Economics
The Department of Economics at Queen's Business School brings together expertise on fields including the economics of networks and institutions, cooperative and non-cooperative game theory, labour economics and social policy, development and population economics, and economic and business history.
We pride ourselves in delivering research-led teaching to both undergraduates and postgraduates, and our academic staff regularly consult with think tanks and policymaking institutions in the UK and Ireland.
- Head of Department of Economics: Dr Heather Dickey
- BSc Economics / BSc Economics with Finance Programme Director: Dr Sonali Sen Gupta
- BSc Business Economics / BSc Economics and Accounting Programme Director: Dr Alan Fernihough
Our supportive research environment fosters meaningful engagement with the non-academic world and facilitates the pursuit of high-quality publications. Academic research from the Department of Economics has appeared in leading peer-reviewed scholarly journals, including the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal, the International Economic Review, the Journal of Development Economics, and the Economic History Review.
An active community of doctoral students are exploring the world of economic theory, applied economics and econometrics in the Department of Economics. PhD students benefit from attending courses and tailor-made reading groups, and have access to the School's seminar series, which attracts leading global academics.
Tiarnán Heaney began his PhD in 2022, researching poverty and inequalities faced across different regions in Ireland following the post-famine period of 1872.
The Health and Human Development Initiative (HHDI) at Queen's Business School seeks to address contemporary issues related to inequalities in health, education and human development. It provides opportunities for interdisciplinary research to advance scientific knowledge and have a significant impact on our society. Our members have particular expertise in applied economics, health and social science, human geography, social work, anthropology and demography.
The research focus and strengths of the Department of Economics aligns with the School’s Centre for Economic History (QUCEH) and the Centre for Economics, Policy, and History (CEPH) - interdisciplinary research centres which aim to promote research into issues relating to how economic history affects the present day, and how economics can answer historical questions about the long-run development of society.
Academics from the Department of Economics have strong connections with, and roles within, The Northern Ireland Productivity Forum and the Economics Observatory.
The Centre for Economic History launched the Long Run Institute (LRI) in 2018 as a forum for business leaders, public policymakers and academic experts. It provides insights from the analysis of long-run experiences and trends to provide context and deepen understanding of the grand challenges facing businesses and government.
Economics at Queen's
The Department of Economics at Queen’s Business School consists of over 20 full-time academic staff members, conducting researching across the discipline of economics and allied social sciences.
Latest Publications
Patently peculiar: patents and innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Homer Wagenaar
- Chris Colvin
Scarring and selection in the Great Irish Famine
- Matthias Blum
- Chris Colvin
- Eoin McLaughlin
NI Productivity 2040: Addressing Northern Ireland’s productivity gap for greater prosperity
19 March 2025Construction of compromise values for cooperative games
7 March 2025Efficient public good provision between and within groups
- Chowdhury Mohammad Sakib Anwar
- Jorge Bruno
- Renaud Foucart
- Sonali Sen Gupta
Economics Research Project Spotlight
The Good Friday Agreement was designed to bring an end to ‘the Troubles’. Professor John Turner, Dr David Jordan, and Dr Graham Brownlow found that, overall, evidence suggests a mixed picture for the extent to which Northern Ireland has benefited from a peace dividend - the economic boost that a nation receives from the cessation of conflict. It is clear that economic scars caused by political violence have not fully healed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Read more on the analysis of the peace dividend in the 25 years following the Good Friday Agreement.
The equality and efficiency of school choice allocation
In Northern Ireland, parents of children in their final year of primary school rank available secondary schools. Parental preferences are collected and pupils are allocated to schools by an algorithm. Recently, the number of dissatisfied parents has majorly increased. Dr Josue Ortega is undertaking a ground-breaking research project for Northern Ireland, creating a new fairer and more efficient algorithm.
New Algorithm set to Improve Allocation of Pupils to Schools in Northern Ireland
Poverty explains the human catastrophe of the Great Irish Famine. At the time, Ireland was the poorest region of the world’s most advanced economy. Using newly-collected high resolution spatial data, Dr Alan Fernihough quantifies the drivers of poverty in pre-Famine Ireland in research published in the journal Demography.
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