Profile

I am an applied microeconomist and public economist. My research focuses on household consumption and saving behaviour. My job market paper ‘Private Pensions and Public Pension Design’ looks at the design of public pensions. Using an estimated lifecycle model that contains public pensions, private pensions and realistic uncertainty, I find that governments should emphasise means-tested pensions more than Social Security style pensions that link the level of the pension payment to career-average earnings.

Other work has found evidence of a behavioural effect of the labelling of a government transfer (households spend a much greater proportion of ‘Winter Fuel Payment’ on household fuel than they would a neutrally-named transfer), and has studied the reasons behind the puzzling-high expenditure of those reporting the lowest income in surveys (concluding that measurement error plays a large role).

While undertaking my PhD, I have worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies where I am currently an Associate Director. My work there has mixed academic research, grant-writing and fundraising and writing policy reports.