Development, trade, and the environment

Our research within this subtheme addresses various topical issues from different microeconomic perspectives. 

1. Firms and international trade. Kausik Chaudhuri and Sandra Lancheros explore issues around globalisation, firm performance, foreign direct investment, exports, technology upgrading, oil prices and trade imbalances. 

2. Distributional analysis in development. Suman Seth and Gaston Yalonetzky develop novel methods and apply them to assess human development, poverty, inequality, and social mobility. Their research enhances the measurement agenda beyond conventional monetary metrics by considering multiple dimensions and involving unconventional variables (e.g., ordinal, bounded etc.)  

3. Climate and health in developing countries. Irene Mussio studies how climate hazards (floods, cyclones and heatwaves) affect risk perceptions and health outcomes in developing countries, producing policy-relevant evidence to aid vulnerable communities. Anindita Chakrabarti studies the link between child and maternal mortality.  

4. Labour markets and inclusive policies in developing countries. Leila Gautham and Quynh Huynh investigate issues around time-use constraints, female employment, labour market participation and gender norms (see also the Labour, Behavioural Economics and Wellbeing theme). Suman Seth and Barnali Basak investigate the effectiveness of affirmative action policies on incomes and job prospects.

Our research within this subtheme critically engages with different structural constraints and policy challenges from various macroeconomic perspectives.   

1. Financial systems in development. Gary Dymski, Annina Kaltenbrunner and Bianca Orsi investigate how the hierarchical structure of the international monetary and financial system shapes the actions of economic agents in developing countries, including processes, such as currency internationalisation and digitalisation, financialisation and sustainable structural transformation. Peter Phelps and Gary Dymski examine the impact of financial systems on inequality and poverty alleviation. Esra Ugurlu investigates the political economy of exchange rate and credit policies in developing economies (see also the Macro-Finance theme).

2. Macroeconomics and trade. Muhammad Ali Nasir addresses the links between macro‑monetary policy, central banking and international finance, and trade competitiveness. Peter Phelps investigates how financial systems and macroeconomic policies shape trade in developing countries.  

3. Ecological macroeconomics. Giuseppe Fontana, Annina Kaltenbrunner and Lea Steininger investigate how financial systems, public policy and macroeconomic institutions can support ecological transitions, sustainable development and more balanced growth pathways, including in relation to green investment and the financing of long-term transformation.

Our research within this subtheme encompasses research and policy agenda focused on regions and their development.  

1. Regional studies. Sandra Lancheros, Peter Phelps and Gary Dymski examine the changes and differences in productivity and well-being between regions in the UK. Annina Kaltenbrunner and Bianca Orsi study the challenges for regional integration and regional monetary system from reducing reliance on global North currencies. Colleagues also apply innovative approaches to understanding sub-national regions, including a ‘system of provisioning’ model (Andy Brown) and a model of racial and income inequality linked to discrimination and redlining dynamics (Gary Dymski).  

2. Local economy and neighbourhood studies. Our department hosts two high-profile multimillion-pound funded projects – the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement Research Network (YPERN, led by Andy Brown) and the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Project (YPIP, led by Gary Dymski). These investigate the causes of, and solutions to, the challenges of sustainability, prosperity, and inclusive well-being within the Yorkshire and the Humber region.