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
Patent Examination and Financing Innovation How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? Together with Stephen Billington and Christopher Coyle, I have a new QUCEH working paper exploring this issue using the introduction for the first time of patent examination in the UK in 1905. The headline: firms with examined patents are better able to access bond markets.
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 and RTÉ Brainstorm, which is meant to spark debate on the future of age heaping as a human capital measure 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 conduct a quantitative analysis of the 1901 census to uncover that it is all about schooling. But not centrally-planned state-directed education policy.
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. Together with Áine Doran and Alan Fernihough, I wrote a piece on policy lessons from the Great Irish Famine.
Demography and Influenza-18 Eoin McLaughlin and I have an article in Economics and Human Biology on the demographic impact of the Spanish flu in Ireland.We have written a non-technical summary of our paper for RTÉ Brainstorm. The underlying data (constructed with the help of Kyle Richmond) is deposited at the UK Data Service, and described in a short data note.