Teaching economics through public problems
I teach economics as a way of understanding real public problems. My courses connect microeconomic and political-economy ideas with evidence from policing, development, health and public policy.
Rigorous, inclusive and connected to practice
I aim to make rigorous economics accessible, participatory and useful. I use theory to ask practical questions: how incentives shape behaviour, why institutions produce the outcomes they do, and how we can tell whether a policy works.
Students work with problems drawn from current research and public policy—from policing and development to health and political institutions. Simulations, evidence and discussion help them move confidently between formal models and real decisions.
Courses I have taught and developed
- Postgraduate
Microeconomics
Strategic interaction, information and incentives, explored through policy applications and participatory exercises.
- Postgraduate
Political Economy and Economic Policy
Elections, coalitions, institutions and public choice—and how they shape economic policy.
- Postgraduate
Development Policy
Evidence, economic evaluation and the distributional consequences of development interventions.
- Undergraduate
Development Economics
Institutions, conflict, gender and labour-market policy in developing economies.
- Undergraduate
Economic Policy and Political Economy
A course I created to connect economic theory with political institutions and contemporary policy choices.
- Doctoral
Advanced Training in Microeconomics
Doctoral-level theory with a strong emphasis on substantive applications and research questions.
Developing independent researchers
I supervise doctoral work at the intersection of economics and public policy, particularly in crime and policing, political institutions, policy evaluation, violence and health, conflict and development. I value ambitious questions, careful methods and research that can speak to policy as well as academic audiences.
I have supervised fifteen PhD researchers to completion and received the University of Birmingham Excellence in PhD Supervision Award in 2014–15. I welcome enquiries from prospective students whose ideas connect with these areas.
Interested in working together?
I welcome enquiries about research collaboration, doctoral supervision, policy evaluation and media commentary.