Perhaps because I grew up in the north of England, the birthplace of the industrial revolution, I have always been fascinated by the dynamic nature of the relationship between firms and their employees. I am interested in labor market outcomes both domestically and internationally - in other words in the overall distribution of compensation and benefits in the economy, job stability, risk of workplace injury, flexibility of work hours, and the many types of government policies that influence these outcomes - from pension and health regulations to unemployment insurance to immigration and antidiscrimination legislation. These issues seem no less relevant in the current economic climate than they were when I was originally drawn to them.

My career path has been somewhat unconventional. After obtaining a BA/MA from Cambridge University in England, I worked on a series of industrial sector research projects at the National Bureau of Economic Research in London. My teaching experience began at the Open University in England, and continued at Flinders University in South Australia and at several institutions in the United States before I completed a Ph.D in Economics at Florida State University in 1994. My research and consulting experience covers a wide range of topics including the economic impact of unions, contingent labor, incentives in workers compensation programs and associated litigation, and medical malpractice. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins Economics Department in 2006, I taught economics, public policy and quantitative methods at the College of William and Mary and at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. I am currently working on a book on women in the economy.