Research Centres and Groupings
The School has interests and expertise in a wide range of areas including: International Economics, Energy Economics, Regulation, Health, Labour Economics, Labour Relations, Industrial Organisation, Econometrics & Modelling, Law & Economics, and the History of Thought & Theories of Market and State. Many members of staff work in a number of different areas both individually and collaboratively. The research groupings reflect both traditional and newly emerging areas of strength. There are two formal research centres: The Centre for International Macroeconomic Studies (CIMS) and The Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC), and three informal research groups: The Health Research Group (HRG), The Radio Communications Group and The Applied Microeconomics Group. Research is disseminated through a discussion paper series for each of the formal centres, a general series, and through the web.
Centre for International Macroeconomic Studies (CIMS)
Membership: Paul Levine (Director), Vasco Gabriel (Deputy Director), Nicoletta Batini, Cristiano Cantore, Ali Choudhary, Young-Bae Kim, Luisa Lambertini, Ioannis Lazopoulos, Peter McAdam, Bo Yang.
Core themes: DSGE models, Macroeconomic policy
Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC)
SEEC has a long-standing international reputation in energy economics research. The Centre's research interests cover the whole spectrum of energy economics, including North Sea oil & gas, gas & electricity privatisation & regulation, measurement of efficiency in energy industries, energy & development, energy demand modelling & forecasting, and energy & the environment. SEEC attracts a large proportion of the School's PhD students and oversees the MSc in Energy Economics & Policy.
Membership: Lester Hunt (Director), Jo Evans, Carol Nahkle, Mona Chitnis, Colin Robinson (Emeritus Professor), Peter Pearson (Visiting Professor, Imperial College).
Core themes: Energy economics and policy
Health Research Group (HRG)
The HRG focuses on health economics and health services research. Much of its work is interdisciplinary and has direct practical relevance. The group has attracted research grants for evaluative studies and systematic reviews. Papers have been published in core economics journals, for example Scottish Journal of Political Economy, and health journals such as British Medical Journal, Archives of Neurology, European Journal of Cancer Prevention, Health Technology Assessment, Journal of Medical Screening and Public Health.
Membership: Heather Gage (Leader), Ioannis Lazopoulos, Neil Rickman, Jo Evans, Caragh Flannery, Daniel Jackson; Visiting staff: Clive Smee CBE (Visiting Professor and former Chief Economist at the Department of Health).
Core themes: The HRG’s research involves both health economics-related work and multidisciplinary activity involving the University’s Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, Post-Graduate Medical School and Biomedical scientists, Psychologists and Sociologists, plus other UK universities and local NHS organisations.
Radiocommunications Group
This is a relatively new group within the School. We research an exciting blend of radio engineering techniques and economics to examine the effects of different allocation methods for radio spectrum and the welfare effects of alternative communication technologies. Themes include spectrum auctions and trading, spectrum pricing and measuring the economic benefits of the more efficient use of spectrum. Much of our work is multidisciplinary, with partners in the University’s Centre for Communications and Satellite Research, the Smith Institute (Oxford) and commercial organisations such as Qinetiq and Vodafone.
Membership: Neil Rickman (Leader), Aynur Alptekin, Paul Levine.
Core themes: Spectrum pricing, Spectrum trading, Spectrum auctions, Estimation of spectrum demand, Welfare analysis of new telecom technologies, Network roll-out and Access Pricing.
Applied Microeconomics Group
The applied microeconomics group covers a variety of areas including labour economics and industrial organisation, as well as the economics of sport and crime. The group has attracted research funding from the Sutton Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and has members in the European Association of Labor Economists and the Work Pensions and Labour Economics Study Group. Research is regularly disseminated at international conferences.
The group consistently publishes in world class journals such as the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal and the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Much of the work undertaken is applied and so members have an extensive knowledge of policy evaluations, large-scale data sets and contemporary econometric techniques appropriate for cross-section and panel data analysis.
Membership: Jo Blanden, Jo Evans, Ioannis Lazopoulos, Jo Lindley, Neil Rickman, Paul Temple, Robert Witt and Vasileios Zikos.
Core themes: Inequality, intergenerational mobility, education, migration, law, sport, crime and the economics of technology and R&D .
