impact activities; and has been working hard to rebuild the subject pool for the Experimental Lab after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. As one colleague put it: “Matt is an excellent academic citizen. We value his academic contributions to the group and the School as well as his collegial attitude, and look forward to seeing him flourish”.
Outstanding Researcher of the Year Economics: Established Researcher
Nils Braakmann is an outstanding researcher who has made hugely significant contributions to empirical microeconomics and has established a new applied micro research cluster. He investigates important, policy-relevant issues in labour economics, the economics of crime, health economics, international economics and urban economics – and has had some excellent publications in the last two years. Beyond his own research, Nils has acted as a research mentor to new members of staff, early career colleagues and PhD students – actively helping colleagues in both formal and informal settings to pursue their own research agendas. In the word of one of our colleagues: “We are lucky to have him. We must keep him."