Globalisation · Trade · Environment
Professor of Economics
Director of Research · Department of Economics · Birmingham Business School
I am an applied economist whose research spans international trade, environmental and energy economics, and the economics of China and globalisation — increasingly drawing on novel data and machine learning to study firms, energy systems and the economic consequences of natural disasters.
I am Professor of Economics and Director of Research in the Department of Economics at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. As an applied economist, my work sits at the intersection of international economics, environmental and energy economics, economic history and the economics of China, and is held together by a long-standing interest in the economics of globalisation.
I read economics at the University of Leicester and the University of Essex before completing my PhD at the University of Nottingham. I held positions at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester before joining Birmingham in 2003, where I founded and led the Trade, Environment, Development and Energy (TEDE) research group.
Much of my recent work brings novel data and machine learning to bear on applied questions — from the air-quality and economic effects of natural disasters and lockdowns observed from satellites, to the critical-material supply chains and real-world longevity of electric vehicles. I am co-editor of the journal Environmental and Resource Economics.
From international trade and the environment to energy, China and the economics of natural disasters.
The measurement of intra-industry trade and its consequences — for labour markets, for firms' decisions to import and export, and for the structure of global production. Much of this work focuses on the trading behaviour of individual firms.
Whether trade and foreign direct investment help or harm the environment — the 'pollution haven' hypothesis, the effect of environmental regulation on where industry locates, and the spatial pattern of firms' carbon emissions.
The Chinese and East Asian economies viewed through the lens of firms — the location of foreign investment, energy intensity and productivity, urbanisation, and the role of governance and corruption in shaping economic outcomes.
Energy systems and the shift to a low-carbon economy: the reliability of electricity supply and its effect on firms, and the economics of electric vehicles — critical-material demand, battery recycling and real-world vehicle longevity.
The economic consequences of typhoons, floods and wildfires — measured from outer space where conventional data fall short — and how those shocks feed through to property prices, firms and even political behaviour.
Bringing new data and methods to applied economics — machine learning and synthetic controls for air quality and policy evaluation, satellite imagery for the environment, and the construction of long-run historical datasets.
A short selection — the full record runs to ninety-plus outputs.
Selected work
Using 300 million MOT records, shows that the reliability and lifespan gap between electric and petrol/diesel cars has all but closed.
Selected work
Finds that US senators are measurably more likely to vote for environmental legislation after their state is struck by a climate-related disaster.
Selected work
A global study showing that the drop in air pollution during early COVID-19 lockdowns was smaller than headline figures implied once weather is accounted for.
On international trade, environmental and energy economics, the economics of China, and applied work with novel data.