Alumni
A list of some of our PhD alumni.
2016 Graduates
Claudia (Xin) Li
Claudia completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh and is currently Quantitative Analyst at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Claudia's research interests are wage models, inequality and trade.
Thesis: The Wage Structure in China, Late 1990s to 2000s: A Young Labour Market in a Transforming Economy
Sareh Vosooghi
Sareh completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh and is currently a Lecturer in St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford. From October 2017, she will be an Early Career Development Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall and The Department of Economics of the University of Oxford.
Sareh's main research interest is in the field of environmental economics. In particular, she is interested in economic theory and game theory approaches to answer questions in natural resources and environmental economics. Her current research focuses on the role of information and learning in International Environmental Agreements.
Thesis: Three Essays on Information and Transboundary Problems in Environmental and Resource Economics
Rongyu Wang
Rongyu completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh and is currently a Post-doctoral fellow at Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada).
Rongyu's research interests are Mathematical Economics (Decision Theory and Game Theory in particular); Mathematical Psychology; Behavioral Economics; and Industrial Organization
Thesis: Strategic Choices in Realistic Settings
Vasco Alves
Vasco completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh and is currently working as a teaching associate at Lancaster University's department of economics.
Vasco's research interests are microeconomic Theory, Queueing, Game Theory, Health Economics, Industrial Organization, and Public Economics. His research to date has focused on applied queueing problems, in strategic Game Theory contexts, and in Health Economics.
Thesis: Essays on Strategic Queueing
Athanasia Arnokourou
Nancy completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh and is currently a Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Economics.
Nancy's research interests lie within the fields of Experimental and Behavioural Economics and her current research focuses on the role of prior outcomes in decisions in the laboratory.
Thesis: Essays on House Money Effect
Kimon Doulis
Kimon completed both his MSc and PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Kimon is currently Assistant Economist at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Kimon's research interests are the analysis of provision mechanisms for public goods and information goods and public choice theory, specifically how informational lobbying might influence the provision of public goods.
Thesis: Essays on Competition, Market Structures and Public Goods
Rebecca Piggott
Rebecca completed both her MSc and PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Rebecca is currently a research fellow at the National Institute of Economics and Social Research.
Rebecca's research interests are labour economics, specifically the effects of migration on wages, employment and income inequality.
Thesis: Essays on Social Mobility, Immigration and the Skill Premium
Jonathan Spiteri
Jonathan Spiteri completed both his MSc and PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Jonathan is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Behavioural Economics and Health at the School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh.
Jonathan’s research interests are currently focussed on understanding the behaviour of the media and its overall impact on economic activity. Of particular interest is the way in which information is reported in the news, and how such information may influence the actions of economic agents with imperfect knowledge.
Thesis: Essays on Media Reportage and Economic Behaviour
2015 Graduates
Joanna Clifton Sprigg
Joanna completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh in 2015. Joanna is currently a lecturer in economics at the University of Bath.
Joanna’s main research interests range from migration and labour economics to economics of education. She is predominantly interested in the socio-economic implications of the unprecedented increase in migratory movements within the European Union over the past decade.
Thesis: To leave or not? Parental emigration decisions and human capital development of children
2014 Graduates
James Best
James completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Upon completion, he was awarded a Career Development Fellowship from the School of Economics. James is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford.
James' research interests include microeconomic theory, applied microeconomics, and macroeconomic theory. James theoretical work focuses on the effect of information asymmetries and acquisition in a variety of settings. His applied work focuses on inequality, intergenerational mobility, and human capital.
Thesis: Essays on Social Learning, Cooperation, Asset Markets and Human Capital
Nick Myers
Nicholas Myers completed both his MSc and PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Nick is currently a senior teaching fellow at the School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh.
Nick's research interests are focused on international trade and migration.
David Pugh
David studied both his MSc and PhD in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. David is currently a postdoctoral research fellow and research software engineers at the University of Oxford.
David's current research interests include modeling business cycles; developing agent-based models of the macroeconomy with credit markets and banks; the role of financial frictions in propagating shocks; financial fragility and asset price volatility in agent-based models; analyzing the role for monetary policy (both conventional and unconventional) and macro-prudential policy within agent-based models.
2013 Graduates
David Comerford
David Comerford completed is MSc and PhD at the University of Edinburgh. David was a research fellow at the University of Stirling until January 2016, where he worked on a ESRC funded project studying the economics of constitutional change in Scotland, before and after the Scottish Independence Referendum in September 2014.
David's has a diverse set of research interests within applied micro- and macro-economics with the common theme of trying to inform long-term policy issues.
Michael Watts
Mike Watts completed his MA in International Business, and his MSc and PhD in Economics, at the University of Edinburgh. Mike now Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Economics at Edinburgh University.
Mike's current research focuses on the relationship between inequality and labour market discrimination, particularly discrimination based on family background. He is also interested in education finance, early childhood development, crime and urban economics.