Dr Esra Ugurlu

Profile

I joined the Economics Department as a Lecturer in Economics in January 2022. 

Previously, I worked as a Research Assistant at the Political Economy Research Institute (2018-2021) and as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2016-2018). I held visiting teaching positions at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and Bogazici University in Turkey.

In February 2022, I completed my PhD entitled “The Political Economy of Consumer Credit and Real Exchange Rate Policy in Dual Economies.” 

Research interests

My primary research interests lie in development economics and macroeconomics.

My current research focuses on the political economy of real exchange rate policies in developing countries. More specifically, I examine why many developing countries avoid undervalued (or competitive) exchange rate policies or intentionally pursue overvaluation, despite the large body of theoretical and empirical research showing that exchange rate undervaluation can be conducive to growth and development. Other themes I explore in my research include structural change implications of consumer lending policies, the relevance of Modern Monetary Theory to development issues, the effects of labour shortages on capital accumulation, and the impacts of international financial flows on domestic credit dynamics.

Theoretically, my research draws from various schools of thought, including Latin American Structuralism, Post Keynesian economics, and Marxist political economy. Methodologically, I use both formal modelling and empirical tools (panel data and time series econometrics).

My work has been published in the Journal of Comparative Economics, Cambridge Journal of Economics, and Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.  

Qualifications

• PhD Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• MA Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• MA International Economics, Berlin School of Economics and Law
• MA Economics and International Finance, Université Paris 13
• BA Economics, Middle East Technical University

Professional memberships

• Post Keynesian Economic Society
• European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy

Student education

LUBS 1951 – Economic Theory and Applications

LUBS 2575– Statistics and Econometrics 

LUBS2600 – Intermediate Macroeconomics 

LUBS2281 – Macroeconomic Policy & Performance