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. In fact, the pandemic-recession has brought into sharp relief the profound inequalities that exist in the labor market not only in wages and income but also in working conditions.

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 The University of Adelaide 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 the Department of Economics at Johns Hopkins 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 have been involved with a Social Policy initiative that brings together faculty and students from the Departments of Economics, Sociology, and Political Science. Teaching an interdisciplinary course on the many dimensions of inequality has been a rewarding experience. In addition, I am Founder and Faculty Advisor of the Economic Policy Issues Colloquium (E.P.I.C.) an undergraduate group whose mission is to raise awareness of policy-related fields and to introduce students to different perspectives in the discipline. Ultimately, the group hope to be a force for change, attracting more diverse groups to the field of economics, and creating a network of students who will be future leaders in the field of economic policy.

Economics 001.132 -- Exploring Economic Inequality:
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Economics 180.252 -- Economics of Discrimination:
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Economics 360.247 -- Introduction to Social Policy and Inequality: Baltimore and Beyond 
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Economics 360.331 -- Methods for Policy Research  
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