I am a Professor of Economic Development at University of Hertfordshire and the Editor-in-Chief of Competition and Change, an interdisciplinary journal, publishing high quality research on globalisation, financialisation and political economy.

Although trained as an economist, I have increasingly adopted an interdisciplinary approach in my research and teaching by directly incorporating perspectives, for example, in social policy, political economy and economic geography and/or by collaborating with researchers from these disciplines. My research focuses on social consequences of economic structure and policy for poorer sections of society in two areas. The first is related to the dynamics of the crisis and austerity programmes post 2008, especially with respect to inequalities associated with household debt, local government debt and resilience with publications featuring in journals such as Journal of Economic Geography, New Political Economy and Journal of Social Policy. The second is related to the governance of environmental resources such as water, energy and land with implications for access, inequality, affordability and sustainability. Publications in this area include articles in Cambridge Journal of Economics, Industrial and Corporate Change and Development and Change.

I worked as consultant for the United Nations Development Programme between 2003-2010. From 2014 to 2017, I led the UK component of an EU funded project (€2.5 million) on Household Resilience in Times of Crises, involving multiple teams in 8 European countries. More recently (during 2017-2021), I led a multidisciplinary team of scholars (from development studies, food sciences, law and anthropology) in India and the UK for a project on food security, funded (330K) by the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI). 

DOCTORAL SUPERVISIONS

Hannah Hassenberger, Local government financialisation and state restructuring, submitted in 2024 (with Drs Bonizzi and Peeroo)

Sarah Wolfe, The Effects of Labour Organization and Unionism on Wage Premium and Precarity of Dispersed Platform Workers, submitted in 2023 (with Dr Atkinson)

Nana Osei, Accounting for the factors that influence the success and the failure of microfinance in Ghana, submitted in 2023 (with Drs Rughoo and Karimzadi)

Zachary Stevens, Paradigm change, authority contests and the Role of Media in explaining persistence of austerity during Great Recession, 2017-continuing (with Dr Gagliardi)

Elisabeth Babafemi, An exploration into the underrepresentation of women on boards in the UK, awarded in 2022 (with Drs German and Filosof).  

Vivien Ojadi, Operational Banking Risks and Basel Rules in Nigeria, awarded 2022 (with Dr Katechos)

Debo Akande, Prospects for Agribusiness projects to alleviate rural poverty: The case of Nigeria, awarded 2021 (with Dr Willets) 

Lianne Oosterbaan, Land rights and food security in South India, awarded in 2021 (with Drs Kuppuswamy and Karimzadi)

Philip Osaren Emokpae, Resilience of Microcredit Institutions in Nigeria, awarded 2020 (with Drs Willets and Cubric)

Xiangbin Cheng, The dynamic relationships between public spending, economic growth and income inequality in China,  awarded in 2015 (with Drs Sensarma and Gagliardi)

Simon A. Robertson, Accounting for the divergence between privatisation theory and practice in developing countries: the case of the water sector in Ghana, awarded in 2011(with Drs Jenkins and Hodgson). 

Jian Lu Shang, Competitiveness of the Chinese Banking Sector in the Context of China's Membership of the WTO, awarded in 2009 (with Dr Yin). 

Alexandre O. Salles, Contemporary Financial Globalisation in Historical Perspective, awarded in 2007 (with Prof. Hodgson) 

ADVISORY ROLES 

1) Debt Justice International (2020 - cont. )

2) The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (2008-2010)

3) United Nations Development Programme (2003-2010)

4) Department for International Development (2000)

5) International Labour Office (1999-2000)