News.This page covers recent news related to my research, workshops, and public engagement
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Economics Observatory piece
I published a post on the contribution of residential energy efficiency towards net zero in the Economics Observatory (here). This piece sheds new light on the issue of residential energy efficiency in England and Wales. The UK housing stock is one of the least energy efficient globally. The article reviews the international literature and calculates the contribution of home energy savings towards net zero across local authorities. Our findings are based on detailed geocoded data on current vs potential energy ratings and are the result of a summer work placement funded by Economic Futures, which saw Ella Benoit, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Glasgow, join myself and Rodolfo Sejas-Portillo on the project. The article can be found here. This work builds on an ongoing research agenda on behavioural economics and residential energy use by Rodolfo-Sejas-Portillo David Comerford, and Till Stowasser. PS: Economic Futures’ 2023 Summer Work Placement Programme will be coming soon so keep an eye out for the applications opening in Spring here. European Economic Association Congress 2022, Milan 22-26 August
I will be presenting a working paper on the effects of weather on the valuation of home energy efficiency by the English and Welsch housing market on 22 August in the Behavioural and Experimental Economics session. This paper is joint with Rodolfo Sejas-Portillo and Till Stowasser. New working paper
“Less is More: The Impact of Auto Lender Risk on Household Auto Purchases” (with Ian Lange, and C McKennie) Published by the Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, USA. UCD, Planning and Environmental Policy, 15 June 2022
I have presented our paper (joint with Higney, Hanley and Gasteen) on the effect of in utero and infancy exposure to lead water pollution on educational performance at age 16 in Scotland. Scottish Economic Society Conference, Glasgow, 25-27 April 2022
A couple of papers have been accepted to the conference:
Scotland and Northern England Applied Microeconomics Workshop 19-20 April 2022 (programme)
Hector presented our working paper on the effect of Scottish University reopenings on Covid-19 transmissions. The Steering Group of the Conference of Heads of University Departments of Economics (CHUDE) by the Royal Economic Society
I joined the steering committee of CHUDE in January 2022. The conference acts as the lead for the Royal Economic Society on providing feedback on consultations and is happy to consider items of academic interest to be circulated to its members. CHUDE was established by the Society in 1987 in collaboration with the Association of University Teachers of Economics. It consists of heads of economics and related departments and units at UK universities and meets twice a year in April and November. There are currently around 100 members. A steering committee acts on behalf of the full conference between the main meetings. More about CHUDE and forthcoming meetings here Public Policy Lessons Conference (After the Pandemic Conference Series), International Centre for Economic Analysis (ICEA), Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Warsaw, University of Sienna, 12 Nov 2021.
My co-author Hector presented our paper on the effect of University reopenings on cases in the fall of 2020 (Program of the conference). Workshop on Behaviour, Wellbeing and the Environment, 4-5 November 2021, UCD and LSE
Invited speaker. My talk titled Subjective Well-being and Environmental Valuation - Some Open Questions wellbeing and environmental valuation highlights issues, challenges and avenues for further research. Slide deck of the talk is available here. Behavioural Science and the Environment Workshop, U of Stirling, 30 Sept 2021
Virtual workshop organised by the Behavioural Science Group of the Division of Economics, U of Stirling (line up for the day). Given the upcoming COP26 (UN climate change conference) in Glasgow, this event serves as a dedicated precursor to probe how insights from behavioural economics can help us understand the relationship between human behaviour and the environment. My co-author and PhD student Rodolfo Sejas-Portillo will present our paper on 'The effects of weather conditions on the valuation of energy-efficiency in the UK housing market' at the event. University Reopenings, Student Halls and Covid-19 Outbreaks in Scotland
Working paper on the reopenings of Universities and Covid outbreaks in Scotland is out in Covid Economics series vetted by CEPR and as GLO Discussion Paper, No. 868. My coauthor Hector Rufrancos was interviewed by Simon Baker at the Times Higher Education in June 2021 about the implications of this working paper. See here. Wellbeing, People and Places - Nuffield Foundation Series and Webinar May & June 2021
Together with the Nuffield Foundation, I helped with the creation of a series bringing together three Nuffield Foundation projects that worked closely together to better understand the drivers of individual's wellbeing. The series included a webinar on 16 June 2021 focussed on the concrete steps and wellbeing policies. Peter Howley (U of Leeds) presented the project on Immigration and Wellbeing - which he lead and to which I have contributed. Project website. In May 2021 Peter and I co-authored a piece on Measuring the impact of immigration on subjective well-being which was posted in the Nuffield Foundation series. January 2021: Project on Plastic Pollution in Tanzania and Malawi now live (2021 - 2025)
I am leading the work package on interventions to reduce the use of plastic in Tanzania and Malawi. The project is led by the Environmental Science Division at U of Stirling and is funded by the NERC. Summer 2020: Covid-19 research papers on the impact of the pandemic in care homes in Scotland and in the UK during the first wave
I worked with a different set of authors led by Professor David Bell on two papers looking at the impact of Covid-19 in care homes in Scotland and comparing responses and outcomes in all the countries within the UK using excess deaths in different locations. Two pieces have been published by the International Long Term Care Policy Network (https://ltccovid.org). The Scottish review can be found here, while the UK comparison here. City Region Deal for Stirling and Clackmannanshire (June - Sep 2020)
I lead the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) working group of the City Region Deal during the summer of 2020, to which the University of Stirling is partner. The working group set out the principles, general methodological approaches for the impact evaluation of the Deal as a whole, and identified suitable data and indicators to be employed. The MEF was approved in Sept 2020 and attached to the Benefit Realisation Plan. Handbook on Well-being, Happiness, and the Environment is published in May 2020
The book edited by David Maddison, Katrin Rehdanz and Heinz Welsch and contains surveys, case studies and reflection on the literature on environment and subjective wellbeing. I have contributed to a chapter titled Spatial variation in life satisfaction, which reflecting on the meaning of spatial differences in life satisfactions with my co-authors Fin Brereton, Susana Ferreira and Mona Ahmadiani. |
