I combine economics and history to better understand the performance of firms, industries, economies and societies. I am particularly interested in learning from historical policy mistakes.
I also conduct pedagogical research on ways to integrate economic history into the economics curriculum. My book, An Economist's Guide to Economic History (co-edited with Matthias Blum), is available in paperback or eBook.
News & Outreach
Economic History at the Theatre As part of the Centre for Economics, Policy and History, I have been part of a team to take economic history into Belfast's Lyric Theatre. Watch our latest gig here:
Age Heaping You can read my new article (with Stuart Henderson and Eoin McLaughlin) published in the European Review of Economic History on age heaping as an indicator of human capital. We have also written a commentary on the EHES blog, which is meant to spark debate on the future of age heaping in economic history.
Business History I have recently joined the editorial team of Business History, where I am now principally responsible for submissions that employ quantitative methodologies. You can read lengthy editorials about publishing in our journal, and about our peer review process.
Mind Your Language! Why did Irish, the indigenous language of Ireland, fall into disuse in the nineteenth century? In a QUCEH working paper co-authored with Alan Fernihough and Eoin McLaughin, we use the 1901 census to uncover that it is all about schooling. But not centrally-planned state-directed education policy. Read the working paper here.
Historical Lessons for Ukraine I have written an op-ed together with Eoin McLaughlin and Matthias Blum on the lessons from past experiences of famine (including in Ukraine) for policymakers today. It is published in The Conversation. We wrote a follow-up piece for RTÉ Brainstorm focusing on the growing food security crisis.
Policy Lessons from Ireland's Past A series of policy briefings published by the Economics Observatory explore policy lessons from Ireland's past. They were commissioned to coincide with Northern Ireland's centenary.