Research

My research covers a broad range of topics in public and labour economics, including pensions and retirement, welfare reform and charitable giving. I have had papers published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Economic Journal, American Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Health Economics and Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, as well as non-econ journals. I am currently working on topics in charitable giving and diversity in economics.

Current projects

Going back to high school: Challenging stereotypes about economics - with Arun Advani and Laura Harvey
Gender differences in the effects of goal-setting interventions: Evidence from a fundraising field experiment - with Mark Wilhelm (submitted)

Published papers

Do female experts face an authority gap? Evidence from economics (with Hans Sievertsen) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation (forthcoming) pdf

The gender gap in expert voice: Evidence from economics (with Hans Sievertsen) Public Understanding of Science (2023) pdf

Measuring academic performance in a more inclusive way (with Erin Hengel and Almudena Sevilla) Research Evaluation (2024)

Lift and Shift: The effect of fundraising interventions in charity space and time (with Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm and Kimberley Scharf) AEJ: Economic Policy (2022). Winner, best paper award, ARNOVA conference 2018. Featured as an AEA journal research highlight

Economics of Philanthropic Tax Incentives (with Jim Andreoni) in Routledge Handbook of Taxation and Philanthropy (2021)

Altruism Born of Suffering: The impact of an adverse health shock on pro-social behavior (with Nicole Black, Elaine de Gruyter, Denis Petrie) Journal of Behavior and Organization (2021). Featured in this VoxEU podcast

Women in Economics: A UK perspective (with Danula Gamage, Almudena Sevilla) Oxford Review of Economic Policy (2021). Summary in CSWEP newsletter

Baby steps: Childcare during the COVID pandemic (with Almudena Sevilla) Oxford Review of Economic Policy (2020). Summary (VoxEU). Discussed in an OXREP webinar and with Sarah Vine on her first podcast

The completion effect in charitable fundraising (with Nichole Argo, David Klinowksi and Tamar Krishnamurti) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2020)

Getting a healthy start: The effectiveness of targeted benefits for improving dietary choice (with Stephanie von Hinke and Rachel Griffith) Journal of Health Economics (2018)

Wolves in sheep's clothing: Is non-profit status used as a signal of quality? (with Daniel Jones and Carol Propper) Journal of Health Economics (2017)

Does participation lead to ongoing infrastructure maintenance? Evidence from Caribbean landslide projects (with Erlend Berg, Liz Holcombe, Malcolm Anderson) Journal of Development Studies (2017)

Do consumers gamble to convexify? (with Tom Crossley and Hamish Low) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation (2016)

Relational altruism: Giving and social groups (with Kimberley Scharf) Journal of Public Economics (2016)

Can simple prompts increase bequest giving? Field evidence from a legal call centre (with Michael Sanders) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation (2016)

Booms, busts and retirement timing (with Anita Ratcliffe and Richard Disney) Economica (2015)

Peer effects in charitable giving: Evidence from the (running) field (with Frank Windmeijer and Edmund Wright) Economic Journal (2015)

Competitive helping in online giving (with Nicola Raihani) Current Biology (2015)

The price elasticity of charitable giving: Does the form of tax relief matter? (with Kimberley Scharf) International Tax and Public Finance (2015)

Herding Cats? Management and performance in UK universities (with John McCormack and Carol Propper) Economic Journal (2014)

Do grants to charities crowd out other income? Evidence from the UK (with Jim Andreoni and Abigail Payne) Journal of Public Economics (2014)

Mission and motivation in the public sector: Evidence from the World Values Survey (with Ed Cowley) Theory and Decision (2014)

Increasing charitable giving – what can we learn from economics? Fiscal Studies (2012)

An integrated approach for evaluating the effectiveness of landslide risk reduction in unplanned communities in the Caribbean” (with Malcolm Anderson, Liz Holcombe, Edmund Wright) Natural Hazards (2012)

Does welfare reform affect fertility? Evidence from the UK (with Mike Brewer and Anita Ratcliffe) Journal of Population Economics (2012)

What determines the return to education: An extra year or a hurdle cleared? (with Matt Dickson) Economics of Education Review (2011)

How important is pro-social behaviour in the delivery of public services? (with Paul Gregg, Paul Grout, Anita Ratcliffe and Frank Windmeijer) Journal of Public Economics (2011)

Welfare reform and lone parents in the UK (with Paul Gregg and Susan Harkness) Economic Journal (2011)

Retirement in the UK (with James Banks) Oxford Review of Economic Policy (2006)

The retirement-consumption puzzle and involuntary early retirement: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey Economic Journal (2006)

Asset holding and consumption volatility (with Orazio Attanasio and James Banks) Journal of Political Economy (2002)

The labour supply effects of the abolition of the earnings rule (with Richard Disney) Economic Journal (2002)

Pension incentives and the pattern of early retirement in the UK (with Richard Blundell and Costas Meghir) Economic Journal (2002)

Is there a retirement savings puzzle? (with James Banks and Richard Blundell) American Economic Review (1999)