Professor Peter Howley

Profile

I have worked as an economist for an agricultural/rural development agency in Galway, Ireland (Teagasc), a Lecturer and then subsequently Senior Lecturer in Economics within the Environment Department at the University of York. I took up a position as an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Leeds in May 2018 and promoted to full Professor in December 2019. While an economist by training, my research is eclectic and interdisciplinary. My research has been published in leading economics journals such as the European Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation, Oxford Economic Papers and Economic Inquiry as well as a variety of leading field journals such as the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Land Economics and Ecological Economics. I have also published papers in leading interdisciplinary journals such as Social Science and Medicine, Global Environmental Change, Work, Employment and Society and Journal of Rural Studies.

Research interests

In recent times much of my focus has been on the 'economics of happiness’. My starting point in this research is the use of subjective well-being indicators collected in large-scale longitudinal household surveys as a proxy utility indicator. I then generally develop panel-data models sometimes coupled with quasi-experimental methods in order to explore the influence of factors as diverse as diet and immigration for people’s self-reported well-being. Of particular relevance in the current political climate, I am especially interested in using subjective as opposed to economic indicators of well-being as a means to better understand the sharp polarisation on immigration issues. Some examples of my research on this topic can be seen here and here.  Another recent strand of my happiness related research is looking at the mental health consequences associated with Covid-19 (e.g. vaccinations and lockdowns) as well as spatial heterogeneity in impact. 

Apart from a quest to better understand the factors that can improve our quality of life, more recently I have begun to explore the potential of using perceived well-being as a framework to help us better understand social and economic behaviour. This ranges from Brexit and labour market hysteresis to farmers reluctance to adopt certain efficiency-enhancing farm practices.

After my PhD, I worked as an agricultural economist for a semi-state authority in the agri-food sector for a number of years and still maintain an active research programme in the environmental and agricultural sector, particularly surrounding farmer behaviour and environmental preferences. My previous research relating to farmer behaviour has illustrated the importance of considering non-monetary drivers such as non-pecuniary benefits, productivist attitudes and risk aversion when seeking to understand and predict farmers’ behaviour, particularly behaviour that seems financially irrational (e.g. when faced with new efficiency enhancing technologies or policy changes). Following on from this work, I have recently become interested in applying the insights from social psychology and behavioural economics in encouraging (nudging) conservation farm practices and technology uptake. A good overall illustration of some of this work can be obtained here.

​Finally, I have worked on (and continue to do so to varying degrees) a number of issues in the environmental and resource economics domain. This work is varied and involves among other things the effect of weather on crime, the valuation of environmental goods and services, environmental attitudes and the impact of environmental policies such as Emission Trading Schemes for firm behaviours. While I principally use quantitative methods, I also dabble with qualitative research methods on various projects mostly in the environmental/agricultural sector and generally led by talented postgraduate students.

I currently supervise a number of PhD and postdoctoral researchers working on areas related to the work described above. I am interested in hearing from enthusiastic potential PhD students (or anyone else for that matter) interested in working in any of these areas. The funkier the idea the better!

Selected recent publications (see webpage for more details)

Zhang, Y. Hetschko, C. and Howley, P. (2024) Happy citizens trust their rulers. Invited revisions, Journal of Population Economics. WP: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4572099

Zhang, Y. Hetschko, C. and Howley, P. (2024) Tiger hunting and life satisfaction: A matter of trust. Invited revisions, Canadian Journal of Economics. WP: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4273432

Chen, R. Kesidou, E. and Howley, P. (2024). The impact of ETS on Productivity in developing economies A micro-econometric evaluation with Chinese firm-level data, Energy Economics, 131, 107376.

Anaya, L. Howley, P. Waqas, M., and Yalonetzky, G. (2024) Locked down in distress: A quasi-experimental estimation of the mental health fallout from the covid-19 pandemic. Economic Inquiry, https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13181.

Howley, P. and Waqas, M. (2024) Identity, immigration and subjective well-being. Oxford Economic Papers, gpac045, 1-21.

Ocean N. and Howley, P (2024) Which benefits would make farmers happier, and which would they choose? Land Economics, 3, 100, 112321-0139.

Chaudhuri, K. and Howley, P. (2022) The impact of Covid-19 vaccination for mental health. European Economic Review, 150, 104293.

Howley, P. and Knight, S. (2022) Staying down with the Joneses: Differences in the psychological cost of unemployment across neighbourhoods. Work, Employment and Society, 36, 1097- 1117.

Howley, P. and Ocean, N. (2022) Can nudging only get you so far? Testing for nudge combination effects. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 49(5), 1086-1112. 

Selection of recent blogs (see webpage for more details)

• Measuring the impact of immigration for subjective well-being: Nuffield Foundation
• COVID vaccines don’t just benefit physical health – they improve mental health too: The Conversation.
• Payments for public goods: Rethinking what it is to be a good farmer: N8 Policy Hub
• Covid-19 Research: Are we moving too fast?: LSE British Politics and Policy Blog

Research funding: I have been involved in research grants totalling £4 million. My own individual component as PI or Co-I comes to £900k.

• Waqas, M., Howley, P. and Yalonetzky, G. (£255,000) The role of the neighbourhood environment in moderating the well-being impact of Covid-19, 2020-2022 (Co-I) 
• Howley, P. Moro, M., Heron, T. and Delaney, L. (£188,000) Immigration and well-being. Nuffield foundation (Immigration and well-being). PI.
• Sccarpa, R., Howley, P., Panzone, L. and Thankappan, S. (£29,000) Cost-effective supply chain for livestock in Ethopia. N8 Strategic pump priming, 2017-2018. Co-I.
• Doherty, B., Christiansen, P., Ensor, J., Grieve, B., Halford, J., Heron, T., Howley, P., Ozanyan, K., Petrie, H., Pickett, K. and West, C. (£3.4m), Iknow Food, BBSRC, 2016-2020. Co-I
• Howley, P. and McClean, C. ESRC PhD Studentship co-financed with Environment Department, (£51,000), 2014-2017. PI.
• Doherty, B. et al. N8 Industry Innovation Forum (£27,000), 2015.
• Howley, P. Offaly Local Development Authority (€30,000), 2012.
• Howley, P., Buckley, C. and O Donoghue, C. (€88,000) Public attitudes towards water quality. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011-2012. PI.
• Howley, P., Buckley, C. and O Donoghue, C. (€86,000), The drivers of river water quality. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011-2012. PI.

Student education

I have substantive experience developing and teaching a wide variety of modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level including Applied Economics, Environmental Economics, Environmental Valuation, Resource Economics and Research Methods. Here at Leeds I currently teach a second year Research Methods module and contribute to a first year Economic Controversies module. In addition to teaching I also supervise a significant number of PhD candidates working on a diverse range of topics worldwide. 

Current postgraduate researchers

• Dave Roberts
• Minyi Ren